Campus News:
An article has been posted on the Articles of Interest page about a Domer soldier who was injured while participating in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Well, the University wasn't able to schedule spring break over St. Patrick's Day this year. So of course there was an alcohol incident. Supposedly a local resident tipped off authorities to festivities at College Park on the 17th. Over 15 police officers raided a party, cited roughly ten students, and confiscated 25 kegs of beer. Two undercover officers mixed in with the party and purchased a cup for beer from a female student. She was arrested for making a sale linked to alcohol without a permit. This all occurred at 2:30....IN THE AFTERNOON. (Started that party a little early, eh?) A person was also injured at the party after falling from a balcony. The injury was not serious but a private vehicle still took the student to the hospital.
When the officers arrived there were several hundred students at the apartment complex. Most of the students were 21 or older. Officers then went to five or six of the loudest and most crowded apartments. Eight county police officers and five or six excise officers participated in the bust.
This story came just prior to some Observer articles revisiting the campus alcohol policy changes that occurred one year ago. One of the facts that was stated concerned the decrease in cases of alcohol poisoning. In the Fall of 2001 there were 51 on-campus cases of alcohol poisoning. This past fall had only 20 such incidents.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Before proceeding with this next tip, the Gipp would like to explain some things, disclaimer-style. First, ol' Gipp understands that the hunt-and-chase game of finding a date for dances can be very competitive. Secondly, the Gipper knows that there's nothing inherently wrong with simple curiosity. But we have to draw the line somewhere, ladies and gentlemen.
That's why the Gipp was so shocked to hear the story of a young dame who was a little annoyed when she found out that her dream date had already been asked to her dance by another member of the hall. She was even more annoyed, apparently, by the fact that her crush couldn't even remember the name of the girl he had agreed to escort.
So, this gal decided to listserv her entire dorm and explain her dilemma. She claimed no cruel intentions: She was just wondering who had beaten her to the punch. Apparently, she was not concerned with embarrassing herself or the poor girl who had asked the man in question. The Gipp extends a warm, figurative handshake to this fellow who either had a) successfully tricked this curious young lady into thinking he actually couldn't remember who he had said "yes" to, or b) become intoxicated in the middle of a weekday afternoon and thus couldn't adequately answer her inquiry. In either case, the Gipp asks that dorm listservs only be utilized for valuable purposes, such as sending your buddies pictures of you throwing quarter dogs at blind monkeys.
Hall Notes:
Part 7 of the 1979 issue of Carroll abolishing parietals...
Farley again took the offensive in the February 15th Observer. The Farley President stated: "In order to fight the administration, we must be unified. Before the halls do anything, they should try working with other halls and the Hall Presidents' Council."
And on February 19th survey results revealed that students were in favor of reducing parietals violations to a hall offense. The same Observer carried a stance by Student Government. They said a parietals- breaking protest would be ineffective and cited the "15-minute rule" as an example of why to not test the administration.
The "15-minute rule" is the name a student government official gave to an incident that took place on campus in 1969. During that particular school year, several hundred students protested the presence of Dow Chemical (napalm manufacturer for the Vietnam War) and CIA recruiters on campus. Father Hesburgh said all protestors should leave within 15 minutes. All but 7 students left. Those 7 were later expelled.
NDSportscenter:
The men and women fencers are National Champions for the first time in 8 years. The national title was not decided until the final round of women's foil. Sophomore Alicija Kryczalo came in first in her division and earned 1st Team All-American honors. Kryczalo became the first woman Domer to repeat as an individual National Champion after taking first place last year also. Michal Sobieraj recorded a second place for the men and also was named an All-American. Overall we nabbed a school record 11 All-American honors. Seniors Ozren Debic and Jan Viviani became 4-time All-Americans. They were the 11th and 12th Domes to do so. Janusz Bednarski won the National Championship in his first year as head coach. This is our 6th Fencing National Championship.
The students were representin' in California for the Sweet 16. The die-hard cheering student section known as the Leprechaun Legion was cared for by the Athletic Department. Some students were offered a 4-game $70 ticket package to the 1st and 2nd round games and two more games. Since the first two games were in Indianapolis, the AD even provided bus transportation.
The hockey team stumbled to a sub-0.500 record for much of the season. However, they did manage to win 6 of the last 8 regular season games. They finished 15-15-6 and in a 3-way tie for 5th place in the CCHA. Because of the tiebreakers, we technically finished 7th and had to go on the road for a best-of-3 series in the league playoffs. The Irish went to Miami of Ohio. After dropping the first contest, the Irish recorded back to back shutouts (1-0, 5-0) and advanced to the CCHA's Super Six at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. In that process, Rob Globke recorded his 20th goal of the season. He's the first Domer to score 20 goals in a season in 5 years. This was our 3rd trip to the Super Six in the last 4 years. Only Michigan and Michigan State have done better in the CCHA. The success ended in Detroit. A single elimination game was played against #13 Ohio State. We lost 3-2 after being ahead 2-1 in the second period. The Irish finished 17-17-6.
Campus News:
The Boat Club, the local bar where 200+ underage Domers were busted, have one of two options. The owners can keep and operate the establishment if they accept losing their liquor license. Or the current owners have to sell the bar to new owners and pay a $5000 fine.
A student was recently injured in a car accident. Junior marketing major Stephen J. Myers was struck by an SUV near Club 23. The Cincinnati native was standing by the road. The contact was severe and Stephen suffered a ruptured aorta amongst other injuries. He was in critical condition but seems to be in the clear after a four- hour open-heart surgery.
A South Bend man was recently shot at a liquor store one block from campus. The man later died. The shooting occurred by Belmont Beverages which is located on South Bend Avenue (S.R. 23) to the southeast of campus. Two Domer seniors left Belmont Beverages just before the shooting took place. Students were notified of the incident in a campus-wide email.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
When some residents of a house on Madison Street decided to host a little get-together, they probably never imagined their post-party responsibilities would involve a call to Mr. Bob Vila. The hosts of the soiree brought in their friend's band to entertain their esteemed guests, but a few hours after the music started filling the air, things started to go south. Namely, the living room floor. Four floorboards began to cave in, and, according to our tipster, the only things keeping the whole floor from collapsing was a big hollow air vent in the basement ceiling.
Obviously, this did not amuse those standing in the basement of the house. The scared students sprinted out of the house quicker than Farley girls to the frozen yogurt machine. The hard-core partiers who remained in the house were left with a keg of beer and the bragging rights of having seen a band that really brought down the house. (Sorry, even your uncle Gipp can't resist sometimes.)
Later in the evening, the residents made a huge "X" out of masking tape and put it over the caved-in floor. However, since there were supposedly many St. Mary's ladies in attendance, the Gipp hopes this was very, very strong masking tape. (Yes, for those of you keeping track at home, that was a double-sided joke.) The Gipper was informed that heavy fines were levied upon the dwellers of this dilapidated domicile, but that the residents believe it was worth it. As the Gipp has always said: Money is fleeting. Near-death experiences are not.
Hall Notes:
Part 6 of the '79 parietals issue...
