friday, february 4, 2011Volume 44 : Issue 80 ndsmcobserver.com

ObserverThe Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s

the

Seven Cairo students to finish semester in LondonFormer news editorreflects on uniquee x p e r i e n c e i nEgypt i an cap i t a lThis was originally supposed

to be a column introducing TheObserver’s new blog, TheInternational Desk, in whichstudyabroad stu-dents sharetheir experi-ences fromlocationsaround theworld.I was

studyingabroad inCairo andalready hada columnwritten forthis space aweek ago toconvince you to read about mylife in Egypt.It went something like this:Right now, it is probably near-

ing lunchtime and you are read-ing The Observer while sippingon a coffee from Waddick’s.You’re dreading your next

class and wishing you had got-ten a few more hours of sleep.It feels like negative 12

degrees outside.Right now in Cairo, it’s din-

nertime. I’m tired from a longday of classes and am sitting intraffic on the bus back to my

Alumni Associationappoints new director

Elizabeth “Dolly” Duffy, associ-ate director of the Notre DameAlumni Association, has beenappointed executive director ofthe association, as well as asso-ciate vicep r e s i d e n tf o rUnivers i tyRe la t ions ,according toa Universityp r e s srelease. Duffy will

s u c c e e dCharles F.“Chuck” Lennon in July when heleaves the University after 30years leading the most extensivealumni network in the nation.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to buildon the strong outreach, pro-grams and service that Chuckand this wonderful staff haveaccomplished over many years,”Duffy said. “It’s an honor to havethe opportunity to work with ouralumni, parents and friends todeepen their connection to NotreDame.”The association connects the

University with its nearly132,000 alumni. Lennonincreased the number of clubsfrom 151 to 276 during hiscareer. “As we begin this next chapter

in the history of the Notre DameAlumni Association, I have greatconfidence that Dolly will buildupon an organization that is con-

Sarah Mervosh

University officialscomment on chaoticsituation in MiddleEastern metropolis

Two weeks after traveling toCairo with the intent of staying fora full semester, one week afterlosing Internet and cell phoneconnections and three days aftertheir evacuation to Istanbul, sev-eral NotreDame stu-dents leftT u r k e yT hu r s d a yfor eitherLondon orSouth Bend. Seven of

the 12 stu-dents willfinish the semester at NotreDame’s London Program,University spokesman DennisBrown said. Two students flew toLondon Wednesday and five oth-ers arrived Thursday night. At least three of the remaining

five students will return to NotreDame’s South Bend campus thissemester, Brown said. The 12 undergraduates arrived

in Cairo Jan. 20 to study at theAmerican University in Cairo(AUC), but were evacuatedMonday due to the ongoingprotests in Egypt.

see BLOG/page 4see CAIRO/page 4

see ALUMNI/page 4

SARAH MERVOSH/The Observer

Top: Former News Editor Sarah Mervosh captured this scene of smoke on the Cairo skyline dur-ing her time participating in the abroad program at American University in Cairo.Bottom: A tank patrols a street in downtown Cairo. Notre Dame evacuated 12 students studyingin the Egyptian capital after violent protests began in the city.

By LAURA McCRYSTALNews Editor

INSIDE TODAY’S PAPER Winter career fair postponed due to weather page 3 � Boy bands revisited page 8 � Men’s basketball defeats DePaul page 16 � Viewpoint page 6

London calls students to intern

For many students, intern-ing for a company involvesfetching coffee and pickingup laundry for their bosses.However, some Notre Damestudents studying abroad inLondon are defy ing thesestereotypes as they internfor a variety of organiza-tions.Junior Stephen LaBrecque

is working as an awardsass is tant for the US-UKFulbright Commission. Hesaid he spends most of histime finding various ways topromote the awards of theprogram.“My dut ies inc lude

redes igning promot ionalmater ia l and advert i se-ments, emailing out variousdepartment heads and socie-

ty chairpersons to increasethe awareness o f theawards ,” he sa id . “ I a lsohave been looking into vari-ous ways to advertise for theawards via job websites andsocial networking sites.”LaBrecque said he sought

an internship during his timeabroad for cu l tura l andcareer-driven purposes.“ I was looking for an

opportunity to meet localresidents of London and Ialso wanted to gain somenew work experience,” hesaid.Junior Kelsey C lemson,

who is in terning for theCatholic Bishops’ Conferenceof England and Wales, saidshe chose to intern to beactive in London.“[I] wanted a way to get

more involved in the city Iam living in,” she said. “[It isa] great hands on experi-

ence.”Junior Alyssa Sappenfield

is interning with Emmaus, acharitable organization inLondon. Emmaus enablesthe homeless to l ive in acommunity as “companions”in order to get back on therefeet. They help a store selldonated items in order tofund the community. Sappenfield said interning

with the group allows her togive back to the public. “ I have a lways bel ieved

that we all have a responsi-bi l i ty to contribute to thegood of society, especially tothose are a vulnerable andface hardship ,” she sa id .“Emmaus is an organizationthat echoes those beliefs.” Clemson, who is coordinat-

ing with dioceses to marketNat ional Grandparent

By SAM STRYKERNews Writer

see INTERN/page 5

News Writer

Observer Staff Report

Duffy

See Also“Reporters

beaten, arrestedin Cairo”

page 5

The Observer regards itself as a professional publication and strives for the highest standards ofjournalism at all times. We do, however, recognizethat we will make mistakes. If we have made a mistake, please contact us at 631-4541 so

we can correct our error.

CORRECTIONS

LOCALWEATHER

The Observer � PAGE 2page 2 Friday, February 4, 2011

today

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Tonight

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saturday

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sunday

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THE HOT SEAT: ONE PERSON, SIX QUESTIONS, INFINITE POSSIBILITIES

IN BRIEFGraduate School 101:

Understanding GraduateSchool Panel Discussion andQ &A Session is today at 2:00p.m. in 101 Jordan Hall ofScience. For more informationcontact VictoriaFroude atvfroude@nd.edu. or SarahDunham-Cheatham at sdun-ham@nd.edu.

Dance Fest 2011,WelshFamily Hall’s signature event isbeing held tonight atWashington Hall. The eventfeatures the dancing of TroopND, Ballroom Club, SwingClub,Irish Dance Team, DanceCo., First Class Steppers andPom Squad. Doors open at 7:00p.m.The cost is $7 and all pro-ceeds will go towards theRobinson Community LearningCenter Summer ShakespeareProgram.

Saturday, The Girl WithThe Dragon Tatoo is beingshown at DeBartoloPerforming Arts Center. Thefilm, based on the bestsellingnovel by Stieg Larsson starts at3 p.m. and costs between $3and $6.

Saturday night, the LateNight Olympics kicks off at 6p.m. at the Joyce Center. Thisall night interhall olympic stylecompetition benefits the St.Joseph Special Olympics. Formore information,contact TimNovak at 574-631-0584.

Saturday at 7:30 p.m. L.A.Theatre works presents TheReal Dr. Strangelove as a part ofthe visiting artist series. The per-formance is being presented inthe Decio Mainstage Theatre atthe Debartolo Performing ArtsCenter. Tickets cost between $15and $35.

To submit information to beincluded in this section of TheObserver, e-mail detailedinformation about an event toobsnews.nd@gmail.com

Sarah O’Connor/The Observer

Students, bundled up against the frigid cold, walk in the snow along God Quad inthe aftermath of the severe weather this week. The University had its first closingWednesday due to weather since 2000.

Stephanie Walz

juniorPangborn Hall

Know someone who should be in the hot seat? E-mail obsphoto@gmail.com

The Observer is the independent, daily newspaperpublished in print and online by the students of theUniversity of Notre Dame du Lac and Saint Mary’sCollege. Editorial content, including advertisements, isnot governed by policies of the administration of eitherinstitution. The Observer reserves the right to refuseadvertisements based on content.The news is reported as accurately and objectively as

possible. Unsigned editorials represent the opinion ofthe majority of the Editor in Chief, Managing Editor,Assistant Managing Editors and department editors.Commentaries, letters and columns present the viewsof the authors and not necessarily those of TheObserver. Viewpoint space is available to all readers. The free

expression of all opinions through letters is encouraged.Letters to the Editor must be signed and must includecontact information.

Questions regarding Observer policies should be directed to Editor-in-Chief Matt Gamber

POLICIESwww.ndsmcobserver.com

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BUSINESS MANAGERPatrick Sala

Laura McCrystalNEWS EDITOR:

Q: Where did you study abroad

last semester?

Stephanie: Toledo, Spain

Q: What is the most useful thing

you learned?

Stephanie: How to use public trans-portation like a boss

Q: What was the strangest thing

you ate?

Stephanie: Rabbit and this orangemush that had fat on top of it, and I'mstill not sure what it's called. We did-n't get a name for it, we just ate it.

Q: What is your favorite memory?

Stephanie: When my mom came and

met my host family, and they took mymom and me out for drinks and for atour of the town

Q: What was the most unexpected

thing?

Stephanie: There are redheads inSpain! And my host family becamelike a real family to me.

Q: What did you miss the most?

Stephanie: Snacking: sour patchwatermelons and diorites. And thereis no substitute. Europe sucks atgummies. Nothing compares.

OFFBEATToxic candy pulled fromU.S. marketsWASHINGTON — The

U .S . governmen t say scandy impor t ed f r omPak i s t an ca l l ed Tox i cWaste Nuclear Sludge isno t sa f e t o ea t . Whowould have guessed? The Food and Drug

A d m i n i s t r a t i o nannounced that the U.S.d is tr ibutor o f Nuc learS ludge chew bar s i sr e ca l l i ng the candybecause of lead contam-ination. No one has beensickened, but the FDAsaid elevated lead con-tent could be harmful tosmall children, infantsand pregnant women. The cand i e s were

manu fac tu red i n

Pakistan. Indianapolis-based Candy Dynamicssaid it would stop sell-ing al l Nuclear Sludgecandy in the U .S . Thecandy i s wrapped i nbr ight ye l low caut ion-like tape, and the com-pany’s website featuresthe screech of a blaringwarning horn. “Our product’s tongue-

in-cheek brand name inno way reflects the vigi-lant approach the com-pany takes toward prod-uct integrity,” the com-pany sa id i n a s t a t e -ment.

