the Observer The Independent Newspaper Serving Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s Volume 44 : Issue 43 Monday, November 2, 2009 ndsmcobserver.com Irish defend the Alamodome in rout of Cougars Football team, Band Students excited after receive warm welcome Irish crush Wash St. for San Antonio game in primetime game By LIZ O’DONNELL By MEGAN HEMLER News Writer News Writer The Notre Dame community The football team may have was welcomed to San Antonio been 1,000 miles away from South with open arms this weekend as Bend in San Antonio, Texas, but the Irish football team traveled to homesickness did not prevent the the Alamodome to play their first Irish from dominating Washington ever “home away from home” State at the Alamo Dome Saturday. game. In the first off-site home game Director of game day opera- televised during primetime hours, tions Mike Seamon said the game the Irish came on strong from the felt more like a bowl game than a beginning, a change from their road game due to the abundance recent pattern of nail biting wins. of support the team received “I was really happy to win by from the city and fans. more than seven points,” senior “We wanted to have an aca- Alicia Morgan said. “It was a lot demic element, a faith element, a less stressful.” service element, a social element The Irish took an early lead with and an athletic element,” Golden Tate catching two touch- Seamon said. “We wanted all down passes, includinga 50-yard these different core Notre Dame Hail Mary. VANESSA GEMPIS/The Observer A mariachi band entertains fans at the Alamo at a pep rally Friday in anticipation. The band was part of see ALAMO/page 6 a weekend designed to incorporate local culture with the gameday experience. see IRISH/page 4 Observer ‘Loyal Daughters and Sons’ returns to ND launches By TESS CIVANTOS students to construct a play News Writer that explores gender and sexu- ality at Notre Dame. The play updated Notre Dame students will has since evolved with new have an opportunity to see directors and new interview their most private stories and material, but its purpose personal decisions played out remains the same — to create Web site on stage three nights this week healing, education and aware- in the fourth annual produc- ness of sexual violence. tion of “Loyal Daughters and “The script of ‘Loyal Observer Staff Report Sons.” Daughters and Sons’ is a living The Observer launched a The play, which is made document, so there is some old new Web site Friday with entirely for, by and about and some new material,” co- updated features and Notre Dame students, began as director Katherine Khorey increased multimedia capa- then-senior Maddison Liddy’s said. “Some material is taken bilities. thesis project in the spring of from interviews last spring, WU YUE/The Observer The new site features 2006. Liddy used anonymous Meghan Hartmann performs in the 2007 production of “Loyal links to The Observer’s interviews with Notre Dame see PLAY/page 6 Twitter account, The Observer sports blog The Casual Observer, The Irish Insider Podcast and the Scene section’s music Senior filmmaker releases ‘Under the Influence’ playlist. Viewers can also page kicks,” and Lyons wrote it with through a digital copy of By ASHLEY CHARNLEY Wilka during his sophomore the print version of The Saint Mary’s Editor year at Notre Dame. Observer. The film — with the tagline The new Web site also Breaking into the film indus- “Four Friends. One Night. includes a comment fea- try is not an easy task, and it is Infinite Possibilities” — shows ture. one that senior film major Mark the misadventures of four high After Friday’s launch, The Lyons is growing familiar with. school friends who decide to Observer’s new Web site Lyons co-wrote and starred in crash a party where one of their was the most viewed college the film “Under the Influence” ex-girlfriends will be. The party news site on College with director Joe Wilka. The is broken up by the police and Publisher throughout the film was released yesterday on the four friends are then split weekend. AT&T, Verizon and Charter up, and the rest of the film College Publisher runs the cable providers. focuses on how they try to meet Web sites of nearly 600 col- The film, an 85-minute come- again. lege newspapers. dy, includes a cast of Lyons’ Lyons said the idea came The Observer is currently Photo courtesy of IMDB.com friends and others who aren’t because he knew his friends the sixth most-viewed Web A screen shot from senior Mark Lyons’, left, “Under the Influence” actually pursuing