The February 8th Observer stated that the Hall Presidents' Council planned to administer a 'parietal' survey before taking an official stand on the "abolish" issue. Student Government, in the same Observer, stated it would not endorse a "Break Parietals Night." Student Government did not believe there was enough support on the defiant activity.
Farley grabbed headlines on February 12th. The Observer stated "Farley 'Redirects' Carroll." The women of Farley stated they felt "the real issue was not parietals but rather the lack of student input into student life policy formulation." Farley rejected the initiative to abolish parietals. Farley called for "a recognition by the Administration of student discontent and for increased student participation, through voting power, in forming rules governing student life." Farley also wrote an editorial that appeared in The Observer reaffirming those statements. They closed the editorial with the statement: "Let's see some effort to plan realistic courses of action!!" Yes, there were two exclamation marks and it was even italicized to verify that it was written by tools.
NDSportscenter:
SWEEEET!!! We are off to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1987. We play on Thursday, March 27th in Anaheim, California. Our opponent is Arizona. Bring. Them. On. Big time point guard matchup as both lads are products of Indianapolis high schools.
In recent months ND recruits have been getting the ride of their life. The University has a Hummer H1 that has been designated for the athletic department. The Hummer is navy blue and has small yellow monogram "ND"s. Coaches and assistant coaches use the H1 when they head to South Bend Regional Airport to pick up visiting recruits. The University will even allow trips to O'Hare Airport. Assistant athletic director Jim Fraleigh stated, "It's a great way to showcase the local community to our recruits. It's something they aren't going to get anywhere else." Mishawaka is home to an AM General Corp. plant that makes H1s and the smaller H2s. ND struck a courtesy agreement over the vehicles last fall. It's a common practice for car dealers to provide university athletic departments with the use of vehicles. ND will be able to use the H1 for at least a year. No word if LeBron James will skip the pros to play for the collegiate Irish.
Men's basketball notes: We are 1-5 in opening rounds of the Big East Tournament....Chris Thomas is 1 of 22 finalists fo the John R. Wooden Award (MVP)....Torin Francis made the Big East All Rookie Team. Chris Thomas was named to the 2nd team All Big East. Matt Carroll was on the 1st team All Big East. It is the fourth straight year ND has put a player on the 1st team.
Campus News:
The University has signed on to an amicus brief supporting the University of Michigan in two cases that will go before the U.S. Supreme Court this spring concerning admissions procedures. The cases were filed against Michigan by white students who claim they were not admitted although more qualified than minority students who were given preferential treatment based on a point system. (20 points are given to minority applicants while 12 points are given to students with perfect SATs). The University is supporting the affirmative action stance even thought ND does not have a point system. ND also does not use quotas but does consider ethnicity when seeking to diversify the campus. Admissions does this citing information gathered from surveys given to outgoing seniors that had the criticism of ND lacking in diversity.
This special treatment of affirmative action has led to the discussion of other special interests ND uses in the admissions process. Legacy admissions make up 23 percent of the student body. Legacies have come under fire at other college because it tends toward favoring white students. ND has the highest legacy enrollment rate among major universities. The University sticks with legacies for two main reasons: loyalty and donations. Dismissing legacy special interests would hurt not only ND pocketbooks but a great many other school wallets. Alumni provide 28 percent of the private donations to higher education -- $6.83 billion in the 2000-2001 school year. Assistant provost for enrollment Dan Saracino argues that the consideration of applicants based on legacy or family wealth is necessary for campus improvements. "We count on loyalty from our alumni...[and from] benefactors to build new buildings that are needed and to provide scholarship money for students that couldn't normally come," he said. Saracino also stated: "There have always been special interests... first we had children of legislators and wealthy parents, then we had children of alumni...special consideration given to athletes and to development office interests (student from families who are likely to donate large sums of money), and faculty and staff children." Interesting.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Good day, ladies and gentlemen. The Gipper hopes you all had a healthy and productive Valentine's Day and Junior Parents Weekend. The Gipp proudly announces that with the arrival of hundreds of mothers in South Bend this past Saturday, the number of male students who have eaten dinner with a female this year finally broke the five-percent barrier. And they say we have gender-relation problems.
Before we begin this edition of tales, the Gipp would like to issue a friendly public service announcement: Remember, sending in tips is ALWAYS in your best interest. The Gipp's got a word count to meet, baby, and is not afraid to punish his tight-lipped constituents by running old "School Daze" comic strips to fill space. That's right - who'd be laughing then? On a side note, the Gipper would like to congratulate himself for finding a way to use a form of the word "laughter" in the same paragraph as the aforementioned "comic."
Hall Notes:
Part 5 of Carroll vs. parietals...
The Vermin were not content to only vote against parietals and yell "LONG LIVE ABOLISHTIONISTS!" Carroll sent letters to Father Hesburgh, other University heads, each Trustee, heads of all the alumni organizations, and each rector. And this was before email! The Vermin also wrote a Letter to the Editor that appeared in the February 2, 1979 Observer. The piece was titled "An Open Letter From Carroll Hall" and appeared as follows:
"In protest of the University's apparent disregard of students' rights and interests, the Carroll Hall Council has unanimously voted to abolish the parietal visitation program. By this action, we hope to make the administration more responsive to the wants and needs of its students. Parietals, like many other University policies, hinder both personal and social growth, and lead to the decay in the quality of life at Notre Dame. We feel it is the administration's obligation to make a favorable reply to this protest."
NDSportscenter:
Well, the Irish got bounced from the Big East Tournament in the first round. So we are limping into the NCAA tourney having won one of our last five games. We did finish the regular season at 22-8. That's our highest win total in the regular season since 1986-87. And we are the only Big East team to get at least 10 conference wins in each of the last three years.
The Big East tourney wasn't a complete loss. The team was able to visit the New York Stock Exchange and the whole team got to do the ceremonial bell ringing at the open of the trading day. The team was invited by a Morgan Stanley bigwig who deals with the NYSE and is on our Board of Trustees. The team received a standing ovation in every room they visited.
For the first time ever, women participated in Bengal Bouts. They did not box in scored events by weight class. Twelve ladies participated in six exhibition matches before the regular bouts. The contests were not scored. Three of the fights were before the men's quarterfinals and three were the undercard for the semifinals. The women's boxing club was established in 1997 and the current club has rouhgly 100 members.
The women's track and field team came in second in the Big East Indoor Championships. Lauren King won the mile and Tameisha King took first in the 60-meter hurdles. Both times qualified for the NCAA Championships. The men's track and field team took first at the Big East trials. It was the first time an ND men's track team has claimed the Indoor crown. They were led by senior All-American Luke Watson who won the mile. That was the only first place finish. The team, though, grabbed many seconds, thirds, and fourths in their overall strong showing.
Wednesday, March 12th: noon EST versus St. John's on ESPN
If the Irish win (and keep winning):
Thursday, March 13th: noon EST versus boston college on ESPN2
Friday, March 14th: 7pm EST on ESPN
Saturday, March 15th: 8pm EST on ESPN
Campus News:
Many different topics to cover...
Chad Sharon's death has been officially ruled "accidental." He had a blood alcohol reading of 0.224. In keeping with tradition, Monk said Chad will receive his diploma posthumously at the graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2006.