House f i re star ted byimpromptu ashtrayPORTLAND, Ore.— An

o f f i c i a l i n Por t l and ,

Ore., says a house firethat caused $30,000 indamage was apparentlystarted by tenants whowere using a hole in thefloor as an ashtray.Portland Fire & Rescue

spokesman Paul Corahsays , i n h i s words ,“Tha t ’s no t ca re l e s ssmoking, that ’s s tupidsmoking.”He says the caller who

repor t ed the f i r eWednesday also hung upon the 911 dispatcher,t hen r e fu sed t o t a l kwhen the d i spa t chert r i ed t o ca l l back f o rmore details.No one was injured.

Information compiled fromthe Associated Press.

The cancelation of Wednesday’sannual Winter Career andInternship Fair due to extremeweather conditions has sparkedboth concern and questions frommany students.Sophomore Peter Thompson

said the storm produced a dilem-ma for internship possibilities thissummer.“I am one of the fortunate ones

who had an interview before theblizzard came on Tuesday,”Thompson said. “However, Iwould have liked to create a con-nection with a couple of employ-ers at the fair on Tuesday to openup more possibilities for this sum-mer and the future.”Lee Svete, director of the Career

Center, said weathering the stormwould not be a wise decision withthe high influx of employers com-ing in from the Chicago area.“When Notre Dame cancelled

the Board of Trustees meetingdue to the blizzard, we took it asour cue to cancel the Career andInternship Fair,” he said. “If thatlevel of leadership was going tonix their event, we thought itwould be good to follow suit.”Svete said he and his staff have

begun contacting employers who

were planning on coming toWednesday’s event to informthem of the tentative rescheduleddate. “We are hoping to be able to

hold the event on March 3, basedon the availability of the JoyceCenter,” he said. “We think weactually will be able to pick upmore employers to come at thelater date.”In addition, Svete said he wants

those students who had inter-views lined up for the followingweeks to keep an eye on employ-ers they remain interested in. “The résumés for students who

had an interview scheduled

remain on Go IRISH,” Svete said.“Some employers need to followthrough with the applicationprocess, so we ask students tomonitor those deadlines throughGo IRISH.”In addition to the Career and

Internship Fair, the DiversityReception will also be held tenta-tively on March 3, Svete said. “March 3 is the ideal date for us

all, as most, if not all, of our initialemployers will be able to return tocampus, as will one hundred per-cent of our sponsors,” he said. The blizzard, which wreaked

havoc on the entire Midwest, hascreated problems for the compa-nies and corporations whoplanned on making the trip tocampus. Svete said despite this,the event would benefit from alater date.“Armageddon took over

Chicago and O’Hare was can-celling flights left and right,” hesaid. “But, the make-up date ofMarch 3 will make for a betterCareer and Internship Fair forall.”

The Observer � CAMPUS NEWSFriday, February 4, 2011 page 3

By ADAM LLORENSNews Writer

Contact Adam Llorens atallorens@nd.edu

SMC students ring inChinese New Year

Winter career fair postponed

MACKENZIE SAIN/The Observer

Students speak with representatives from several companiesat the Fall Career and Internship Fair in October.

SGA holds meetingfor election candidates

With elections for studentgovernment around the cor-ner, Saint Mary’s StudentGovernment Association(SGA) held a meeting forprospective candidatesThursday. Another meeting will take

place today at 2:15 p.m. inthe SGA office. At least onemember from each t icketmust attend one of the meet-ings in order to be eligible torun. The meeting was offered to

those who wish to run forSGA, Residence HallAssociation, StudentActivities Board and StudentDiversity Board. One of the meetings was

originally scheduled forWednesday, but was can-cel led due to inclementweather. At the meeting, Laura

Smith, student body vicepresident, explained therules of the election.Students were told when

and where they are allowedto post campaign materials.Students also received elec-tion rules.Smith said students must

have a 3.0 GPA in order torun. “If you do not have it ,

Patrick [Daniel, director ofStudent Involvement] and theStudent Involvement peoplewill be checking and he willask you to step down fromcampaigning,” she said. “The

College is really strict on theGPA requirement.”In addition, students may

not participate in a studyabroad program during theirterm, which lasts an entireacademic year.Smith said in order to run

for student body president orvice president, students mustbe a rising junior or senior atthe College. Dates were also announced

for campaigning and ElectionDay. “Your campaigning wil l

start Sunday, Feb. 20 at 5p.m. and then it will end thatWednesday, Feb. 23 at 11:59p.m. No later than that,”Smith said. “And then votingwil l take place Thursdayfrom midnight to Thursday11:59 p.m.”Smith said students must

have their platform approvedby SGA and the StudentInvolvement Office. Platformsare due Friday, Feb. 18 at 5p.m. and will be approved byFeb. 19 at 9 a.m.Smith said students have to

pay for their own campaignexpenses.“All the costs with your

campaigning is up to you,”she said. “Don’t save yourreceipts because you won’tbe reimbursed for anything.” Smith said she will act as

interim ElectionCommissioner and will beresponsible for approvingcampaign platforms andother materials.

By ALICIA SMITHAssociate Saint Mary’s Editor

STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION

Contact Alicia Smith atasmith01@saintmarys.edu

Saint Mary’s College rang inthe Chinese New YearThursday with a tea party,complete with paper lanterns,music and sweets.Held in the Warner

Conference Room in theStudent Center, the celebrationfeatured two different types ofChinese tea, as well as snacksranging from candies to bis-cuits.Alice Siqin Yang, assistant

director of Global Education,said the tea party was held toraise awareness about thecountry, as well as to shareinformation about study abroadprograms. “I think that it’s important for

students nowadays to knowmore about Chinese history andChinese culture and Chineselanguage,” she said. During the event, students

shared experiences studyingabroad in China. Senior Julie Hagopian said

students should consider thebenefits of studying in China. “Just jump,” she said. “Just

go. It’s one of the best.Financially it’s one of the best-priced trips. You still get threecredits for it.”Hagopian said she had fears

before her trip, but she did not

regret her decision.“It’s scary going to a place

that you don’t know the lan-guage,” Hagopian said. “You’renot exactly familiar with theculture or the food, but that’sthe beauty of it. You just haveto jump. Leave inhibitions atthe door, and just go.”Hagopian said it is important

to share the Chinese culturewith the Saint Mary’s commu-nity.“General multicultural-ness

is always important … to bringto the forefront that there aredifferent cultures around theworld,” she said. “Sometimesit’s not always represented aswell in a beautiful, Midwestern,primarily white campus likeour own, but reaching outmakes it more clear that thereare other cultures and they arejust as vibrant as our own.” Yang said other events per-

taining to Chinese culturewould be held. On Feb. 19, theCollege will host the event“Chinese New YearCelebration.” The event will beheld in O’Laughlin Auditoriumat 7:30 p.m. It is free and opento the public. Yang said the event will have

a variety of different culturalaspects to it including song,dance and kung fu.

By ALICIA SMITHAssociate Saint Mary’s Editor

Contact Alicia Smith atasmith01@saintmarys.edu

“We are grateful for the assis-tance from the AmericanUniversity in Cairo (AUC) for thesecure environment that they pro-vided our students amidst theprotests and violence in Cairo, andU.S. State Department for theirhelp in transporting the studentsto Turkey,” said J. NicholasEntrikin, Notre Dame’s vice presi-dent for Internationalization in aMonday press release announcingthe students’ arrival in Istanbul. Notre Dame’s study abroad pro-

gram through AUC allows stu-dents to explore fields of studysuch as Middle Eastern studies,Egyptology and Islamic art andarchitecture, according to aUniversity press release. While inCairo, Notre Dame students alsostudy alongside Egyptian andArab students. Due to the outbreak of violent

protests in Egypt, this semester’sparticipants in Notre Dame’s Cairoprogram were evacuated beforethe semester began at AUC.As the protests spread and

grew, the students were instructedto remain in AUC’s student resi-dence in Zamalek, a residentialdistrict of Cairo. The Egyptiangovernment’s efforts to stop pro-testors caused the students to loseInternet and mobile phone con-nections on Jan. 27.

The students were able to makeone-minute landline phone callson Jan. 28, according to a websiteupdate from Notre Dame’s Officeof International Studies (OIS). Following a U.S. State

Department recommendation thatAmerican citizensleave Egypt, NotreDame announcedin a Sunday pressrelease the stu-dents would beevacuated fromCairo. “We’re using

every connectionwe have to try toexpedite thep r o c e s s , ”U n i v e r s i t ys p o k e s m a nDennis Brownsaid Monday asthe studentsawaited a U.S.State Departmentcharter flight outof Cairo. The University

announced thestudents’ arrival in IstanbulMonday night. “Communications were severely

disrupted, but students, parentsand OIS staff members were ableto create an effective communica-tions network that was invaluablein facilitating the evacuation,”Entrikin said in a press release.Once in Istanbul, Notre Dame

asked the students to choose

between returning to South Bend for the semester or

joining the University’s studyabroad program in London. Meanwhile, AUC has not

reopened for classes and is work-ing to keep students who remain

in the Zamalekresidence safe. Ina Wednesdaywebsite update,AUC PresidentLisa Andersonsaid theUniversity antici-pated beginningthe semester onFeb. 13. “While the New

Cairo campus isin fine shape, wehave consolidatedthe students cur-rently in resi-dence inZamalek, so as tobe able to betterprovide food,entertainmentand security,”Anderson said in

a Thursday update. “A number ofthe offices in our campus down-town did sustain some damagelast Saturday — broken glass,stolen computers, vandalized artwork in the Gallery — but therehave been no subsequent prob-lems.”

The Observer � CAMPUS NEWSpage 4 Friday, February 4, 2011

sidered a model for excellence inhigher education with the wis-dom, enthusiasm and commit-ment to excellence necessary forstill further growth and greatergood,” said Louis M. Nanni, vicepresident for UniversityRelations. “Her experience as anentrepreneur, combined with her

deep faith and commitment tofamily, uniquely qualify her totake on this important role in thebroader Notre Dame family.”Duffy is a 1984 graduate of

Notre Dame. She was selectedfor the position after a four-month worldwide search forLennon’s replacement.“I am delighted for Dolly and

her family,” Lennon said. “Shebrings a breadth of experience, aknack for relationship-building,a keen understanding of the

University and a passion for ourUniversity. This array of qualifi-cation and abilities will serve herwell in her new position. I amconfident she has the ability,experience and passion — aswell as the support of theUniversity administration,Alumni Board, club and classvolunteers and staff — to takethe Alumni Association to thenext level.”Duffy earned her bachelor’s

degree in history from Notre

Dame. She has worked as apress secretary for a U.S. con-gressman and an account execu-tive for public relations firms inSt. Louis and Kansas City. Duffyalso purchased AtchisonProducts in 1990 with her hus-band and grew it substantiallyover 17 years before it wasacquired by BIC Graphic USA. Duffy served on the board of

directors for Notre Dame clubsin Washington, D.C., St. Louisand Kansas City, and she became

associate director of the associa-tion in early 2008. She directedthe launch of a new online plat-form and strategy calledmyNotreDame, designed to helpalumni connect more easily withone another and the University.She also supported the creationof ND Women Connect and led astrategic review of the associa-tion’s programs and initiatives. Duffy and her husband live in

South Bend with their five chil-dren.

