Dec. 20, 2003
Campus News:
Because of the increasing number of undergraduates becoming business majors, the University is exploring several structural changes to the Mendoza College of Business. The College of Business currently enrolls 1,769 undergrads. That constitutes 32 percent of all undergraduate majors. This is astoundingly high compared to the average percentage at top 20 peer institutions. The business majors there are only 7 percent of undergraduates. The University is exploring this to "determine whether this fits with our mission statement and the overall goals and aspirations of the University." The concern is that the number of business majors may conflict with the University's mission of education in the liberal arts. The college enrolls one-third of all undergraduates but only employs one-eighth of the University's full-time faculty. This imbalance seems to be the major problem. Faculty hirings have not risen with the undergrad movement to business. In the past 10 years, the number of undergraduate business majors has increased by approximately 20 percent. The enrollment has recently reached a plateau and been consistent for the past five years. This is partially attributed to a recent policy that dictates no more than 18 percent of business intents shall be admitted to each freshmman class. (Ya hear that? So if you know someone who wants to go to ND, they are better off letting the University know that as an incoming freshman they are interested in anything BUT business.)
The University is exploring a few options to deal with the flood of undergrad business majors. The college is examining the possibility of creating a business minor. The college may improve its capacity to meet the level of enrollment by hiring additional instructors. But it is the last option that has caused the most uproar on campus. The college is considering limiting the number of undergraduate business majors. All other top undergraduate business programs in the nation have extremely competitive application processes. However, that is not envisioned for ND. Chao-Shin Liu, professor of accounting added that "it is also [Notre Dame's] tradition that students are free to choose any college without restrictions [unlike Michigan and many other universities.]" Seems as though other majors need to recruit and boost their popularity to retain students and not lose them. Too bad marketing is entrenched in the college of business. D'OH!
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Recurring characters can always make for a funnier sitcom. With that in mind, the Gipp reintroduces an old Dawg who's been very generous to the Gipp during his time here. It's jackasses like him that make this job a whole lot easier.
It has been brought to the Gipp's attention that on the morning of this institution's first American football match of the season, a member of our golf team was hitting the links with some Buds - and reportedly nine of these little friends found their way to the bottom of his stomach. So, after finishing his practice round, this tiger came to the natural conclusion that a golf cart was the most efficient means of transportation (Where were you, SafeWalk?). So he cruised all the way to the stadium, brews in hand, picking up parents along the way. As our source tells us, he assured these bewildered bystanders that "it's fine, saddle up." Perhaps most confused were the NDSP "police officers" who witnessed the joyride on Juniper.)
The cart spent the night alone on a quad, but its absence was noticed by team coaches and golf course officials. Our bandit and his teammates supposedly had to pay the early-morning price for his crime the following week. But keep your chin up, Sport - you'll take that memory to the grave.
Hall Notes:
The Carroll Christmas Tree is again on the front lawn. Hopefully photos will be posted early next year. The evergreen is about 30 feet tall. Four thick cords tether the tree and keep it upright. There are no ornaments but plenty of lights. The tree is engulfed in small white lights. A three foot star sits at the top. The star is illuminated with small red lights. The star is fairly sizable and requires support. A ten foot metal rod hugs the slender upper trunk. The red extends three feet above the tree. The star is attached to the protruding three feet of rod. A thick cable snakes away from the tree to the northwest power source. The line doesn't run to Carroll but actually to a street light. It taps into the base of an overhead light that stands near the road that leads to the north end of Carroll. An excellent holiday addition to campus.
NDSportscenter:
Women's soccer star Vanessa Pruzinsky was named the soccer Academic All-American of the Year. Two other soccer players made the 2nd Team for Academic All-Americans. Mary Boland has a 3.87 GPA in Psychology and Erika Bohn is a business major with a 3.67 GPA. We are the only Division I school to produce 3 Academic All-Americans from the same team in one year.
Pruzinsky, though, is the huge story. She is a fifth-year defender out of Trumbull, Connecticut. She is a chemical engineer and has a 4.0 GPA. Not too shabby. (Vanessa received a fifth year after missing the '02 season with an ankle injury.) Pruzinsky is now among the favorites to receive the nation's top award for Academic All-American of the Year for all sports. Ruth Riley won that award back in 2001.
Over the past 10 years the women's soccer team has produced 13 Academic All-American awards, more than any other Division I women's soccer team and nearly double the second program on that list. Vanessa and a player from Penn State are the first players in Division I women's soccer history to be named first team Academic All-America three times.