It was revealed that the NDSP played NO role in the Boat Club raid. But the University did provide student directories to Indiana police. The NDSP stated they had no prior information on the raid but were involved while the bust was taking place. There was no plan or coordination but one campus officer went to the Boat Club to help identify students. The Director of Residence Life said the University became involved only after the bust occurred. The Director declined to comment on whether the University provides information to police about what bars underage students patronize.
At the end of first semester 200 organic chemistry finals were stolen and the spreadsheet that had the grades was deleted. Nothing was lost, though. There were back-up copies of the grades. An email was sent to all the students in the class with the threat of not curving the final if the tests weren't returned. No information surfaced, but the tests were curved anyway. The only change that happened as a result of the thievery was that the final exams were not able to be re-graded. That practice usually occurs for borderline students before determining their final grade for the class.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
During a Gator Bowl vacation, a group of Notre Dame students realized the fiscal beauty of splitting one hotel room eight ways. Problem was, that left two beds and one floor for eight people. The story goes that after a night of "heavy" fluid intake, one fellow woke up asking, "Is it raining?" The Gipp will let you use your imagination to figure out what actually was trickling down onto another passed-out student that night. But thanks to our old pal alcohol, the recipient of the unholy water didn't wake up during the downpour, and supposedly was nearly convinced that he caused the flood himself. Since nothing tickles the Gipp's fancy like underthought puns, we'll let our sources finish this tip: "I am happy to see that the friend who was urinated on is no longer 'pissed off' at our other friend, but I was more than happy to 'leak' this story to the Gipp."
Hall Notes:
Part 4 of the '79 Vermin doing away with parietals...
The number of dorms voting to "abolish" parietals rose to 8 (out of 22) on February 2nd. Carroll was joined by Flanner, Stanford, Grace, St. Ed's, Pangborn, Lyons, and BP. The toolbox Grace president used the C.Y.A. (Cover Your Ass) Theory and released the statement that Grace "voted unanimously in a special meeting to create a 24-hour visitation policy and endorse a document which cites sections of du Lac in an argument in favor of hall-determined visitation hours." What a donkey. The only negative statement to appear in The Observer came from the ladies of Farley. They did not "take the abolition of parietals seriously." They wanted independent dorm determination in favor of weekly "quiet" hours and parietals abolished on the weekends.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, University officials were not concerned with the little rebellion. The Lyons female rector stated, "Breaking parietals is not the route to take. The students should keep moving along the established route through student government. This is what is known as the "Getting-the-Runaround" Policy. The University did not feel threatened and vowed that all caught violators would be punished.
NDSportscenter:
Athletic Director Kevin White has received a 2-year contract extension. Initially he received a 5-year contract. An additional 5 years was thrown in the mix very quickly after that first contract. The new agreement extends through 2012. White's success seems to speak for the extensions. Last year 20 of 26 varsity teams earned NCAA berths. We had a record 37 All-Americans in one year. Kevin is adding 64 grant-in-aids to give all 26 sports the maximum scholarships allowed by the NCAA. He has also commissioned a master plan upgrade for all the athletic facilities. That plan has been slowed, though, by a sluggish economy.
Eight Domers were invited to the recent NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Arnaz Battle, Shane Walton, Jeff Faine, and Jordan Black were the big names. Offensive linemen Brennan Curtin and Sean Mahan were also invited, as were fullback Tom Lopienski and safety Gerome Sapp. The Domers didn't fair well, according to some draft analysts. Arnaz was considered slow and overweight. Walton was considered weak and slow. Faine did not perform as he is recovering from recent minor knee surgery. Sapp and Mahan had surprisingly strong showings. Another smaller Combine will be held at ND soon.
Men's basketball notes: For the 4th year in a row the team has won at least 20 games. We hadn't done that since '85-'89....Matt Carroll is one of ten senior finalist for the CLASS Award. CLASS stands for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School....Syracuse owns us. They've won 4 of the last 5 at the JACC and 9 of 10 overall.... We will not have a bye for the Big East Tournament and will have to win 4 games on 4 consecutive days to win the crown, a feat that has never been done....Matt Carroll will finish up as the all-time school leader in 3-pointers, games played, and games started....We started out hot but ended up being 4-5 versus ranked teams.
Campus News:
Bring back the SYR! Or at least attempt to. That was the recent campus issue that didn't just divide the students and the administration, but also the students themselves. Recently student body president Libby Bishop went before the Board of Trustees. Prior to her going, the Student Senate conducted a meeting and carried a vote that wanted her to ask for a one-year probation for re-instating the in-hall dances. Bishop basically vetoed the Senate resolution and did not adopt it into her report to the Trustees. Two members of the student government resigned because of their disagreements with the student body president. Bishop's Chief of Staff and Director of Public Relations resigned. They considered her stance too weak. Others cited that she was elected because her platform stated she would fight for the students and now she was seen as caving in to the administration.
Bishop's report, delivered to the Board of Trustees in Naples, Florida, did not urge the lifting of the ban on SYRs. However, she said she did discuss dances. She didn't want to make any demands but instead discussed how to improve the current situation. The Board agreed to 3 changes. The main one was to give each dorm $1000 for the 2003-04 school year. Originally dorms were only to receive $1000 this year. Dorm presidents said the money was necessary to make the dance possible. Paying rental costs for out-of-dorm venues and providing food and refreshments was too costly for the dorms. That led to the second change issued by the Board: officials will work with Food Services to reduce cost and increase options. The final change was to give the students help in maximizing the availability of out-of-dorm dance venues which was very troublesome in finding and reserving space.
By the way, the chances of SYRs being re-instated at all seems highly unlikely. Banning them came from Father Mark Poorman. By all indications, it seems that Poorman is the next in line to succeed Monk. Personally, I don't see the Board of Trustees ever reversing the decision of a future University president. It would reflect very poorly on Father Mark (pun intended).
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Last semester, some students were hosting a few out-of-town guests. They showed them some South Bend fun by taking them binging at classy local watering holes. Then the group "decided to beat the hell out of a four foot plastic Santa Claus at Turtle Creek." Hmm...who needs nightclubs, anyway? The fun then continued with their weekly "bush-jumping" activities. (Don't worry, feminists, that's not some dirty euphemism.) The sight of grown men engaging in shrubbery wrestling must have intrigued local police who were nearby. According to our tipster, "Upon arrival, the cops got to talking about how they are corrupt and than certain athletes get away with anything, and proceeded to ask if we had any porn to watch at our party we were having." Sure enough, a Girls Gone Wild videotape was lying around. "The South Bend Police asked to join the party, inserted the video and watched gleefully for nearly an hour," says our source. Before leaving, the students gave the cops a "homer hankey," which, to the Gipp's relief, was nothing more than a piece of Minnesota Twins memorabilia.
Hall Notes:
Back to the 1979 parietals issue...
The February 1st Observer headline stated "Hall Councils React to 'Abolition of Parietals.'" Now it should be noted that the whole parietals issue didn't actually come from out-of-the-blue upstart Vermin. This whole incident occurred because the University rejected a request to reduce parietal-breaking violations to a "hall offense" instead of something that involves going before administators. So students were still smarting from that rejection when the Hall Councils met to discuss Carroll's bold move.