Alumnicontinued from page 1

dorm. I’ll soon be exploring the

streets of Cairo in search oftonight’s dinner. If I get a typicalEgyptian meal, it will cost meless than the cup of coffeeyou’re sipping.The sun has set for the day,

but it’s still a balmy 60 degreesoutside.A few days ago, I revised the

column to go like this:Right now in Cairo, it’s dinner-

time. I’m listening to TaylorSwift and writing this blog in mydorm room because I don’t haveInternet access to distract me.I’ve been in the dorm since 4

p.m., which is when the city-wide curfew goes into effect. Every once in a while, I hear

the sound of gunshots from mywindow.But now, the column goes like

this. Right now, it’s 5 a.m. in

Istanbul and I’ve been up foralmost 24 hours straight. I was woken up this morning

to learn that the U.S. StateDepartment was evacuating meand the 11 other Notre Damestudents from Egypt. We packedand boarded the bus to the air-port almost immediately. After 10 hours of standing in

an excruciatingly slow and longline outside the Cairo airport,we finally boarded a plane toleave the country. Due to major uprisings

against the current Egyptianpresident and riots all over thecountry, the 12 Notre Dame stu-

dents studying abroad in Cairowere evacuated, pulled from theprogram and reassigned toeither Notre Dame or London. I’m sure most of you have

read the headlines or watchedCNN. In fact, you probably knowmore about the facts of theEgyptian revolution than me,since I was without Internet foralmost a week. But what I do know is what it

felt like being there. What tear gas feels like.What life is like without

Internet or phone access.What cars look like after

they’ve been set on fire by pro-testers. And you can read about all of

it at The Observer’s new blog,The International Desk, atwww.ndsmcobserver.comThis was originally supposed

to be a column convincing youto read the new blog. I evencame up with a corny slogan:“The Observer’s InternationalDesk — Helping Notre Damestudents break out of the bubblewithout leaving Waddick’s since2011.”But to be honest, I don’t have

much energy left for convincing. So I will simply say, if you are

interested in reading about themost mind-blowing, whirlwindexperience of my life, read myblog at The Observer’sInternational Bureau.You can find it at www.ndsm-

cobserver.com

The views expressed in thiscolumn are those of the authorand not necessarily those of TheObserver.

Contact Sarah Mervosh atsmervosh@nd.edu

Blogcontinued from page 1

Cairocontinued from page 1

“Communicationswere severely disrupted, but

students, parents andOIS staff memberswere able to create

an effective communications network that was

invaluable in facilitating the evacuation.”

J. Nicholas Entrikinvice president

Internationalization

Contact Laura McCrystal at lmccryst@nd.edu

The Observer � NEWSFriday, February 4, 2011 page 5

Please recycle The Observer.

Pilgrimages in England anddevelop guide material forthe p i lgr images , sa id theinternship is providing herwith valuable skills for lifeafter Notre Dame.“I am getting a lot of expe-

rience communicating withothers to devel-op a pastorallysens i t ive andrelevant hand-book,” she said.S appen f i e l d

sa id shebel ieves herwork atEmmaus i spreparing herfor her post -g r a d u a t ecareer. She saidthe nature o fthe organiza-tion is in accord with whatshe wants in a job.“I am thinking of going to

law school, specifically publicinterest law,” Sappenf ie ldsaid. “I hope Emmaus wil lgive me more hands-on serv-ice experience to prepare fora career in a field with socialjus t ice and communityenrichment in mind.”LaBrecque said one of the

reasons he enjoys workingwith the Fulbr ightCommission is because thejob is fast paced.“Non-profits can’t afford a

large staff, so the interns aregiven a lot of different proj-

ects and responsibilities,” hesaid.LaBrecque said communica-

t ion presents a chal lengewhen interning in a foreigncountry.“So far I’ve been laughed at

for my American accent and Ihave to be conscious of thefact that there are differencesof language,” he said. “Forexample, I was going to sendout an email with the word

‘program,’ myboss alerted meto the fact thatin the UK i ts‘programme.’” S appen f i e l d

said encounter-ing foreign lan-guages provesto be a chal -lenge with herinternship. “Accents are

real ly hard toget used to ,”she sa id .

“There are companionsfrom Latvia, Poland, Scotlandand other places.”Clemson said working in a

professional environment inthe city of London has beenrewarding. “In my experience so far, I

have been really struck bythe profess ional ism of myinternship,” she said. “Peopleseem to treat me like a co-worker rather than someonewho is just helping out forfour months. I definitely was-n’t expecting that.”

Interncontinued from page 1

Contact Sam Stryker at sstryke1@nd.edu

“People seem to treatme like a co-workerrather than someonewho is just helping

out for four months. Idefinitely wasn’texpecting that.”

Kelsey Clemsonjunior

Dozens of reportersbeaten, arrested in Cairo

CAIRO — Menacing gangsbacking President HosniMubarak attacked journalistsand human rights activistsThursday in an ugly turn inEgypt’s crisis as governmentopponents pushed supportersout of Cairo’s main square in asecond day of street battles.Organizers called for protesterstrying to topple the regime to fillevery square in the huge capitalon Friday.The new vice president, widely

considered the first successorMubarak has ever designated,fueled anti-foreign sentiment bygoing on state television andblaming outsiders for fomentingunrest. The government hasaccused media outlets of beingsympathetic to protesters whowant the president to quit nowrather than serve out his term,as he has vowed to do.The Obama administration,

meanwhile, was in talks with topEgyptian officials about the pos-sibility of Mubarak immediatelyresigning and the formation ofan interim government thatcould prepare the country forfree and fair elections later thisyear, U.S. officials said Thursday.The talks were first reported byThe New York Times.The creation of a military-

backed caretaker government inEgypt is one of several ideasbeing discussed as anti-Mubarakprotests escalate in the streets ofCairo and other Egyptian cities,said the officials, who spoke oncondition of anonymity to discussthe sensitive diplomatic talksthat are continuing.

Among those options is a pro-posal for Mubarak to resignimmediately and cede power to atransitional government run byVice President Omar Suleiman.White House and State

Department spokesmen wouldnot discuss details of the discus-sions U.S. officials are havingwith the Egyptians.“The president has said that

now is the time to begin a peace-ful, orderly and meaningful tran-sition,” said White House nation-al security spokesman TommyVietor on Thursday night. “Wehave discussed with theEgyptians a variety of differentways to move that process for-ward.”Mubarak, 82, told ABC televi-

sion in an interview that he wasfed up and wants to resign. Buthe said he can’t for fear thecountry would sink into chaos.He said he was very unhappyabout the two days of clashes incentral Tahrir Square.“I do not want to see Egyptians

fighting each other,” he wasquoted as saying.The violence that had been

concentrated in Tahrir spreadaround the city of 18 million,with a new wave of arson andlooting.Soldiers, mainly protecting

government buildings andimportant institutions, remainedpassive as they have sincereplacing police on the streetsalmost a week ago. Few uni-formed police have been seenaround the city in that time, andprotesters allege some of themhave stripped off their uniformsand mixed in with the gangs ofmarauding thugs.

Associated Press

EGYPT

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, andendeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet

with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Henry David ThoreauU.S. author

A new traditionFriday, February 4, 2011

The Observer

page 6

I grew up dreaming for snow days. Icannot count the number of nights Islept with a spoon under my pillowand my pajamas inside-out. If myprayers were ever answered by somemiracle, I scrapedtogether all thesnow in myAtlanta lawn tobuild a snowman.My family

moved north, and I only learned moresnow meant a bigger snowman. Butnothing changed the magic of wakingup to a fresh dusting of snow and alisting of school closings.Now I am in college, and the snow,

once miraculous, suddenly became ahassle. Another inch on the groundbecame another inch to scrape off mycar in the freezing cold. Another coat-ing on the ground meant more snowin my boots, more cold wind andmore slippery ice on the sidewalk.Another foot on the ground meantmore layers to pile, bundle, wrap, zipand fasten before I venture outside.South Quad no longer becomes a

friendly stretch of grass. Instead it isa harsh wind tunnel, an Arcticexpanse of wasteland and wind. Iwish for a team of Alaskan sled dogsand a parka.Where did the magic go? I thought I

lost it. I used to live for snow days. Mysisters and I would wake up to choco-late chip pancakes, hot chocolate andbacon, and we would spend our daysledding on the giant hill behind ourhouse. The rush of adrenaline as thesled rocketed down the hill was life —childhood exploded in that one, beau-tiful, miraculous moment. Now, theonly rushing I do in the middle of thewinter is on the sidewalks betweenclasses as I huddle in my jacket andmake a beeline for DeBart.The last snow day at Notre Dame

was in 2000. So when I woke up onWednesday morning to the NotreDame Alert text informing me thatthe University closed due to inclementweather, I almost thought I was in adream. Yet I woke up again — atnoon — to the reality of an actual,real-life, college snow day. I almostdied of joy.My afternoon was spent curled on a

comfortable couch with my favoritepeople, watching movies, pretendingto do work, waiting for brownies to beready, eating too many brownies,watching more movies and thenremembering I really did have aninsane amount of work to finishbecause real life was still in session.After the perfect afternoon free

from classes, I spent the night stayingup too late and doing homework. Buton the way back to my dorm in thecold, the dome shone against the darknight. The snow fell softly, silentlyand sweetly. I suddenly was hit with asense of reverence and smacked by asense of peace in the middle of thecraziest week. Because here we arein a world that does not stop turning,even for a blizzard, and I had amoment of peace. I had my own mira-cle: a day to remember miracles. Asnow day.I did not sleep with a spoon under

my pillow. I did not wear my pajamasinside-out. I did not build a snowman.I just turned by face up to the sky

and tasted the cold snowflakes asthey melted on my tongue. And lifewas magical.