Pruzinsky actually graduated last May. According to Scholastic, she became only the third chemical engineering major to graduate from Notre Dame with a 4.0 cumulative grade-point average, the first since 1974. This semester Vanessa is taking four graduate-level chemistry courses. "I do not know [how I achieved my academic success] because I am not smart at all," she humbly said. "I guess I just worked really hard and studied a lot." Vanessa credits her work ethic. "Things take so slow for me to learn. I'll sit in class and I'll be lost, and I'll have to sit there and study and stare at the same page for hours to understand stuff. I don't think I'm very talented. It's just the work." She sure is modest for a frickin' GENIUS.
Dec. 14, 2003
Campus News:
Board of Trustees Chairman Patrick McCartan has been re-elected and his tenure will last at least until 2007. He became the Chairman in 2000. McCartan joined the Board in 1989 and is a senior partner at the Jones Day international law firm. The Board also named a new Fellow. The University's Fellows consist of six lay trustees and six members of the Indiana province of the Congregation of the Holy Cross who are also trustees. The new Fellow is Bishop Daniel Jenky. The position opened after Father David Tyson moved on. Tyson replaced Father William Dorwart as provincial superior of the Indiana province. The Fellows are responsible for electing the University's Trustees and adopting and amending Board bylaws. Bishop Jenky of Peoria, Illinois graduated from ND in 1970. He has been the rector of Dillon Hall, rector of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart and superior of the Holy Cross community.
The London Program will now allow students the opportunity to study abroad for the entire year instead of just one semester. The London Program is the largest of ND's international study programs. Most other study aboard locations allow students to spend an entire year in the foreign country. The extended stay will allow longer internships and more in-depth research projects. The current enrollment is at 150 students per semester. The majority of the students would still study for only a semester. ND has the third highest percentage of students studying aboard. Approximately 50 percent of Domers study overseas at some point.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Earlier this year, the Gipp was informed that an ambitious lad managed to have some fun that crossed generation lines. Our source divulges that our subject had some personal time with a 32-year-old married mother of two, which "didn't quite stop at making out either." (Note to future tipsters: don't tease the Gipp: if you're gonna spill the beans, let us know EXACTLY what happened.)
The kicker is that this tuls happened to be the aunt of a friend of his. The kicker on the kicker is that he also got dirty with his friend, the younger member of this esteemed family, that same night. So, to summarize: one night, one morally casual aunt, one morally casual niece, fifteen minutes of Gipp-induced campus fame.
The Gipp has to admit disappointment, though, brought about by some apparent failures of this Graduate. There's no reason that the two sessions could not occur simultaneously. If kids and a ring don't stop you from throwing your worthless self onto the first 20-year-old who winks at you, is anything going to stop you from asking a younger relative to join in? The Gipp would have loved to publish some snapshots of this trio. The real losers in this whole incident, though, must be the poor children of this modern Mrs. Robinson. Can you imagine the field day that future classmates will have when the "yo mama" jokes start hitting the playground? Gipp sure can. Those brats just better pray none of their peers ever gets his hands on this old rag.
Hall Notes:
Last week you were told about how the "GO IRISH!" banner was living on in University publications. I recently was about campus and saw that other dorms had made large banners and draped them on their buildings. Lewis had a huge sign. But it was on the back of the dorm and made me think they were kind of ashamed. The other dorm to have a large banner was zahm. They didn't directly copy Carroll. Their sign was green and said "Here Come the Irish," as I recall. How original. As the old saying goes..."Imitation is the sincerest form of zahm showing how far superior Carroll is and that they all wish they were Vermin."
NDSportscenter:
The men's soccer team opened the NCAA tournament with a 4-1 victory over UW-Milwaukee at Alumni Field. Next up was Michigan. The sweet sixteen matchup against the Wolverines was also played at ND. The game ended 1-1 and had to go to free kicks. Michigan beat us 4-3 in kicks. For the game, we committed 8 fouls to Michigan's 33. We ended the year with a 16-3-4 record.
The volleyball team climbed up to #12 in the rankings on the strength of a 14-match win streak. #14 Northern Iowa halted that run. It was the longest streak under Coach Debbie Brown. The Irish swept the Big East regular season and hosted the conference tourney. Unfortunately Pittsburgh knocked us off at home. It was our first Big East loss at home in 62 matches. It was also only our second Big East tourney loss since we joined the conference in 1995. Coach Debbie Brown earned her 4th Big East Coach of the Year award. It is her third in four years. The #20 Irish still ended up making the NCAA tourney for the 12th consecutive year. Our first round opponent was #17 Louisville. The Cardinals sent us packing in straight games. The ladies finished the year 23-7.
The cross country teams sent seven runners to the NCAA meet. Five women and two men represented ND. The meet was held in the cold and wind of Cedar Falls, Iowa. The women came in ranked #3 but finished 10th. Junior Lauren King finished 28th (20:35.6). She's the first female Domer to earn 3 All-Americans in cross country. Sophomore Molly Huddle finished 41st. Todd Mobley came in 27th for the men and earned his 2nd All-American honor. Molly Huddle was named the Regional Runner of the Year. Coach Tim Connelly was given the honor of Regional Coach of the Year.