At the meeting, Stanford joined Pangborn and Flanner in supporting Carroll. St. Ed's was on the way to joining the Coalition of the Willing. Keenan, though, thought it was "a joke" and were not taking the issue seriously. (Is "Keenan" of French descent?) Pangborn was supposedly on board but their president stated: "We're going to lay back for now and let them (Carroll residents) lead the way. They've already got it started, so I don't want to interfere with them." (That's code for: "We are lazy and too scared of getting in trouble.") Many male dorms were supporting the Vermin, but no female dorms were coming forward. An Observer editorial from the paper's staff called for ALL dorms to join the cause or it would not work. Hall presidents "will fail the students" if they don't act.
NDSportscenter:
Upon completion of a recent race at Loftus, track star Luke Watson had run the fastest mile in the WORLD for the year so far. The senior ran the mile in 3:57.83 and set the school record, beating the mark of 3:59.9 by Chuck Aragon in 1981. This was the first time Luke had ever run a sub-4-minute mile and he is only the second Domer to do so. Luke took the lead in the race in only the final 30 meters. Four runners were right behind him. All of the top five runners ran sub-4-minute miles and all were the five fastest times in the world this year. All in one race! Watson is now the ND record holder in four events. He holds the record for the indoor and outdoor mile.
Luke Watson also qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 3000 meters. He ran a 7:55.78 and finished 10th in a field that contained an Olympic champion and professional athletes along with collegians. Luke was third amongst Americans and third amongst college athletes. Last year he was third in the nation in the 3000 meters at the NCAAs.
Offensive lineman Ryan Gillis' football career is over. He has a 5th year remaining and was likely to be a starter at guard or center with the loss of four starting veterans. Ryan has a knee problem that is too severe to continue playing.
Sophomore Kelsey Wicks has left the women's basketball team. She is the third player to leave the team in the last year.
Campus News:
Sad news that was sort of expected. The body of freshman Chad Sharon was found on February 12th, exactly two months from when he went missing. The body was found under a couple of feet of water along the bank of the St. Joseph River. The location was less than a mile west of the University. (Actually it was right at the entry point to my condo subdivision along the river.) The body was discovered by a bridge. A construction worker was in the area checking out the bridge and saw a form in the water. It is believed that the body floated downstream to the point where it was found. On December 19th a search and rescue dog detected Chad's scent along the river bank a mile upstream from where he was found. Sharon was found with his jewelry and wallet. Foulplay was not suspected. An autopsy indicated Chad died by drowning. There were no signs of trauma.
Mr. and Mrs. Sharon came to campus on February 13th to claim their son and take him home. Mr. Sharon thanked the entire Notre Dame Family for the efforts and prayers.
Flowers have been left at the bridge for Chad. Someone also posted a sign that read "Love Thee Notre Dame." Chad was an A-student on full academic scholarship who was active within the campus community and always expressed his love for ND.
The University had offered up a $25,000 reward for information leading to the finding of Chad. Ten local companies offered an additional $25,000 reward. The construction worker who found Chad said he thought the money should go toward a scholarship at the University in Chad's name. However, the University has yet to contact him about the reward it said it would give.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
First up, the surprise we've all seen coming for years - the downfall of the Boat Club, our favorite freshman stomping ground. The owners of the bar, who were shocked to learn that three-fourths of Notre Dame students are actually not 24-year-olds from New Jersey, will most likely be levied with back-breaking fines. Two hundred and thirteen underage students were given citations in the foray.
The Gipp has heard various entertaining stories regarding why that number should have been higher, but doesn't want to indulge in them for two reasons. First, the Gipp assumes the student body will not be comforted by the fact that heavily intoxicated teenagers can so easily outsmart those trained to protect us. And second, the Gipp doesn't want to slander our local municipal police department. Why? Well, the Gipp fully respects the NDSP's claim on the title of "laughing stock security force of the greater South Bend area," and does not want to release stories that would tip the scales of incompetence toward another organization.
Hall Notes:
Now back to the Carroll-abolishing-parietals issue...
So Carroll had voted to abolish parietals and was seeking to unite the dorms in the cause. Flanner, Dillon, and Pangborn (which was male at the time) were in favor of the idea. The Grace Hall president had a different take on the situation. I kid you not when I quote this guy who said that while the "symbolism of the thing is good, I don't like the smell of it. It sounds like [a] conspiracy that the administration is in on with Carroll to kick us all off campus (for breaking parietals) so that there will be no need for a lottery."
Oh, yes, that sounds plausible. It should also be noted that the Grace Hall president swears the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are one and the same and that yearly pilgrimmages to Roswell, New Mexico should be embraced.
NDSportscenter:
Coach Willingham secured 22 recruits who signed letters of intent. He also got a recruit to come without the promise of a scholarship for his first year. Kicker Carol Gioia signed no letter of intent but is coming to ND. The Valparaiso High School star is invited to play football as a "preferred" walk-on. The 5'10", 165lb. place kicker will earn a scholarship in a year after Setta has used up his eligibility. (Setta is coming back for a 5th year.) Carl made 13 of 16b kicks last year. He turned down immediate scholarship offers from Purdue, Indiana, and Virginia.
The Chad DeBolt issue seems to have ended. He was the player that got roughed up down in Jacksonville after the was arrested for being intoxicated and trespassing. The Jacksonville police officers were cleared of any wrongdoing. Prosecutors formalized a pretrial intervention agreement with DeBolt. Criminal charges were dropped in exchange for a $150 fine paid to the Crime Victims Compensation Fund.
Chris Thomas has been named a mid-season top 30 finalist for the John R. Wooden Award.
Basketball recruit and current high schooler Omari Israel has had a quick end to his senior year. Omari torn his ACL and will have surgery soon followed by four to five months of rehabilitation. Israel is still expected to enroll in summer school this year.
A barrage of Irish games are set for national television. Mark down these dates. We play at Rutgers on Saturday, March 1st at 4pm EST on ESPN2. We play Syracuse at the JACC on Tuesday, March 4th at 7pm EST on ESPN2. Finally we play at Georgetown on Saturday, March 8th at 4pm EST on CBS.
NDSportscenter:
The men's basketball team plays UConn at the JACC on Monday, February 24th. The game will be on ESPN at 7pm EST.
Campus News:
The applications are in. In record numbers. Admission applications leaped more than 23 percent this year. More than 12,000 applications have hit the undergraduate admissions office from students looking to move in next fall. Last year 9,745 high schoolers applied. The previous record was 10,054 in 2000. The assistant provost for enrollment stated the increase most likely came from several factors. Financial aid is meeting all needs. Admission's officers are hitting the road to visit high schools. More potential Domers are visiting campus. The University stepped up efforts in attracting minority students. Recruiting is making a push with videotapes and the ND website. Oh, and don't forget about Tyrone.