INSIDE COLUMN

Snow daymagic

The views expressed in the InsideColumn are those of the author andnot necessarily those of The Observer.Contact Megan Doyle at

mdoyle11@nd.edu

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Megan Doyle

AssociateNews Editor

Snow days in college are a surreal experience. With theapocalyptic tones of meteorologists ringing in their ears,Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s students started to get a lit-tle ridiculous on Tuesday night.Blizzard conditions? Snow measured in double-digits?

The Career Fair has been cancelled? A snow day wasimminent, it had to be.People from warm-weather states started to get a little

giddy, as many had never experienced a snow day in theirentire academic career. Those experiencedin winter weather cancellations fed theanticipation with nostalgia for snow dayspast.But our campuses, smack-dab in the mid-

dle of lake-effect territory and well-stockedwith removal equipment, haven’t closedsince 2000. The sheer novelty of it was enough for 18-to-22-year-olds to resort to the tried-and-true snow dayvoodoo:Wear your pajamas inside-out, flush an ice cube down

the toilet, sleep with a spoon under the pillow. They knewto set their alarms for ungodly hours of the morning justto watch the cancellations list on WNDU — or, in fittingcollege fashion, obsessively refresh their email and theschool homepage unt i l the g lor ious news arr ived:“Because of dangerous weather conditions, classes havebeen cancelled and the campus will be closed today.”For the 80 percent of the student body stuck on either

campus, Wednesday was truly an escapade through

Catholic Disneyland. A few overly-brave people venturedout onto the maybe-frozen Saint Mary’s lake before beingshooed off by Notre Dame Security Police. Some headedout the dorm courtyards and quads to build snow forts outof recycling-bin-shaped blocks. Others spent hours play-ing rugby and football in the powder before headinginside to watch marathons of television shows on DVD.Despite a snow emergency issued by South Bend Mayor

Stephen Luecke that restricted travel, the valiant staff ofNotre Dame and Saint Mary’s food serviceskept the dining halls open for regular hours.You could even go to LaFortune Student Centerand get a hot chocolate after sledding down thesteps of Bond Hall on your dining hall trayfrom breakfast.For everyone stranded off campus, it was a

day to wander between apartment complexes on foot(toasty in Uggs and snow boots), inventing ways to includesnow in their tailgate games left over from football sea-son. Students even took South Bend’s new snow removalordinance to heart and braved the cold to shovel theirsidewalks.Wednesday had the best of college — spontaneity,

friends, community — without the pesky business of class-work and schedules and predictability. When footballgameday has its own website and dorm Mass comes at thesame time every week, sometimes the best parts of thetradition-laden “Notre Dame experience” are the unex-pected things like snow days.

OBSERVER POLL

Viewpoint

Friday, February 4, 2011 page 7

The Observer

For fear of sounding cranky like CBScommentator Andy Rooney, I am hesitantto complain about the substandard levelof global technological instantaneouscommunications still wallowing in somequarters of cyber-space. Naturally, likemost, I want my e-mail to pop into mybox a split secondafter it was sentfrom halfway aroundthe world. I remainwild about languagecommand softwarethat allows my PCUto reply back at melike the infamoussuper computerssuch as HAL in themovie “2001, A Space Odyssey” or WOPRof “War Games.” I would accept refusalsof my requests so long as their methods ofcommunication were either mechanicalor monotone. “Would you like to playGlobal Thermonuclear War?” could bepoetry to my ear.Lately, humans controlling computers

frustrate me. These so-called “customersupport professionals” hold the entireInternet — not to mention all of my pro-prietary personal information — at the tipof their keyboards. They should comfortme, solve my problems and electronicallypat me on my butt as we hang up thephone. (If I was actually Andy Rooney, at

this point I would diverge to ask the ques-tion, “Do you think anyone other than mestill uses the term ‘hang up’ to describepressing the end button on a cell phone?”)But I am not Andy Rooney — at least

not yet — and I am upset that I receivedno electronic butt-pats after I recently ini-tiated two customer service help calls.The first occurred when my six-monthcomplimentary Sirius Radio and data sub-scription expired. In an attempt to renewonline, I could view both programs listedon my account, but could only renew oneof them.Surfing the Sirius site only confused me

since new Ford vehicles like my FusionHybrid are the first to utilize new tech-nologies other companies do not. Ireviewed my data options: Sirius TravelLink, Traffic or Traffic with Travel Link.Yet I read that Travel Link was exclusiveto Fords, plus already included trafficdata. I ended up adding a data package Ithought was the Ford package that lastedjust three days at a billed cost to me of 86cents.Soon afterwards I knew I failed to

renew my data when I clicked for weath-er information I previously saw during mycomplimentary period. Rather thanweather, a notice including a call button Icould conveniently press to remedy myproblem shown brightly on my dash-board. Naturally, I pushed the help but-ton.Immediately, I knew by the sing-songy

inflections of the customer service repthat I had connected with a female inIndia. After explaining my quandary andinability to renew the data package, shereplied, “Yes, Gary. I’ll be happy, Gary, toset up and review your music account.”I countered that I had successfully

renewed my music but had no weatherinformation. She continued, “Gary, wehave several music options, Gary. AndGary, let me explain your paymentoptions, Gary.”“I know my options — I chose Sirius

Everything over something I believe I can-not buy anyway for my new Ford,” I loud-ly shot back. I then pleaded, “I want myweather and traffic back. What the helldoes my account indicate that I originallyhad, but cannot renew on line?”“Gary, let’s see if you have music on

channel 104, Gary.”“I told you I have my music. Can you

help me or not?” I barked back.“Gary, would you be interested in pay-

ing for a full year of music, Gary, andreceive two months free?” she matter-of-factly asked.My head was about to explode. If I

heard her sing my name one more time, itwould have burst. I hung up on her.Two days later, I attempted an online

check-in for a Lufthansa flight using myExpedia booking confirmation code.According to the web site, the airline hadno record of me. I attempted to useanother check-in option, namely, my

United Airlines frequent flyer numbersubmitted when I booked the flight.Again, nothing a mere day before what Ithought for months was my scheduledflight. I panicked and called Expedia cus-tomer service ringing in — you guessed it— India.A female voice, which I swear was the

same voice from my Sirius Radio call,began in her sing-songy way, “Gary, I’d behappy to confirm your itinerary, Gary.Gary, you are on flight…”Raising my voice, I interrupted, “I know

the flights. I cannot check-in using thebooking code the airline gave me or myfrequent flyer number I used to book theflight.”“Gary, I’d be happy to add your fre-

quent flyer number to your itinerary,Gary,” she matter-of-factly replied.Doesn’t anyone in customer services lis-

ten? Oh, for want of a stress-free solution,even if just to hear an inanimate mono-tone voice tell me, “I’m sorry, Gary, I can’tdo that!”

Gary Caruso, Notre Dame ‘73, serves inthe Department of Homeland Securityand was a legislative and public affairsdirector in President Clinton’s adminis-tration. His column appears every otherFriday. He can be contacted at GaryJCaruso@alumni.nd.eduThe views expressed in this column are

those of the author and not necessarilythose of The Observer.

Please, no further help necessary!

Gary Caruso

CapitolComments

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

This morning my roommates and I woke up to the great news of class cancellationsdue to the snowpocalypse that had reached South Bend overnight. After going back tosleep for another hour, we then got to work on deciding what to do with our newly foundfreetime. First order of business: eat some food. We wanted nothing more than to go toNorth Dining Hall and enjoy some hot brunch after the long snowy night. Unsure ofwhether NDH would be open as a result of the storm, we trekked across north quad andmade it there without too much trouble because of the efficient snow removal. The evenbetter news was that NDH was open! The card swipers were there, smiling at us asusual, the dessert bar was being restocked as we took our seats and the food was hotand ready. We certainly didn’t expect such a scene! The men and women of North DiningHall (and the snow removal crew and the LaFortune workers and various support staff)made it to campus safely, all for our direct benefit. We cannot thank you enough for allthat you do for us! While we slept in and lounged in our pajamas, all of you were out andabout, braving the brutal road conditions and making your way to Notre Dame. It reallysays a lot about how much we need to appreciate the staff on campus. Don’t take yourclear sidewalks, clean dorms, hot lunch and Starbucks for granted. Many people came towork this morning despite the blizzard so take a minute to say thank you and appreciatehow good we have it here. Thanks Notre Dame for the snow day and thanks NDH for thebest brunch we’ve had all year!

Taylor Sticha, Katie Hennessy, Sydney Speltz, Catherine de la Rosa, Mary Goodman,Anna Bennett, Mara Catlaw

sophomoresLewis Hall

Feb. 2

Thank you, North Dining Hall staff!

Thank you for your dedication. While thousands of students, including myself, had thechance to step out of their hectic lifestyles for an entire day, you came to work. Becauseof you, I was able to admire the snow on beautifully cleared sidewalks, enjoy leisurelymeals with friends at North and South dining halls, and even grab a cup of coffee atStarbucks to sip while reading a book. I wish I could have personally thanked everymember of the “Snow Essential Personnel” team today. In fact, my sincerest gratitudegoes out to every employee who makes living at Notre Dame such an honor and a privi-lege. As far as I’m concerned, you are the Fighting Irish.

Raquel FalksophomoreBadin Hall

Feb. 3

Thank you, ‘Snow Essential Personnel’

Looking forward toValentine’s Day?

Share your feelings.

Write a Letter to the Editor.

I would just like to say thank you to the dining hall workers and supportstaff who came in to work. We got a day off, but they had to come to cam-pus even through the blizzard conditions. Thank you!