careers in act- site on College Publisher. ing. It was made “just for see FILM/page 6 INSIDE TODAY’S PAPER Jerusalem study abroad program update page 3 N Top five ‘Glee’ performances page 10 N Irish Insider analysis pullout N Viewpoint page 8 page 2 The Observer N PAGE 2 Monday, November 2, 2009 INSIDE COLUMN QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE JOYCE CENTER RENOVATIONS? The city that sparkles Completely and totally lost on I-65 yesterday, driving back from week- end festivities in Bloomington, my Katie Pryor Anna Bax Dan Collins Steve Conway Ben Foley friend Hannah and I were complete- ly speechless with the sheer beauty freshman junior senior freshman freshman of the great state McGlinn Le Mans Alumni Stanford Morrissey of Indiana during Katie Peralta this most delight- “I like the new “I think it’s a “It rocks my “I like it a lot. I “It’s sick. It’s a ful time of the Associate year. We had News Editor court and the nicer facility. I leprechaun really like the good size and awoken in my shamrock in the like the fact that socks off!” new court and our team friend’s apart- ment earlier in the day only to be middle. I don’t they replaced the shamrock in dominates it.” greeted by the most glorious blue like that it’s the bleachers the middle. I sky I have ever witnessed. Crisp red smaller with unified think it’s really and orange leaves danced merrily along Walnut Street and the cool though.” navy seats.” cute.” bite to the air refreshed our sleepy spirits. Corny, yes. Biased, yes. But this Have an idea for Question of the Day? E-mail [email protected] day got me thinking what a crazy and foolish thing it is to knock Indiana and most notably its weath- er. I have heard time and time again IN BRIEF the list of offences and grievances against the great Hoosier State, Solo play: Blue Lias will be especially from those of you from performed by Claudia Stevens places like California, Texas and today at the Regis Philbin Florida. I get it and I hear you. Studio Theatre in the Charlotte’s perpetual perfection is DeBartolo Performing Arts always nice to come home to. Center at 7 p.m. Tickets are My question then to you is a sim- available for $3 - $5. The per- ple one. Did you expect the tropics formance is a part of the when you sent in that application in “Darwin at Notre Dame” high school? Sorry our pristine series. beaches don’t meet your expecta- tions. Sorry our palm trees don’t A colloquium, “The Structure grow as abundantly as they do in of Super-Heavy Atomic your area. Sorry we get rain and — Nuclei”, will be held in 118 gasp — snow. Nieuwland on Wednesday My rant is not just limited to the from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and weather of Northern Indiana. On the will feature Dr. Roderick Clark contrary, I am here more to defend from Lawrence Berkeley the Greatest City Ever Cultivated. National Laboratory. That’s right. Those of you who were lucky enough to catch my little stint Author David Matlin will be on Fox News’ College Experiment reading at the Hammes Notre during the USC weekend know what Dame Bookstore on I am talking about. Others call our Wednesday from 7:30 p.m. to dear South Bend the City that SARAH O’CONNOR/The Observer 9 p.m. This reading is spon- Sparkles, or simply just Sparkles. On Halloween, Notre Dame’s Project Fresh dances to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” sored by the Creative Writing This is not meant to be a bombas- in South Dining Hall while in Halloween costumes. Program. tic attack on critics of the Bend. I know you all love your hometowns. I The Notre Dame Symphony do too. If we are to foster stronger Orchestra will hold its fall University-community relations, concert on Thursday at the however, we’ve gotta change these Leighton Concert Hall in the nasty ‘tudes about the place that OFFBEAT DeBartolo Performing Arts students and faculty alike seem to Center at 8 p.m. Tickets are harbor. Man convicted in orange Wednesday in Multnomah police said interested bid- available for $3 - $6. South Bend is a small(ish) town rabbit pedicab hit-and-run County Circuit Court. ders need to keep it off the and there is no pro sport team here, PORTLAND, Ore. — The After a daylong trial, streets. The chair, powered The Glee Club Alumni and we can’t forget to mention the Mercedes driver testified he Judge Karin Immergut by a lawnmower engine, Reunion Concert will take fact that the 25-foot Chase “tower” didn’t see the 6-foot-tall found Edward Cespedes- comes equipped with a place on Friday at the is DTSB’s tallest building.