Willingham is seen as presenting a positive, classy image. Applications from minority students are up about 45 percent this year. Minority enrollment is currently around 16 to 17 percent. That percent may climb to 20 next year. According to the University, the applicant pool does not rise or fall based on the success of the football team as is widely believed. They said if that were the case then applications would have dropped during the last four years instead of rising. Whatever. They may not go down when we lose, but they certainly go up when we win and get major media coverage with how we win. The #1 reason the application number is over 12,000 is Tyrone. No doubt.
Other notes: The University will admit 3,200 applicants and expect about 1,960 to accept and enroll....The cost is up to $34,000 a year.. ..Only in the past 6 years has ND been able to fully meet the demonstrated financial need of each student....Last year more than 200 high school valedictorians were turned away....Catholics actually ARE given extra consideration in the application process. That was widely believed, but it was actually admitted....83 percent of the students are Catholic....22 to 25 percent of students are children of alums, the highest such "legacy" rate among major universities.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
The Gipper would like to salute our favorite new coach, who, despite a couple of disappointing games, has brought back the respectability of our beloved football team. In particular, the Gipp would like to thank Coach Willingham for:
a) Winning against tough teams.
b) Forming coherent sentences.
We look forward to many great seasons under your leadership, Ty. In recognition of your achievements, the Gipp has composed a song for you. (Set to the melody of "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.")
Hark, the green-clad students cheer,
'spite no tailgates and no beer,
The student section's going wild,
Team and fans are reconciled.
Deja Vu ads in the skies
No longer attract our eyes.
Finally we're playing well!
So long Bob, and go to hell.
Hark! Angelic hosts proclaim,
"Football's back at Notre Dame!"
Hall Notes:
On January 31, 1979, The Observer headline read "Carroll Hall 'Abolishes' Parietals; Plans Protest." That's right, the Vermin voted to do away with gender restrictions. The residents did so because they were dissatisfied with a campus atmosphere they said was partially caused by visitation restrictions. Some other hall presidents said it had the potential to spread campus wide, citing a social atmosphere that was "downright unhealthy." Carroll planned to collect support for a campus-wide protest. Carroll section leader Mark Mocarski said that this was "only the beginning." The plan was to get a show of solidarity from other dorms. Hopefully they would have similar "abolish" votes. Then there was to be an organized and publicized "parietals break night" that was to involve the whole campus. Carroll decided this on their own because the University and the Campus Life Council had done nothing to foster gender relations.
Stay tuned for many more parts to this historical event. In fact this story was in a total of 9 different Observer issues. There is much more to be told.
NDSportscenter:
Our final two recruits were BIG additions. Victor Abiamiri and Ambrose Wooden were teammates at the Gilman School in Baltimore. Both decided to sign with the Irish. Victor is a bigtime defensive end. He is the #1 defensive end in the country and the 8th best overall player. The 6'5", 245lb. end could start right away opposite Justin Tuck. He has great closing speed and tremendous determination. Victor is expected to be our best defensive end since Ross Browner. Last year he had 52 tackles, 17 tackles for loss, 12 sacks, and 1 interception. In a post-season All-Star game he recorded 5 tackles and had 2 sacks. Abiamiri runs a 4.6 - 40 and benches 320lbs. He scored 1140 on the SAT and has a 3.6 GPA. Victor sort of had to choose us after his #2 choice had to stop recruiting him. Maryland was busted for an assistant coach offering Victor a $300 video game machine.
Ambrose Wooden is the #67 player overall. The 6'1", 190lb. Wooden played quarterback in high school where he threw for 1000 yards and 9 TDs. He also ran for 13 touchdowns and 1300 yards. Ambrose also punted and kicked. In a post-season All-Star game he was a defensive back and picked off a pass. He is expected to be a receiver or d-back in college. Personally, I'd like to see him as a deep threat receiver. He ran a 4.22 - 40 at an Ohio State combine. Too bad for Stanford. His 1040 SAT and 3.8 GPA would have been nice there.
Recruiting analyst Tom Lemming rated our class the 4th best. We have 2 Parade All-Americans and 5 USAToday 1st Team All-Americans. We grabbed 8 of the top 100. Our 22 recruits come from 15 states. Tyrone needed only 33 official visits despite the NCAA allowing 56. Nine of our recruits played in the U.S. Army All-American game. Army brats? Guess Tyrone is going after the discipline, tough, dedicated players.
NDSportscenter:
The men's hoops team goes to Syracuse. Be sure to watch the Irish play on ESPN at 1pm EST on Saturday, February 15th.
Campus News:
The Boat Club, a local watering hole for under-agers, was raided on a Friday in late January. Authorities issued 231 citations to 213 underage patrons. Each received a minor in a tavern citation, and some were ticketed for owning false identification. Two Domers, one male and one female, were arrested for public intoxication and taken to jail. Notre Dame Security/Police officials, who brought campus phonebooks to the raid, have a complete list of ND and St. Mary's students who were cited. This raid was believed to be the largest in city history. It tops the January 1998 raid of Bridget's that busted 165 youngsters and the October 2000 Finnigan's incident where 147 minors were caught. The Irish Connection had 95 nabbed in November of '98.
More than a half dozen squad cars surrounded the bar and two or three officers were at every exit. The exits were sealed and customers were ticketed for more than two hours. The NDSP had campus directories to determine which patrons were students and to address the citations to their homes. The University will surely dole out punishment in the form of community service and fines. Most of the Domers ticketed at Finnigan's received $100 fines. (It should be noted that when the NDSP has been called by students off-campus for help in jumping their dead-batteried cars, the NDSP has said "no" because they don't go off-campus. Apparently they have no problem going off-campus for bar raids.)
Minor in a tavern is a Class C misdemeanor that carries up to a $500 fine and six months in jail and possible loss of driver's license. But offenders are rarely punished that severely. The County has typically offered pretrial diversion. This measure in the past has prevented the charge from appearing on a permanent record. Students busted at Finnigan's received pretrial diversion and paid $220 court fees and completed 40 hours of community service.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Speaking of gifts, a freshman on the top floor of one of Notre Dame's most hallowed halls found a mysterious stocking-stuffer in his sink a week or two ago. Apparently, the boy had had a bit too much buttered run (Natty Light) and was sleeping in heavenly peace (passed out), when his secret Santa came down the chimney (heating pipe) and left him a Yule-tide treasure (turd) with a big shiny bow (the frosh's toothbrush) on top. Pretty nasty, and probably not worth printing, except that, through the miracle of artificial drunken- memory implantation, the young man's section has convinced him that he did it himself. Strangely enough, we're told that this guy is one of the popular freshmen in his section.
Hall Notes:
Another old school Vermin passed some information our way in regards to his whereabouts and goings-on...