Lauren McCallicksenior

Pasquerilla West HallFeb. 2

Thank you

Viewpoint

Scenepage 8 Friday, February 4, 2011

The Observer

I’ve always considered myself a bit of aboy band enthusiast. I drooled over JustinTimberlake in *NSync. I tacked up postersof Nick Carter and the Backstreet Boys onmy walls. I know the origin of the nameBBMak. I watched every episode of Diddy’sfirst “Making the Band” and own both ofO-Town’s CDs.But as much as I love boy bands, I have

always known they were a trend of the90s. I was content listening to old CDs,feeling waves of nostalgia wash over me asI went back to the glory days of brightly-colored leggings, oversized sweatshirtsand scrunchies. And because I havealways seen them firmly in the 90s, therecent comebacks and reunions of thesebands have taken me by surprise.The comebacks and reunions them-

selves have not taken me by surprise; manhas been making comebacks for thou-sands of years. Grover Cleveland, our 22ndand 24th president, overcame a defeat byBenjamin Harrison in his second bid forthe presidency only to return and win his

third campaign. In the realm of music,Eminem came back from his three-yearmusical hiatus in 2009, after many criticsthought he retired from music, to release2010’s highly acclaimed “Recovery.”The marginal popularity of these come-

backs surprised me. Children around thesame age I was when I fell in love withBSB were unmoved by their music, prefer-ring other artists. Instead, 20-somethingscontributed the majority of ticket and CDsales. Call me naïve, but I did not under-stand how kids only 10 years our juniorcould so easily pass up the pinnacles ofpop music from our youth. Could 10 yearsreally make such a difference?I realized the real question behind my

surprise concerns the relevance of boybands in today’s pop music culture. Or, asDerek Zoolander would eloquently put it,“why boy bands?” Can boy bands achievethe same popularity today that they did inthe 90s? After much deliberation, I havearrived at the conclusion that boy bandssimply do not fit into the current musicscene, as much as it pains me to admitthis.I know some may immediately want to

disagree with my conclusion, pointing to

successes like BSB’s 2005 platinum album,“Never Gone.” Or you may possibly pointto the success of Justin Timberlake, whoexemplified our boy band generation andstill does, to some extent. I would agree;these are stories of success. But they donot point to the relevancy of boy bandstoday.Rather, the Billboard success of the

Backstreet Boys results from nostalgia anda deep desire to return to the innocence ofour childhood. To our generation, boybands represent the carefree years whenour biggest problem was being placed intimeout. In these times of uncertaintywhen we have no idea if there will be jobsfor us upon graduation, the younger yearsappear perfect. There was no worry aboutthe future, only concern for the present.And so we strive to regain that mindsetthrough our music choices.And Justin Timberlake’s phenomenal

success perfectly represents the new popmusic culture in which boy bands have noplace. Solo stars completely dominatetoday’s pop music scene. Taylor Swift.Ke$ha. Lady Gaga. Taio Cruz. Beyoncé.The Jonas Brothers tried to bring back theboy band genre, but despite early success

they have not succeeded. They tried tocatch the attention of an audience unusedto pop bands, only pop stars. I do not havethe expertise to attempt to explain thecauses of this shift away from bands, all Ican do is observe its occurrence and try topostulate about it.My best guess is the highly competitive

nature of American society today, but itmay be an oversimplification. Who knows,maybe in 10 or 20 years my kids will beenamored by some hot new boy band thathas just launched onto the scene. I’mwearing leggings again (though thankfullynot scrunchies), which I never thought Iwould ever do, so I won’t rule anythingout.It’s a scary thought that Britney Spears

may have been right about something.Perhaps her career, solo since The MickeyMouse Club, was an inspired act of genius,foreseeing the music industry of thefuture. Or maybe she was just lucky.

The views expressed in this column arethose of the authors and not necessarilythose of The Observer. Mary ClaireO’Donnell can be reached atmodonne5@nd.edu

By MARY CLAIRE O’DONNELLScene Writer

If there are any musical memories of our90s childhoods left, pop boy bands areundoubtedly one of them. A pop culturalphenomenon, no girl under the age of 25was lacking a favorite band member (Mostguys, on the other hand, debated whetheror not groups of all singers should even becalled a ‘band’). Starting in 1984 with thecreation of New Kids on the Block, fol-lowed by The Backstreet Boys, shortlyafter *NSYNC and 98 degrees, as well asBoys II Men, Dream Street, B2k, and more.The cultural craze rivaling Beatle maniaswept through the United States, Europeand Asia. Nearly 20 years later, after many break

ups, reunions, attempted solo careers andmembers leaving, which pop stars madethe best of their fame and which have dis-appeared forever into obscurity? Starringrival favorites, The Backstreet Boys and*NSYNC, it’s up to you to decide whichband members are doing well or failingmiserably. The Backstreet Boys — After a four

year hiatus from 2002-2006, released“Never Gone” before Kevin Richardson,now married with a daughter, left theband. Since then, they have released twomore albums in 2007 and 2009. The nowfour Backstreet Boys will be touring withthe five remaining members of New Kidson the Block this summer.Nick Carter— Carter remained with the

band’s management company, The Firm,after the band left the company in 2002. In2002 he was named Cosmogirl’s “SexiestMan in the World” (beating JustinTimberlake). His solo album “Now or

Never” reached No. 17 on the BillboardTop 200. His second solo album was abort-ed when The Backstreet Boys returned tothe studio. He starred in “House ofCarters,” a reality television show on E!,that lasted one season. A.J McLean— McLean went to rehabili-

tation for drug and alcohol addiction in2001 and again in 2002 after an interven-tion lead by fellow band member KevinRichardson. He performed in a solo tour in2008, and his newest album “Have It All”

is to be released in the United States onFebruary 8. He is engaged, with a weddingdate of May 14. Brian Littrell — Littrell decided to

become a contemporary Christian singer,releasing “In Christ Alone” from his“Welcome Home” album in 2006. His sec-ond Christian album is set to be released in2011 after The Backstreet Boys “This Is It”tour. Howie Dorough— Has worked as a pro-

ducer to singer/songwriters, guest starredin an episode of “Sabrina The TeenageWitch,” and voiced starred as Santa Clausin the “Dora the Explorer” Christmasepisode. *NSYNC — Also went on hiatus in 2002.

*NSYNC never released another newalbum as a band. Their greatest hitsalbum was released in 2005.Justin Timberlake — Timberlake

released his debut album “Justified” inNovember of 2002. He co-headlined the

Justified/Stripped Tour with ChristinaAguilera in 2003 and is notoriously knownfor the Janet Jackson Super Bowl contro-versy from 2004. His“FutureSex/LoveSounds” album, knownfor the single “Sexy Back,” was released in2006. He collaborated with numerousartists including Madonna, 50 Cent and Lil’Wayne. He has been pursuing acting since2000, including the role of Sean Parker inthe Academy Award and Golden Globe

nominated film “The Social Network.” JC Chasez — Released his debut solo

album “Schizophrenic” in 2004. Chasezwas dropped from the 2004 Pro Bowl per-formance as the NFL was concerned withthe lyrics of the first single off the album.In addition to his work as a singer/song-writer and record producer, he appears asa judge on “Randy Jackson Presents:America’s Best Dance Crew,” whose 6thseason has yet to be announced. Chris Kilpatrick— Participated in CMT’s

reality show “Gone Country,” a competitionin which the winner gets a country singleproduced by John Rich. Kilpatrick did notwin. Joey Fatone — Did voice work with

Lance Bass in an episode of “Kim Possible”on the Disney Channel, made a guestappearance on “Hannah Montana,” partic-ipated in season 4 of ABC’s “Dancing withthe Stars,” has been a voice actor for mul-tiple episodes of “Robot Chicken” on AdultSwim, hosted “The Singing Bee” on NBCand has been on Broadway, performing inlead roles of “Rent” and a revival of “LittleShop of Horrors.” Lance Bass — Formed music manage-

ment company Free Lance Entertainmentin 2000. Bass has voiced characters bothon Disney Channel and in the video game“Kingdom Hearts.” Bass entered cosmo-naut training in Russia in 2002, receivedcertification to fly and was scheduled tostar in a documentary. The original docu-mentary deal fell through; he was rejectedfrom the program and replaced. He per-formed in the Broadway musical“Hairspray” in 2007 and released an auto-biography entitled “Out of Sync.”

By CLAIRE STEPHENSScene Writer

Contact Claire Stephens atcstephe4@nd.edu

BLAIR CHEMIDLIN | Observer Graphic

SceneFriday, February 4, 2011 page 9

The Observer

The advantages to spending a semes-ter in London extend beyond the countlesspubs, beautiful buildings and fantasticshopping to be found in all corners of thecity. This diverse metropolis of 7.5 millionbrings together all types of people, includ-ing famous actors and excited young col-lege students. This particular college stu-dent gladly ran straight from class to theApple store on Regent Street three hoursbefore actor Colin Firth and director TomHooper of “The King’s Speech” were set togive an interview about the film to stand inline and hope for a seat. What followedwas a remarkable hour in which Firth andHooper shared stories about the trials andtribulations of making the Oscar-nominat-ed film, as well as the sheer joy they bothfound in the project. The pair was rivetingand proved an excellent way to start thesemester with a bang.

Photos by Maija Gustin

Share your own abroad experience! Go to ndsmcobserver.com/scene

for more information about how to submit your video.

A sneak peek at Scene Around the WorldWatch the videos at ndsmcobserver.com/scene

This weekend is the Super Bowl.You know this. I know this.Everyone in the English speakingareas of North America knows this.And, let’s face it, it’s getting aboutas much press coverage as Egyptright now. Because, you know, theimpending geographical riotsbetween those who pack and thosewho steel is far more relevant toour lives than the truly violent riotsgoing on in one of America’s mostimportant allies in the Middle East.Not that I’m passing judgment atall, because if the world operatedaccording to my wants and needs,we would spend all national newsfocusing on the halftime show, notthe quarterbacks.How dare! You sin! For shame!

That any Notre Dame studentwould speak out against the –ahem – Super Bowl of Super … is

something unforeseen. Let meexplain. I knew nothing of footballbefore I arrived at McGlinn inAugust 2007. My knowledge of thesport consisted of that which Igathered in between spoonfuls ofartichoke dip when my father (whonever watches football) insisted onwatching the Broncos the twotimes Denver went to the champi-onship, and whatever was pickedup driving around a car purchasedfrom John Elway Toyota.My first Notre Dame game (after

my head stopped spinning from allthe Irish gear in varying shades ofblue, green and gold) was spentlearning the finer points of why thelines of men were moving back andforth across the field with no dis-cernable pattern, under the tute-lage of a sophomore who had beendrinking the Kool-Aid far longerthan I. After four years, I do under-stand most of what happens on thefield, though whenever those littleyellow strips come flying from the

zebras I moan and yell crass noth-ings to the air before turning to theclosest male and ask under mybreath, “What happened? Was thatgood? Who did it?” College football, you’ve won me

over and been mastered. But thisother stuff, this big stuff, withHydro domes and billions of dollarsand endorsements, I have no ideahow it works. The game itself,sure. But the mania surrounding itis lost on me. I have no connectionto Green Bay. I can’t even tell youwhat state it is in. (“Wisconsin, youidiot!”) And I drove throughPittsburgh … once. I understandthe legions of Midwesterners don-ning oversized (and overpriced)jerseys to support their team. ButI, personally, will be watching forthe commercials and the halftimeshow. Call me a sinner, but at leastI’m still watching.I do commend the efforts that the

media lords have put in to makingthe Super Bowl not Super Boring:

commercials that represent billionsof dollars invested in my ownamusement, a halftime show fea-turing those crazy kids who provid-ed the baseline for last year’s popmash up from DJ Earworm, and anoverabundance of sappy storylinesthat will guarantee I cry at leasttwice during the telecast (especial-ly when the captain of the winningteam lifts his son into his arms atthe end of the game). So when Iturn to the television at 6:30ish onSunday, after dorm Mass, moved toaccommodate the hordes whowould have gone without had Massstayed in the evening, I will calmlysuck up the fact that I am not sointerested in the football. I willperpetuate the cliché. I will remain… Irish.