Dec. 7, 2003
Campus News:
Check this out.... The lead prosecutor on the Michael Jackson case is a Domer! Santa Barbara County District Attorney Tom Sneddon graduated from ND in the '60s and then went on to the UCLA Law School. After receiving his law degree in 1966, he served two years in the Army before becoming a prosecutor for his entire law career. Tom has been a prosecutor for 34 years and a district attorney for nearly 21 years. Sneddon was also the lead prosecutor in the 1993 child-molestation case against Jackson. That case ended when the accuser reportedly accepted a multi-million dollar civil settlement and refused to testify in any criminal case. Tom was a boxer at ND and earned the nickname "Mad Dog" for his tenacious courtroom demeanor. The '93 court case is supposedly the inspiration of a 1995 song titled "D.S." that was on Jackson's "HIStory" album. The song is widely believed to refer to the district attorney. The "D.S." stands for "Dom Sheldon." Sounds a lot like "Tom Sneddon" doesn't it? In a February 2003 profile, the National District Attorneys Association called Sneddon "the only D.A. in the nation to have an angry song written about him by pop megastar Michael Jackson."
"60 Minutes" anchor Mike Wallace recently spoke on campus. Wallace participated in an interview and question-and-answer session as part of a program on journalism, ethics, and democracy. Wallace was in the area as part of a benefit held by the Suicide Prevention Council of St. Joseph County. He has battle depression and was speaking about his personal experience. Wallace is now in his 36th year with "60 Minutes." He has received 20 Emmy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy. How long did his ND interview and Q&A last? Why 60 minutes, of course.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Over the years, the Gipp has heard of many unique methods of attempting to get out of trouble, but a recent effort even got Old Man Gipp's attention. The heroine of this tip, who must be straight out of finishing school, is a first-year student who had reportedly made six - yes, count 'em, six - uncordial visits to the Main Building for behavorial infractions within her first three weeks under Mary's supervision. By the Gipp's recollection, that's a record.
But, amazingly enough, that's not the punch line of this tip. During a recent run-in with the campus authorities, the polite princess supposedly made her accoster an interesting offer: you let me off, I'll get you off. You release me, I'll release your - okay, you get the point. Well, NOW the Gipp's heard them all. And, no, pathetically desperate males, the Gipp has not (yet) obtained this angel's phone number. Give him another week.
In an unrelated public service announcement, the Gipp would like to remind certain freshgirls that it's not too late to transfer across the lake.
Hall Notes:
A few years ago the Vermin made some noise with a giant "GO IRISH!" sign that was hung on the front of the dorm for home football games. The sign was immortalized in a poster that declared "Nowhere Else But Notre Dame." The sign and Carroll appeared in the upper left corner of the poster. Now the sign has popped up in another University item. The new applications for high school seniors come in a color booklet. The second to last and third to last pages were sprinkled with Vermin. It was a two-page spread that had a photo of the men of Carroll raising the "GO IRISH!" banner. All the 4th floor residents had their heads out their windows with rope in hand as they hoisted the sign. Other Vermin were on the ground offering direction. An application is appropriate for this photo since it shows Carroll applying creativity to the max.
NDSportscenter:
The men's basketball team plays Indiana in the JACC on ESPN at 9pm EST on Wednesday, December 10.
Football notes: Joe Montana will be the guest speaker at the 83rd Football Banquet. I guess we have to pull out the big gun to impress recruits since the season was poor....For the fifth year in a row, the Harris Poll revealed that the Fightin' Irish are the #1 favorite team of fans in the country.... Julius Jones is the 4th leading rusher in school history. He is in 5th place for single season rushing. Julius is the only back to have three 200+ yard games in one season...."The Shirt" had sales over 126,000 and raised $400,000.
Muffet McGraw recenty signed three top 100 recruits. Tulyah Gaines (#52) in a 5'7" guard. Melissa D'Amico (#91) is a 6'4" center/forward. The most recent signee was #27 Charel Allen. Allen is a 5'10" guard/forward out of Monessen, Pennsylvania. She is an explosive leaper and scorer. Last year she scored 26 ppg, snagged 11 rpg, dished out 5 apg, and made 7 spg. This class rated 12th in the country. For the ninth straight year we landed a top 20 recruiting class. Only UConn and Tennessee have equaled that. The women's team was picked to finish 3rd in the Big East. Junior Jacqueline Batteast was selected to the pre-season All Big East 1st Team. The team opened the year ranked #14 in the nation.