Vermin Ron Hutter '85 graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. It was then on to the University of Cincinnati where he received an MS in Aerospace Engineering in 1988. Check out this resume: worked at GE Aircraft Engines as a design engineer....on to marketing and sales for the last 12 years...currently Marketing General Manager for the Military Engines business at GE. (I guess Ron is one of the few to attend home football games and NOT curse GE-owned NBC for the excessive commercials. Money in his pocket.) Ron calls Cincinnati home but has also lived in Los Angeles and abroad in Ankara, Turkey and Frankfurt, Germany. Hutter got hitched in 1990 to Kaye and is the proud papa of Rachel, 5, and Nicole, 15 months. Kaye is actually a West Virginia grad. Ron has this to say on that: "When our relationship survived the 1989 Fiesta Bowl, where ND beat WVU for the National Championship, we knew we could survive just about anything!" Vermin Hutter also threw out this closing note:
"The guys in Carroll loved to play pranks, have fun and break the rules...dumping buckets of water from the fourth floor on guys and their dates as they walked through the side entrance, "plunging" peoples' doors at 3 AM with a toilet plunger, having keg parties behind Carroll Hall when kegs were no longer allowed on campus, having the best Happy Hour on campus on the Friday before home football games... the list is endless. It was the greatest group of guys and the best hall at ND."
Still is, Ron.
NDSportscenter:
The 17th recruit was punter Geoffrey Price. He has been an Irish fan since third grade. The Hurst, Texas native actually de-committed from Texas to become a Domer. Price is very athletic for a punter. The 6'3", 195lb-er also played free safety where he led his team in tackles with 92 and also picked off two passes. Geoffrey is expected to start right away because of the graduation of Joey Hildbold. If Price cannot perform immediately, Nicholas Setta will most likely place kick and punt.
Cornerback LaBrose Hedgemon was verbal #18. The 5'10", 180lb. defensive back reneged on a commitment to North Carolina in favor of us. He's out of Hoover, Alabama and is considered a good cover corner. LaBrose is considered a class act. A class act that runs a 4.4 - 40. He carries a 2.7 GPS and scored a 21 on the ACT.
The 19th commitment was Chase Anastasio, a running back/wide receiver out of Fairfax, Virginia. Chase caught 20 balls for 433 yards and 6 touchdowns and ran for 680 yards and 7 touchdowns at Robinson Secondary School. Anastasio got those numbers playing only eight of twelve games this past season. Chase also played safety in his abbreviated season. The Burke, Virginia standout selected the Irish over Virginia and Virginia Tech.
February 5th was signing day. We had 19 recruits verbally committed prior to that. Willingham cemented 3 more on the signature day. Mitchell Thomas, a linebacker out of Opelika, Alabama was a quiet addition. He only played five and a half games this last season due to a hamstring injury. The Smith Station High School product recorded 70 tackles, 3 sacks, and ran for 500 yards and 5 TDs in the shortened season. Mitchell runs a 4.5 - 40 and benches 300lbs. He scored a 19 on the ACT and has a 3.4 GPA. We were chosen over the Crimson Tide.
So far details have been given about 20 recruits. Tyrone inked 22 on signing day. The final two players and the class as a whole will be wrapped up next week.
Campus News:
Oh that wacky Father Scully. The executive vice president recently came under fire for an incident that occurred on campus. A WNDU reporter and cameraman were confronted by Scully outside Fisher's chapel before a mass for missing freshman Chad Sharon. Scully asked them what station they were from and escorted them both by their arms outside. He told them they were parked illegally. The camerman stated, "He chewed us out. His manner was disturbing. I thought he was overly tempered and a calmer approach would have been more acceptable. The cameraman also clamied he smelled alcohol on Scully's breath. The NDSP report classified the incident as an "other assault" between a University employee and visitor over a parking violation at Fisher Hall. According to a police report obtained by the South Bend Tribune, the female reporter told police, "Father Scully grabbed the lower part of my right arm and pinched the arm." She later declined to pursue the matter. The cameraman also did not press any charges. An interesting note is that the University owns WNDU-TV and Scully is the chairman of the station's board of directors.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
A pair of young ladies were lounging in their room not too long ago when a commotion outside drew one of them to the window. Seeing a scandal brewing outside, like a diligent Catholic collegienne, our friend immediately sounded that primordial female alarm, shouting "Penis!" for all to hear. The dorm erupted into a frenzy as all the residents scrambled to protect their chastity and hide in the closets. All, that is, except for our brave tipster's roommate, who stepped boldly to the window to observe what was going on. Sure enough, a gang of young men had left, in brontosaurus-like proportions, a holiday "package" crafted from the freshly fallen snow.
Wishing to return the gift, our friend proposed to the gents outside (who had returned to marvel at their creation) that if they could hit her window with a snowball, she would give them a glimpse of her two turtledoves (although, apparently, not the partridge). The fellows put up a furious effort, finally pegging the screen, and they were rewarded as promised. Unfortunately, a rectress appeared on-scene and, as often happens in such situations, the offending phallus shrank away under her mighty glare.
Hall Notes:
O Christmas tree, O Carroll tree. Once again the Vermin closed the Fall semester with "A Carol Christmas." For the 5th year in a row, the dorm plopped an enormous evergreen tree in the middle of the front lawn. A grand star was placed on top. Scroll down and catch a glimpse of the 2002-03 Carroll Christmas tree.
NDSportscenter:
Heads up: We play Pitt on Sunday, February 9th on national television. The game is at the JACC and will be shown on ABC at 3:30pm EST. Don't forget to tune in.
Recruit #15 is tight end Greg Olsen out of New Jersey. He is the little brother of current freshman Domer quarterback, Chris. Olsen is the #3 overall player in the country and was up for National Player of the Year. Greg is 6'6" and 245lbs. He is a five-star player and is considered the best tight end to come out of high school in the last two years. The New Jersey Player of the Year caught 38 passes for 703 yards and 15 touchdowns. We are very deep at tight end but Tyrone will play the best. Look for Greg to possibly make a splash next year. Thankfully he's playing for us and not Miami or Tennessee.
John Sullivan, a 6'4", 270lb. center, committed next. The Greenwich, Connecticut lineman is considered the best center prospect in the country. John has great strength and great technique. He's a warrior coaches love for his leadership, maturity, and work ethic. Sullivan has a passion for the game and not a passion for boston college as we were selected over the eagles. And check this out.... he's a distant relative of Knute Rockne. How could he not suit up for us?
A linebacker out of Delray Beach, Florida de-committed from Florida and chose us instead. The #17 player is Dwight Stevenson Jr., son of NFL Hall of Famer center Dwight Stevenson Sr. of the Miamim Dolphins. The 6'3", 227lb. 'backer runs a 4.4-40 and last year had 27 sacks. He could be converted to defensive end seeing as how we are lacking depth there. Dwight carries a 3.0 GPA and scored 980 on the SAT. He came aboard saying: "I just realized coach Tyrone Willingham is putting together a great program."
Well, I guess those recruits should be re-numbered #14, #15, and #16. That's because running back David Marrero changed his mind and is now going to Stanford. He's not a big loss, though. Marrero is a decent player but not considered a "difference-maker."