The views expressed in this col-umn are those of the authors andnot necessarily those of TheObserver. Stephanie DePrez can becontacted at sdeprez@nd.edu.

By STEPHANIE DEPREZScene Writer

BLAIR CHEMIDLIN | Observer Graphic

Super Bowl

Sunday

IRVING, Texas — DonaldDriver’s 36th birthday cele-bration the other day was arelatively reserved affair, justsome cake with his wife andkids. At a certain age, hejokes, it’s better not to remindpeople you’re getting older.Besides, the Green Bay

Packers wide receiver hopeshe’s in for a much bigger cele-bration come Sunday.When the Packers face the

Pit tsburgh Steelers atCowboys Stadium, it will beDriver’s first Super Bowl —the culmination of a 12-yearwait.“I don’t think i t ’s real ly

going to hit me until Sundaywhen I walk out that tunnel,knowing that this is thebiggest stage that I’m going toplay on in my career,” Driversaid. “And I have to win itall.”For Driver, winning would

be the ul t imate payoff foryears of hard yards andcrunching hits.Driver has made a l iv ing

doing the dirty work somewide receivers won’t — goingover the middle, exposinghimself to big hits and holdingonto the ball. And now thathe’s finally made it to the biggame, all that punishment willbe worth it with a win overthe Steelers at CowboysStadium on Sunday.Those bumps and bruises

have added up. The Packersput him on the injury reportThursday after he was limitedin practice with a quadricepsinjury, an injury that kept himout of a game earlier in theseason. Coach Mike McCarthysaid Driver was fine, and washeld out as a precaution.The hard-hitting Steelers

defense expects him to play.They know some receivers canbe intimidated and Driver isn’tone of them.“Not Driver, no,” Steelers

linebacker James Farrior said.“He’s been a great receiver forthat team throughout theyears. He’s fearless. He does-n’t mind getting hit, and it’snot going to be a game whereyou can intimidate him.”Driver said former team-

mates such as Robert Brooksand Antonio Freeman taughthim the merits of going acrossthe middle.“That’s where you’re going

to make your bread and but-ter,” Driver said. “Because ifpeople know that you’re notafraid to go across the middle,you’re going to be able tomake plays. They know that

they can hit you as hard asthey can, you’ll still stand upand smile and shake it off.And that’s what I’ve done overmy career.”Despite all the punishment,

Driver wants to play out acontract that spans two moreseasons.“I want to walk away before

I have to crawl away,” Driversaid.Driver has taken a back seat

to Greg Jennings as the team’sNo. 1 receiver in recent years,but says he doesn’t mind alower prof i le as long as i thelps the Packers win.“You’ve just got to accept

your role and enjoy it,” Driversaid. “I think if I would havebeen one of those guys thatwent out every day and com-plained, I’m not getting this,I ’m not gett ing that , wewouldn’t be where we’re attoday. I think you have to behumble and understand thesituation.”The Packers’ younger

receivers credit Driver forhelping them learn the posi-tion, and they know how muchit means for him to play in theSuper Bowl.

“You could see that withDriver after the NFC champi-onship when we beatChicago,” Jordy Nelson said.“He was a little emotional. Idon’t know i f anyone elsecaught it, but he was sittingback and taking it all in andprobably thinking about allthe years and all the workthat he put into this to finallyget this opportunity.”Going into the game, Driver

is telling his teammates not tolet it slip away.“It is hard getting here and

that is what we stress to theseguys all season long,” Driversaid. “When you get to thispoint in your career, you justwant to win it all. This sepa-rates you from all other greatguys that play this game, bywinning that championship.”And i f he scores Sunday,

you’d better believe he’ll do a“Lambeau Leap” into thestands — although he and histeammates will have to scoutaround for the r ight spotbeforehand.“You’ve got to do a Lambeau

Leap!” Driver said. “You’vejust got to make sure you findthe right fans.”

The Observer � SPORTSFriday, February 4, 2011 page 10

GRADUATION/SPECIAL EVENTRENTAL:

House for rent forgraduation/JPW/weddings,football,etc.

Perfect location-right next to thenew Eddy Street Commons

-walk to everything-safe family oriented street.

Email nd-house@sbcglobal.netfor additional info and photos———————————————

UNPLANNED PREGNANCY?

Don't go it alone.

Notre Dame has many resources inplace to assist you.

If you or someone you love needsconfidential support or assistance,

please call Sr. Sue Dunn at 1-7819.

For more information, visit ND'swebsite at:http://pregnancysupport@nd.edu

———————————————

If you or someone you care about

has been sexually assaulted,

we can help.

For more information,

visit Notre Dames website: http://csap.nd.edu———————————————George: The sea was angry thatday my friends, like an old man try-ing to return soup at a deli! I gotabout fifty-feet out and then sud-denly the great beast appearedbefore me. I tell ya he was ten sto-ries high if he was a foot. As if sens-ing my presence he gave out a big ———————————————

bellow. I said, "Easy big fella!" And then as I watched him strug-gling I realized something wasobstructing his breathing. Fromwhere I was standing I could seedirectly into the eye of the greatfish! Then from out of nowhere ahuge title wave lifted, tossed like acork and I found myself on top ofhim face to face with the blow-hole.I could barely see from all of thewaves crashing down on top of mebut I knew something was there so Ireached my hand and pulled outthe obstruction!

Kramer: What is that a Titleist? Ahole in one eh.———————————————

MOVIE QUOTE GAME

You.Your Friend.Your Rules.Best of 5 wins.Today’s Difficulty: Easy

“He's on his final hole. He's about455 yards away, he's gonna hitabout a 2 iron I think.”

“It's got a cop motor, a 440 cubicinch plant, it's got cop tires, copsuspensions, cop shocks. It's amodel made before catalytic con-verters so it'll run good on regulargas. What do you say, is it the newBluesmobile or what? ———————————————

“We are noodle folk. Broth runsthrough our veins. “

“What? You pooped in the refrigera-tor? And you ate the whole... wheelof cheese? How'd you do that?Heck, I'm not even mad; that'samazing. How 'bout we get you inyour p.j.'s and we hit the hay.”

You're 5 foot nothin', 100 and noth-in', and you have barely a speck ofathletic ability. And you hung inthere with the best college footballplayers in the land for 2 years. Andyou're gonna walk outta here with adegree from the University of NotreDame. In this life, you don't have toprove nothin to nobody but yourself. ———————————————

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 editCLASSIFIEDS

FOR RENT NOTICES

NFL

Driver gets first shot at Super Bowl

AP

Green Bay Packers’ Donald Driver practices on Thursday. Green Baywill face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLV Sunday in Dallas.

NBA

Four Celtics namedas All-Star reservesNEW YORK — Blake Griffin

is going to his first All-Stargame, and Kevin Garnettmatched an NBA recordThursday with his 14thstraight selection as one of arecord-tying four BostonCeltics headed for the mid-season event.Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce

and Ray Allen will accompa-ny Garnett , who equaledJerry West, Shaquille O’Nealand Karl Malone for themost consecutive selections.The Celtics joined the 2006Detroit Pistons as the onlyteams to have four playerspicked as reserves by thecoaches.Griffin, the Rookie of the

Year favorite of the Clippers,will become the first rookieAll-Star since Yao Ming in2003. Joining Griffin on theWestern Conference team forthe Feb. 20 game at StaplesCenter were Tim Duncanand Manu Ginobi l i of theNBA-leading Spurs; forwardsDirk Nowitzki of Dallas andPau Gasol of the Lakers; andguards Deron Will iams ofUtah and Russell Westbrookof Oklahoma City, who joinsGriffin as the lone first-timeselections.Chris Bosh will go to Los

Angeles with Miami team-mates LeBron James andDwyane Wade, who wereelected as starters. Theother East reserves pickedwere Atlanta’s Joe Johnsonand Al Horford.The reserves were selected

in voting by the head coach-es in each conference, whohad to vote for two forwards,two guards, a center and twoplayers regardless of posi-tion.They went for the winning

teams in the East, whosereserves are represented byjust three teams.The voting was much more

difficult in the West, wherecoaches bypassed the likes ofKevin Love, LaMarcusAldridge, Zach Randolph andLamar Odom at the forwardspot.“There hasn’t been too

many times where you’vehad this kind of competitionat the top of the EasternConference with such goodteams,” Wade said. “So look-ing at the All-Star team, youunderstand that most guysare going to be from a fewteams. That’s how it should

be in the EasternConference. The WesternConference is a di f ferentargument.”Tony Parker missed out

despite being the second-leading scorer on the Spurs,who entered play Thursdaywith a 40-8 record. VeteranSteve Nash of the Suns andthe Warriors’ Monta Ellis,the league’s sixth-leadingscorer, also fell short.“I think every year i t ’s

hard for point guards tomake it, because there areso many great point guardsin this league, especially inthe West,” Wil l iams said.“There are always youngguys that are coming intothe league and it’s going tocontinue to be a fight everyyear. That’s another reason Ifeel so honored.”The starters were chosen

by fan voting and announcedlast week. Orlando’s DwightHoward, Chicago’s DerrickRose and Knicks forwardAmare Stoudemire are theother East starters, while theLakers’ Kobe Bryant,Hornets guard Chris Paul,forwards Carmelo Anthonyof Denver and Kevin Durantof Oklahoma City, andHouston center Yao were thewinners from the West.Yao is injured and

Commissioner David Sternwill choose a replacement.That gives another chance toLove, who is averaging 21.4points and a league-best15.5 rebounds, and shooting43.9 percent from 3-pointrange. He has 34 straightdouble-doubles, but wasundoubtedly hurt by hisMinnesota Timberwolves’11-37 record.But the coaches couldn’t

overlook Griffin, even thoughthe Clippers are also below.500. The No. 1 pick in the2009 draft has been spectac-ular after sitt ing out lastseason following knee sur-gery, averaging 23 pointsand 12.7 rebounds whilecompiling a half season ofhighlights with his array ofdunks.The East will be coached

by the Celtics’ Doc Rivers,who said earlier Thursdaythat he hoped his four play-ers would be rewarded andsaid he would play them alltogether.“That way we can run

offense in the Al l-Stargame,” Rivers said. “That’dbe a first.”