Campus News:
Last semester an assistant rector got booted out of PW. Cynthia Phillips was asked by PW rector Sister Sue Bruno to leave the residence hall. But why? No reason was given. Several dorm residents were outspoken on Phillips' behalf. The RAs were left wondering if they would be terminated if they supported the former assistant rector. Bruno told PW by voice mail that Phillips, a second-year law student, was out. No explanation was given. Some dorm residents hung signs around the dorm protesting and saying things like "PW deserves the truth." Another voice mail was sent - from the hall staff this time - saying the signs had to be taken down. Phillips said the RAs were pressured to send the message from Student Affairs. RAs also said a high-ranking official in Student Affairs warned at least on member of the hall staff that she could lose her job if she commented on Phillips' removal. Bill Kirk, the assistant VP for Student Affairs, would not comment on Phillips but said he did not put pressure on the RAs. Bruno alo refused to comment, saying the situation was a "personal matter." Phillips said that is what is most disturbing. She said she was removed because of a personality conflict and had nothing to do with her job performance. By the way, everyone but Bruno said she was an excellent assistant rector and was liked by all. Phillips said, "Calling it a 'privacy issue' is a misleading attempt to make it look like there is a legitimate reason that I am being forced to leave...It makes it look like I did something embarrassing or immoral." Phillips, per her agreement with the University, will still receive her AR benefits of free room and board and reduced tuition for the rest of the academic year. She does not plan to file a lawsuit. Other dorm ARs were confused and alarmed by the issue and sent a letter to representatives of Student Affairs supporting Phillips and questioning the reasons behind her removal. A response from Student Affairs was never reported.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
This is another story about the one who goes by the name "Joe."
Joe and his buddies, who seem to thrive on their friend's stupidity, were at an off-campus party together. After plenty of celebration had been had by all, they headed outside to find a cab. Joe was instructed to flag the next one down, but for some reason he thought it would get the cabby's attention better if he hopped up on the bumper, strutted the length of the hood, and took his place atop the cab.
The driver, evidently unamused, floored it and sent our friend flying off the roof of the taxi. Joe lay still on the pavement for a moment, while everyone took in what had happened. But then, as someone approached to feel his pulse, Joe sprang back to life, flailing wildly and swearing venegeance on the malicious cabby.
Unfortunately, some concerned citizens had called the police, and the fellows were forced to vacate the scene.
There are a few other stories about Joe circulating around, such as the time he tried to attack a bird-feeder and ended up with a bleeding forehead, or the time he provoked an armed townie. The point is, this Joe guy is a consummate ass, and the Gipper wishes there were more like him.
Hall Notes:
The Vermin caricature originated during the 1985-86 school year. Joe Krumenacker '86 gave birth to the Vermin drawing during his senior year. Earl Baker '86 tells what he remembers...
"On the front page at VerminNet, lower left corner, is a small picture of a very suave-looking vermin, holding a martini. Joe first drew that vermin. I don't recall if it was for a Happy Hour, or an SYR, or some other occasion, but somebody decided to make a banner with our mascot on it. Paul Bruce probably remembers the details better than I do. But Joe was the artist. A bedsheet was used as his canvas, and the vermin was patterned after (or copied) from a character that Joe had found on the front of a greeting card. Once completed, the picture of the vermin on the sheet was probably four feet tall. A masterpiece. The rest is history."
Additional note on the tuxedo-wearing, martini-swilling Vermin: Those of you in the dorm during the 1997-98 campaign may recall this. The Vermin mascot made quite a splash in that year's Vermin wear. Black baseball caps were made with "CARROLL" in maroon on the back and the suave Vermin on the front, off-center to the left. Look how far the drawing has come since being sketched on a bedsheet.
NDSportscenter:
After going quite a few days without landing another verbal commitment, Coach Willingham landed the 26th best recruit in the country. Tom Zbikowski (pronounced "the Polish guy") is a 6', 180lb. athlete out of Arlington Heights, Illinois. "Athlete" is his recruiting position. He was a running quarterback in high school which is why he was sought by Nebraska and Iowa. He will likely play cornerback for us. Tom was a USAToday 1st Team All-American and is listed as a five-star recruit. Hopefully he will be used as a kick returner also. What better way to make use of his 4.3 speed. Even more than speed, Tom is known for his supreme toughness. When he's not playing football, Tom is a Golden Gloves boxer.
February 5th is the official signing day. More recruiting news will be provided over the coming weeks as we continue to land top talent across the country.
Domers have peppered various after-season senior bowl games. Tackle Jordan Black and safety Gerome Sapp went to San Francisco for the East-West Shrine Game. Even better was the fact that Tyrone coached the East to a 20-17 win. Also in attendance were offensive coordinator Bill Diedrick and defensive coordinator Ken Baer. Sapp had an interception at the goal line in the first quarter. The Senior Bowl was held in Mobile, Alabama. Arnaz Battle and Shane Walton suited up. The Senior Bowl featured the North versus the South. The North won 17-0 thanks to Shane picking off a Chris Simms' pass at the one yard line and racing 99 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. In other news, guard Sean Mahan will be in Orlando for the Gridiron Classic and Jordan Black will travel to Maui to play in the Hula Bowl.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Grant Johnson, the ace of the Irish staff when healthy, is done for the year after undergoing arthroscopic shoulder surgery. Torn cartilage was repaired in the throwing arm. Grant is on the shelf for nine to twelve months. He is expected to receive a medical redshirt.
Campus News:
Due to the rising costs of journal and book subscriptions outpacing the University's budget for the 2002-03 school year, the campus libraries have been forced to reduce commitments by six percent. Since 1986, the journal unit cost has increased 226 percent and the book unit cost has risen 66 percent, while the price of inflation increased only 57 percent during the time period. The libraries' collection budget and endowment revenues had previously absorbed these inflationary increases but were unable to do so this fiscal year. Over 500 journal title were cancelled to save $170,000 at the end of the Spring 2002 semester. By the end of this calendar year, the library will also eliminate the 891 paper journals to which faculty and students currently have both electronic and paper access. The faculty worked with the librarians to determine which journals were the least used and most easily eliminated.
The University is citing increased publishing costs as well as a down economy for the rise in prices. Publishers have devised new ways of packaging and producing materials and have gained the control to set price levels and forced libraries to increase their purchases. The University currently subscribes to five major packages with over 2,900 journals. The needs for specific materials will continue to be accommodated. Also, interlibrary loans are available and the libraries plan to make use of existing relationships and consortiums with other institutions.
To help raise funds, the cost of copying has gone up. It will be 10 cents a page with a copy card and 15 cents a page with coin. Because of increased use of electronic resources and computer printing, the copying volume has steadily decreased over the past couple of years.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Here is a quickie from a vast collection of tips the Gipper has received, all concerning the same guy, whom the tipsters insist on calling "Joe."
Joe has been living it up at Finnegan's, as he is purportedly wont to do, and he decided to steal something large and functionless, as he is also wont to do. This time, he selected a large aluminum sign off the barroom wall, which had to be folded down to size. Like any expert thief, he shoved the package under his shirt, leaving it sticking out above and below, and casually exited the bar.
Once he got outside, he was approached by a policeman, who asked him if he was stealing something. Joe replied, "It's my shield, officer."
And, magically, the cop let him go without another word.
Hall Notes:
"15 Minutes From DeBartolo." That is the name of the photograph that appeared on the inside back cover of the last Scholastic of 2002. Carroll sophomore Ryan Greenberg snapped a shot that all Vermin can recognize and appreciate. My face lit-up as soon as I saw it. I remember it like it was yesterday. Here's a trip down memory lane for all of us that endured the winter walks to class.....