Associated Press

Associated Press

The Observer � PAID ADVERTISEMENTFriday, February 4, 2011 page 11

The Observer � SPORTSpage 12 Friday, February 4, 2011

24 points, including 5-for-8 on3-point attempts, in their firstgame since beating then-sec-ond-ranked Pittsburgh on theroad nine days ago.“I thought the layoff helped

us,” Brey said. “We got ener-gized. Our energy was great thisweek in practice, and our ener-gy was good tonight again.”The Blue Demons (6-16, 0-9)

remained within striking dis-tance through most of the firsthalf, only down two points witheight minutes remaining, butfell behind 37-24 entering thehalf thanks to an 18-4 run fromthe Irish. Coming out of thebreak, Notre Dame’s sharp-shooters quickly put the contestout of reach, as Hansbrough hittwo 3-pointers and fourth-yearforward Tim Abromaitis addedone more before the first mediatimeout.“One of the things we wanted

to do was come out and set thetone,” Hansbrough said. “Andleave it all on the court. I thinkwe did that.”Senior guard Scott Martin fol-

lowed Hansbrough as Notre

Dame’s second-leading scorerwith 15, while senior forwardTyrone Nash added 8 rebounds.Nash also hit the first 3-pointerof his four-year career as theshot clock expired late in thefirst half, part of Notre Dame’sdeciding run, on his way to 10points. Nash’s only previousattempt came nearly exactlythree years ago in a 95-69 Irishvictory at Seton Hall on Feb. 6,2008.Abromaitis added 13 points

for the Irish, who as a teamshot 50.9 percent from the fieldDePaul remains winless in

conference play this season, butthe lopsided win provides thesame value to Notre Dame’srecord as the nail-biter winover Pittsburgh did.“It’s another Big East win,”

Hansbrough said. “I told theguys before we played, ‘This isanother Big East win.’ They allcount the same so we need totreat them the same.”Notre Dame’s two-game road

trip, with its nine-day layoverincluded, ends as the Irish willhost Rutgers Sunday at noonand No. 15 LouisvilleWednesday at 7 p.m.

AP

DePaul junior guard Michael Bizoukas reacts to missing a shot dur-ing Notre Dame’s 83-58 victory Thursday.

Irishcontinued from page 16

Please recycle The Observer.

with four consecutive victoriesto beat Notre Dame, 4-1.“We did not execute or play

well against Illinois,” Sachiresaid. “It’s important that westep up and play like we can.”The Blue Devils are yet

another ranked opponent thatthe Irish will face in the earlypart of the spring season.“We need to play well and

compete well,” Sachire said.“Duke is very well-coached andhas a lot of talent. We will be inthe match if we play and exe-cute like we are capable of.Duke is certainly one of themore talented teams on our

schedule.”The Blue Devils qualified for

the Indoor Championships witha tournament win last week-end. The championships will beheld in two weeks.The doubleheader Sunday

will be the first of a string ofmatches the Irish will competein over the course of the nextcouple weeks. On Tuesday,Notre Dame will play at Big Tencompetitor Wisconsin beforeplaying Michigan State andMarquette in East Lansing,Mich., next weekend.The Irish will face Duke at 12

p.m. and Toledo at 6 p.mSunday at the Eck TennisCenter.

Contact Andrew Owens ataowens2@nd.edu

Doublescontinued from page 16

Observer File Photo

Senior Daniel Stahl fires a serve in a match against William andMary on Jan. 22, 2010.

Contact Douglas Farmer atdfarmer1@nd.edu

The Observer � SPORTSFriday, February 4, 2011 page 13

ers from a year ago so it was goodto see how we played under pres-sure.”The challenge of playing on the

road this weekend is more tangiblethan most.“This week [the challenge] is get-

ting out of town because of thesnow,” Louderback said.On the other hand, playing on the

road brings a unique element to theteam dynamic.“It is good for us to go on the road

because we need to spend sometime together and have to compete

in front of our opponents’ crowds,”Louderback said.North Carolina is 3-0 on the sea-

son with wins over Elon, DePauland No. 15 Georgia. Wake Forest is2-1 with wins over Winthrop andEast Tennessee State and a loss toVirginia. Neither team has faced anopponent of Notre Dame’s caliberso this weekend’s matchups createinteresting stories on both sides ofthe net.The Irish square off with North

Carolina at 12 p.m. Saturday inChapel Hill and then take on WakeForest at 11 a.m. Sunday inWinston-Salem.

Contact Matt Robison atmrobison@nd.edu

Roadcontinued from page 16

PAT COVENEY/The Observer

Freshman Jennifer Kellner swings in the Eck Classic on Oct. 3, 2010.The Irish take on North Carolina and Wake Forest this weekend.

had a sensational year. She’sa first-team Big East type ofplayer. She’s quick, she canshoot the three, get to thebasket. She’s as good as anyof the guards in the Big East.She’s going to create someproblems for our defense.”In addition to Smith’s scor-

ing ability from the perimeterand her quickness throughthe lane, No. 8 Notre Dame(19-4, 8-1 Big East) will havethe additional task of contain-ing post presence PorcheGrant. Listed as a true center,Grant is the second-leading

rebounder in the Big Eastwith a 9.6 rebounds per gameaverage.The Irish have faced a num-

ber of talented posts thus farin the conference season, andMcGraw has once againtabbed senior forward BeccaBruszewski to lead the defen-sive effort against the Bulls(10-12, 1-7).“[Grant] is a great rebound-

er,” McGraw said. “She’s gotsize, and she’s just so athletic.We’ve played some other goodposts that Becca Bruszewskihas done a really good job on,so she’s going to get the chal-lenge of guarding her again.”Whi le their conference

records are nearly mirroropposi tes , the two squads

implement a s imi lar s ty leoffense. Both teams like torun the floor, score in transi-t ion and putpressure onthe defense tocome up withkey stops.“They’re an

u p - t e m p ot e a m , ”McGraw said.“They like torun, they’ l lpress . Theycreate a lot ofd i f f e r e n tthings defen-sively. They’llp lay someman, they’ll play some zone.They’ll really try to mix things

up, really trying to break yourrhythm. I t should be amatchup of two up-tempo

teams.”Whi le Notre

Dame has ben-ef i ted from acompetitive lullby racking upsix s traightwins in theconference, theschedule heatsup fo l lowingSaturday’s con-test against theBul ls and ahome matchupagainst a SetonHall team that

remains winless in the confer-ence. Notre Dame will host

Rutgers (12-9, 5-3) nextSaturday before traveling toNo. 2 Connecticut (21-1, 9-0).McGraw said her players

take each game with the sameapproach — preparation anddetermination.“This team, especially with

the leadership of Becca, hasreally come out every gameand been ready, no matterwho we’re playing,” McGrawsaid. “That’s just great leader-ship. They don’t look pastanyone. They look forward tothe chal lenge of p layingeverybody.”The Irish face the Bulls at 7

p.m. Saturday in Tampa.

Contact Chris Masoud atcmasoud@nd.edu

Smithcontinued from page 16

“This team, especiallywith the leadership ofBecca, has really come

out every game andbeen ready, no matterwho we’re playing.”

Muffet McGrawIrish Head Coach

SMC BASKETBALL

Flying Dutch triumph over Belles

The blizzard that postponed allMIAA games on Wednesday nightcast a chill over South Bend — andover Saint Mary’s shooting. TheBelles (14-7, 7-5 MIAA) fell 79-59to No. 3/4 Hope on Thursday nightat Angela Athletic Facility.The Flying Dutch (19-1, 10-1)

held Saint Mary’s to 18-of-60 (30percent) shooting from the fieldand 1-of-9 shooting from the 3-point line.Hope senior center Carrie

Snikkers led all scorers with 22points, including 17 in the firsthalf, and chipped in 10 rebounds.Snikkers scored nine of the Dutch’sfirst 13 points, staking them to anearly 13-4 lead.“She’s a real nice player. She

kept them going, she kept them init in the first half,” Belles coachJenn Henley said. “When youhave a post player like that with asoft touch inside and can hit itfrom the outside, that’s a hard per-son to defend.”Following a layup by Hope sen-

ior forward Rachael Kutney thatpushed the lead to 14, the Bellesresponded by cutting the lead toeight before halftime. Just twominutes into the second half, twofree throws by junior guard PatsyMahoney trimmed the Dutchadvantage to 4.The Belles’ 18-8 run, which

spanned 7:30 over both halves, gotthem back in the game. But thatwas the closest they would get.Hope used timely transition pointsto pull away from Saint Mary’s.“We tried to slow them down a

little bit, tried to limit their posses-sions,” Henley said. “Every timewe kept knocking on that door andclosing that gap, we gave up some

easy transition points and seemedto kill us down the stretch.”Junior forward Kelley Murphy

led the Belles with 16 points and14 rebounds while co-MIAA Playerof the Week junior guard MaggieRonan was held to eight points onjust 2-for-5 shooting. Despite theloss, Henley was still proud of herteam.“They battled, they do not quit

and they were here ready to com-pete tonight,” Henley said. “I giveour kids all the credit in the world.I’ll go to battle with them any day.”The Belles hit the hardwood

next against Trine (7-13, 5-7) onSaturday. Saint Mary’s beat theThunder 74-53 earlier this yearbehind Ronan’s then-career-high23 points.“Saturday’s a big day for us,”

Henley said. “It’s Senior Day andwe’ll be honoring our two seniorsGrace [Sadowski] and Liz [Wade].”Henley said that the prep time

for Saturday’s game will be verybeneficial.“We’re going to work a lot on

our defense to try to slow themdown a little bit,” Henley said.“We’ll also look to take advantageof our height advantage againstTrine.”Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. at Angela

Athletic Facility.

Contact Matt DeFranks atmdefrank@nd.edu

By MATT DeFRANKSSports Writer

The Observer � SPORTSpage 14 Friday, February 4, 2011

As the top-ranked team inthe country, it goes withoutsaying that expectations fort he I r i s h a r e s k y -h i gh .Coach Janus z Bednar sk iwouldn’t have it any otherway. Bo th t he men ’s andwomen’s fencing teams headinto the Northwestern dualsthis weekend as the best int he l and , and bo th a r edetermined to keep it thatway. “For the men, i t wi l l be

about solidifying our spot asthe be s t i n t he c oun t r y, ”Bednar sk i s a i d . “Fo r t hewomen, it will be to contin-ue our unbeaten streak.”Bo th t eams have been

dominant in the early partof the season and will lookto cont inue the ir winningways a s t hey t r a ve l t o

Northwestern on Saturday.The mee t w i l l f e a tu re ,among o the r s ,Nor thwes tern , Pr ince ton ,S t an f o rd , Temp l e , No r thCaro l i na , A i r Fo r ce andTemple. I t wil l be a toughcontest for an Ir ish men’steam coping with the loss ofs t a r j un i o r Ge rekMe inhard t , who w i l l n o tcompete for the remainderof the year due to in jury.Meinhardt, who competes int he f o i l , was an NCAAchamp ion and a U . S .O l ymp ian i n 2008 .Bednarski, however, is farfrom worried. “We certainly have other

fencers who can step up,”he said. “It will be good tosee some younger fencersget an opportunity.” The women should also be

favored to win, building ona prodigious win streak thathas lasted the whole year.

Eager to compete f o r thenational championship theymissed last year, the womenshou ld f a r e we l l a ga in s ts ome s t i f f c ompe t i t i on .Stanford and Princeton bothf l oa t n ea r t he t op o f t h epolls on both the men’s andwomen’s s ides and shouldbe the Irish’s main competi-tion come Saturday,“They are two very strong

teams,” Bednarski said.With conference champi-

on sh i p s i n j u s t abou t amonth, the Irish are lookingto u se th i s weekend a s aspringboard to a potentialchampionship season. Thenext few days should helpshow whether or not thatdream can become a reality.The Northwestern duals willt ake p l a ce Sa tu rday andSunday in Evanston, Ill.

FENCING

Irish seek to maintain top rankings at Northwestern

Contact Conor Kelly atckelly17@nd.edu

By CONOR KELLYSports Writer

SARAH O’CONNOR/The Observer

Junior Courtney Hurley strikes an opponent in the Notre DameDuals on Saturday. Both the men’s and women’s teams won 8-0.

NEW YORK — Andy Pettitte isgoing ahead with his decision toretire, leaving the New YorkYankees with two huge holes inwhat appears to be a rather wob-bly starting rotation.The team scheduled a Friday

morning news conference atYankee Stadium for Pettitte toannounce the choice he had beenleaning toward making since theend of last season.“I don’t think enough people

know that he’s still the leader ofthis pitching staff until today,”former Yankees right fielder PaulO’Neill said in a telephone inter-view with The Associated Press.A five-time World Series cham-

pion, Pettitte became the third-winningest pitcher in team histo-ry.“Andy was probably the con-

summate team player,” formerYankees manager Joe Torre said.“He’s been a huge favorite ofmine because he’s such astandup guy, and he hasn’tchanged from day one. He’s agreat teammate, and I thinkthat’s why he won so manygames. The guys that play behindhim understand how intense heis, and it becomes contagious.”Pettitte won’t disappear from

public view entirely. He is expect-ed to be a witness this summer atthe trial of former teammateRoger Clemens, indicted oncharges he lied to a congression-al committee when he deniedusing performance-enhancingdrugs.Pettitte admitted using human

growth hormone and saidClemens told him he had usedHGH. Clemens testified Pettittedidn’t remember the conversa-tion correctly.Clemens said Thursday he has-

n’t been able to speak withPettitte lately because of theongoing case. But he insisted heheld no hard feelings towardPettitte and congratulated him onhis career.

MLB

Pettitteretires fromYankeesAssociated Press

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The Observer � TODAYFriday, February 4, 2011 page 15

JUMBLE JEFF KNUREKMIKE ARGIRION

PLEASANDVILLE

THE MATING RITUAL SCOTT MITCHELL and MATT MOMONT

JAMES SOLLITTO, CODY ECKERT and JOHN FLATLEY

CROSSWORD HOROSCOPE EUGENIA LASTWILL SHORTZ

SportsFriday, February 4, 2011 page 16

The Observer

The No. 4 Irish experiencedsomething Sunday that they arenot quite used to: a loss. Thisweekend, Notre Dame (2-1) looksto bounce back from a surprisedefeat to No. 23 Arkansas as theyface No. 6 North Carolina andWake Forest in the Tar Heel State.“North Carolina was a final four

team last year and will be toughon the road,” Irish coach JayLouderback said. “They are well-coached and always competereally well.”The Demon Deacons, although

not ranked as high as NotreDame and the Tar Heels, will stillpose a challenge to the visiting

Irish.“Wake Forest has a new coach

with a few new players so wedon’t know a whole lot aboutthem,” Louderback said. “Theyare usually a tough team to playindoors at their place.”More than anything,

Louderback said, the loss toArkansas Sunday was an awak-ening for a team that had notencountered any adversity in theearly going, allowing them to seethose areas that need improve-ment.“I think we learned some things

about our team and what weneed to work on,” Louderbacksaid. “We have some new doublesteams and some new singles play-

Despite the cold currentlyexperienced in the South Bendwinter, the season is heating upfor the Irish, as they will play adoubleheader Sunday, as theyhost No. 14 Duke and Toledo.“Duke is very good,” associ-

ate head coach Ryan Sachiresaid. “They’re a top 15 teamthis year and they were a top15 team last year when theywent to the Sweet Sixteen.They are loaded from top tobottom.”Part of the challenge for the

Irish will be getting the badtaste out of their mouth from aweekend loss to No. 16 Illinois.Freshman Greg Andrews and

junior Casey Watt won a dou-bles match to give the Irish anearly 1-0 advantage. The Illini,however, finished the match

While South Bend remainsenveloped in snow, the Irishhead to warmer climates totake on a South Florida teamseeking its second conferencewin of the season. Despite their struggles in

the win-loss column, the Bullsfeature a number of premiereplayers that Ir ish coachMuffet McGraw believes couldcause potential mismatcheson the floor.South Florida guard Andrea

Smith ranks third in confer-ence scoring, averaging 17points per game.“[The Bulls] have played

really well,” McGraw said.

ND TRACK & FIELD

Demons downedMEN’S BASKETBALL

ND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

McGraw prepared for BullsBy CHRIS MASOUDSports Writer

see SMITH/page 13

ND WOMEN’S TENNIS

Notre Dame ready tobounce back in N.C.

Irish lookto recoverfrom lossBy ANDREW OWENSSports Writer

MEN’S TENNIS

see DOUBLES/page 12

No. 8 Notre Dame vaultsinto Big East second place

see ROAD/page 13

ROSEMONT, Ill. — No. 9Notre Dame moved into secondplace in the Big East with a 83-58 victory over DePaulThursday night at AllstateArena.The Irish (18-4, 7-3 Big East)

have only won two games onthe road all season, their lasttwo, and this trend-changer hasraised Notre Dame above thefive other teams in the confer-ence with six wins, at least forthe time being.“I’m proud of our group. We

talked about our goal of win-ning two-in-a-row on the road,”Irish coach Mike Brey said afterthe game. “This group has donea lot this year, but hasn’t donethat yet. I think our leadershipdid a great job.”Senior guard Ben

Hansbrough led the Irish with

By DOUGLAS FARMERSports Editor

see IRISH/page 12

SUZANNA PRATT/The Observer

Senior guard Brittany Mallory and junior guard Fraderica Millerdefend an opponent in the 71-48 win against Syracuse Tuesday.

The Irish will return home thisweekend for the 24th annualMeyo Invitational, their lastchance to qualify and prepare forthe Big East championships.“As far as non-championship

meets go, this is one of the best inthe country,” junior throwerAndy Hills said.Last year’s version of the

Invitational was an exceptionallyfast meet, with track records bro-

ken, nation-leading times set andgreat performances across theboard. The meet also served as alast-chance qualifier for severalNotre Dame athletes, on whosestrength the men’s team was ableto win the Big East indoor cham-pionship, while the womenturned in a strong showing to fin-ish sixth.With last year in mind, the

Irish understand the importanceof a strong showing at theInvitational this weekend. OneIrish athlete who will be lookingfor a strong performance is soph-

omore Jeremy Rae, who is hop-ing to follow up a win at theIndiana Relays and Big East ath-lete of the week honors withanother great performance. Raewill run in the extremely compet-itive Meyo Mile, which featured awinning time under four minuteslast year.Another hotly contested race

will be the Ryan Shay 3,000-meter run. The race honors Shay,a 2001 graduate who excelled forthe Irish, earning All-Americanhonors an incredible nine times.Junior Joe Miller finished 11th in

the event last year, and will lookto build upon that finish this timearound. On the women’s side ofthe meet, sophomore NevadaSorenson will look to claim the60-meter hurdles after finishingsecond last year.The Irish will face stiff competi-

tion throughout the weekend, asseveral elite collegiate teamsfrom around the country will bein attendance. Illinois, Michigan,Western Michigan, Marquette,Vanderbilt and Indiana areamong the many collegiate teamsentered in the meet. The

Hoosiers will pose a particularlystiff challenge for Notre Dame, asboth their men’s and women’steams are ranked in the Top 20in the latest NCAA rankings.“Usually it’s a higher level of

competition, and there’s always alot of good teams that come in,”Hills said.The meet will begin Friday at 5

p.m. in the Loftus Sports Center,and will continue 10 a.m.Saturday.

By JACK HEFFERONSports Writer

Meyo Invitational marks last chance for Big East qualification

By MATT ROBISONSports Writer

Contact Jack Hefferon atwheffero@nd.edu

AP

Senior guard Ben Hansbrough drives to the hoop in the first half of Notre Dame’s 83-58 victoryover DePaul Thursday night. Hansbrough scored 28 points and hit five 3-point shots.