NDSportscenter:
Recruiting season is heating up. Signing day is just weeks away. The first eleven commitments have already been detailed. The 12th verbal is Ryan Harris of St. Paul, Minnesota. Ryan is an offensive lineman from Cretin-Derham Hall and he selected us over Stanford, USC, Michigan, and Miami. The 6'4", 275 lb. lineman is the 30th best overall prospect according to recruiting analyst Tom Lemming. There is one interesting note. Harris is Muslim and he was concerned about coming here because of perceived lack of diversity. Coach Willingham and a local Muslim leader met with Ryan and assured him there was diversity. Apparently Ryan was sold.
Running back Travis Thomas was commitment #13. He is out of Washington High School in Washington, Pennslyvania. Thomas is 6'1", 200 lbs. and last year he ran for 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns. Travis is also a standout track athlete. He runs a 4.38 - 40. Grades shouldn't be a problem. Thomas scored a 1010 on the SAT and carries a 3.5 GPA. Pittsburgh and boston college missed out on Travis' services.
Men's basketball reserve Chris Markwood transferred after first semester. Chris was a backup point guard last year and was playing both guard spots in a very limited role. Markwood came here from Maine after being that state's Player of the Year in high school. He transferred to the University of Maine where he will have two years of eligibility remaining after sitting out a year. Coach Brey now has 3 available scholarships.
The NACDA (National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletes) Directors' Cup, formerly the Sears Directors' Cup, has released its final standings for the Fall sports. We are currently 3rd in the nation in athletic achievement behind only Stanford and Penn State.
Saturday, January 25th the men's hoops team plays at boston college. The game will be on ESPN at 2pm EST.
Campus News:
The news is very disturbing. Freshman Chad Sharon of Pelican Lake, Wisconsin disappeared during the study days just prior to last semester's final exams. The Fisher Hall resident was last seen leaving a party on Corby Street during the early A.M. hours. A campus-wide email was sent alerting all to the events. The University has dedicated the entire Christmas break to finding him. Next to nothing has surfaced. Chad has now been missing a month with his supposed last contact being with a local pedestrian. Chad had left the party on foot. He then met someone walking and asked them directions to the nearest convenience store. He never made it to the store. This may be part of a frightening trend. Five college students have disappeared over the past few months. Chad is the most recent. The other four (three males, one female) vanished from Minnesota and Wisconsin. No evidence has surfaced in those cases either. The University is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information regarding the disappearance of freshman Chad
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
This tip takes us back to rural Tennessee, to a roadside fireworks stand where a gang of tipsters decided to stock up on combustibles. But bottle rockets and black cats were not enough for these pyros. They went for the biggest thing they could find: a 21-shot, artillery- sized Roman Candle.
Knowing full well that you can't waste good fireworks, these young gents decided to plane their beast in the middle of South Quad, so that everyone could share the festivities. Our tipster tells it best:
"We recruited a friend who was ballsy enough to light it and quick enough to book it should NDSP decide to take in the colorful display as well. He put the bad boy in a duffle bag and casually walked onto South Quad smoking a cigarette. He took a little stroll around and placed the enormous can of destruction on the concrete circle in the middle of South Quad....lit the fuse with the cigarette, casually walked away, and proceeded to watch the show for himself while sitting on the bench in front of Alumni."
Perhaps the most impressive part of their story: the NDSP never showed. Something really serious - like human sexual contact - must have happened in order to have diverted the attention of our entire police force from a fireworks display on South Quad.
Hall Notes:
Part 3 of "Happy Hour" by Vermin Earl Baker '86...
Many of the stories posted on VerminNet have some connection to the Happy Hour. Of course, nowadays the University would consider our behavior reprehensible. Well, they did then too, but we were pretty much out-of-sight, out-of-mind, and Father Steve was very lenient with us.
I believe it was in my Junior year (1984-85) (Father Steve's last year as rector) that the University killed the Happy Hour. New University policy that year essentially prohibited any alcohol consumption by students under 21 (although they would tolerate drinking in your room behind closed doors if you didn't draw attention to yourself). Alcohol consumption at dorm parties was limited to 21 and older, and was relatively strictly enforced.
It was the end of an era. We held a funeral for the Happy Hour. Father Steve let us borrow some vestments, candles, etc.. from the chapel. We had a last party, and then we laid the Happy Hour to rest. We had a funeral procession, some words were said. And a couple bottles of booze along with some mementos were buried in a hole out behind the dorm. We even had a headstone with "R.I.P." on it. I don't know if the headstone or the grave is still there. I doubt it. But I know there are people out there in cyberspace with pictures of the event, and I think I've got a commemorative button in my trunk somewhere (the same trunk after all these years).
NDSportscenter:
Seems the hot bowl news was of the football player that got arrested and had a mug shot that looked to reflect an actually mugging. Senior walk-on strong safety Chad DeBolt (who had been a four-year lacrosse player) was arrested in Jacksonville for the charge of trespassing on property. DeBolt had made a solo trip to a night club where the drinks were flowing freely. He was asked to leave. He did not. The police assisted him in leaving. He was arrested and left the club without a scratch. The swollen eyes, bruises, and scratches obviously occurred at the hands of the police despite their initial attempts to claim innocence. One office described Chad as "just a normal, disorderly, intoxicated person." The PD admitted, though, that pepper spray was used and that DeBolt was unruly and had to be restrained. He apparently was uncooperative, yelling, and cursing. He was punched in the arms and back. One witness even claimed he was shackled to a restraining chair and hit in the face until his eyes swelled shut. The final report may officially be revealed at DeBolt's January 22nd court date. Neither the team nor the University has had any comment on the issue.
Football note: Carlyle suffered a separated left shoulder. It will NOT require surgery....Pat Dillingham actually set records in the bowl game. Pat is in the record book for attempts (37) and completions (19) in a single game....Courtney Watson missed the game with a sprained knee, but look for him to be back. He has a 5th year. In fact, expect 8 back from the starting defense. Look for Justin Tuck, Preston Jackson, and Garron Bible to likely step in for Ryan Roberts, Shane Walton, and Gerome Sapp. Also, Jason Beckstrom will be in the mix after missing the year because of injury....The offensive line, however, will be drastically different. Jeff Faine has decided to turn pro after being a projected 2nd round pick. Looks like tackle Brennan Curtin will NOT be back for a 5th year. Guess he got the boot for good. And Jordan Black and Sean Mahan have exhausted their eligibility. We will be seeing four new starters....Shane Walton ended up being a consensus All-American. He was selected to the first team by five different publications. Shane was one of seven consensus All-Americans for this past season. He's our first consensus All-American since Bobby Taylor in 1994....Julius Jones plans to apply for re-admission. He is currently enrolled at Arizona State to get his grades up. Jones is required to spend a year at another school to improve his academic record. USAToday reported that J.J. wants to return to ND for his senior year. Tyrone said he would be welcomed back. J.J. is currently living with his brother who is a running back for the Arizona Cardinals. The brother says he will be back at ND.