During the early signing period, Coach Mike Brey received the commitment of Rob Kurz. Rob is a 6'8", 255 lb. forward from Gwynedd, Pennsylvania. Last year he played in Philadelphia for Penn Charter High School. He scored 18 ppg and grabbed 12 rpg. Kurz has attended the Nike All-American camp the last two summers. He will be a co-captain at the upcoming year's camp. Rob has been tagged as "Pat Garrity-like" by Coach Brey. We won out over Indiana, Stanford, and Villanova. Brey will have 3 scholarships to use this spring (and 4 if Chris Thomas bails for the NBA).
Nov. 30, 2003
Campus News:
The University recently received the single largest gift in school history. The late Joan Kroc left $50 million to the peace institute she helped establish and fund. She not only helped start the Kroc Institute but also the Hesburgh Institute for International Studies. Kroc's initial contact with the University came 18 years ago when she heard University President Theodore Hesburgh give a speech promoting peace. In the spring of '86 Krock gave $6 million for the formation of a peace studies institute. She gave an additional $6 million in 1988. On Hesburgh's 86th birthday last May, Joan contributed a $5 million gift to create a fund in Hesburgh's name to provide scholarships for students in the institute's graduate program. Other donations have come over the years. In all, Kroc has given $69.1 million to the University. Kroc acquired her wealth as the widow of McDonald's Corp. founder Ray Kroc.
"We are going to be the best funded peach institute in the world," said Hesburgh. The graduate program will be adding staff and faculty with expertise in peace studies and the development of classroom education and clinical training. The Institute will be able to move forward with a strategic planning effort to expand the master's program in peace studies to become a two-year program. Graduate students will be able to do field research at sites around the world. The peace institute currently serves 20 to 24 students a year in the master's degree program. This year there are 24 master's degree students from about 17 countries. The gift will allow the program to accommodate 30 to 35 students. The center's mission is to prepare students to exercise influence both in governmental and nongovernmental organizations around the world. The institute would not send students to sites that are in the midst of violence. (But wouldn't those be the locations most in need of peace activists?)
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
To all you Risk-Management types: Seriously, can a marshmallow really lacerate someone's face? The Gipper supposes that's why society only allows them to be handled by professionals, such as 8-year-old Boy Scouts sitting around a campfire. Sure, some larger males may have a cannon for an arm, but the Gipp's opinion is that if something white and gooey is going to be shot in your face, it might as well be those little puffballs.
Hall Notes:
It seems pretty obvious that Vermin Carlyle Holiday's quarterback days are over. Does that mean he will be coming back for a 5th year? The South Bend Tribune reported that Carlyle wants to come back next year. The question is whether he will be a backup quarterback or a receiver. Coach Willingham is on the record saying he would welcome Carlyle back. It seems Carlyle would be back as an emergency/3rd string quarterback in addition to receiver. Word on the street is that Tyrone is telling all the high school quarterbacks we are recruiting that they would come in as immediate #2 quarterbacks. Looks like Carlyle will have to catch to catch on with next year's team.
NDSportscenter:
The men's basketball team play Marquette on ESPN2 Monday night at 9pm EST.
The football team cannot make a bowl game this year. Tyrone is holding out hope for an at-large somewhere but it doesn't appear to be a possibility.
During
halftime of the last home game the seniors threw caution to the wind. The University
had threatened to get tough on anyone throwing marshmallows. To throw or not
to throw? That was the question. The seniors decided to throw. Thirty to forty
students were ejected and their ticket booklets
confiscated. (How wise is it to confiscate ticketless booklets?) NDSP officers
escorted some students to the security office to issue citations. Bags of marshmallows
were seized at the entry gates to the Stadium and those students were ejected.
(How do you eject people that haven't actually entered?) The Observer was flooded
with Letters to the Editor from disgruntled students who were innocent victims
of overzealous ushers. Look what has become of the marshmallow tradition partically
begun by the '97 Vermin.
The men's soccer team finished the regular season as the third best team in the Big East. They entered the post-season with a 12-3-3 record. The #5 ranked squad made the conference finals and took on #4 St. John's. Earlier in the year the Red Storm had abused us. Not this time. We beat them 2-0 to claim the Big East Championship. It is our second Big East title and first since 1996. The men received an automatic spot in the NCAA tournament. The team was actually ranked #3 but received the #5 seed. Because they are one of the top seeds, the Irish have a bye in the first round and will host the second round at ND.
The
soccer team also took home some Big East hardware. Chris Sawyer was named the
conference's Goalkeeper of the Year. Sawyer, Justin Detter, and Jack Stewart
made the 1st Team All Big East. Two Domers made the 2nd Team while the 3rd Team
had three. Coach Bobby Clark has made some amazing strides in only his third
year at the helm.
Nov. 23, 2003
Campus News:
Some final construction news...
Early next year work will begin again on the Notre Dame Security/Police Department and campus post office. The project began in 2002 but was put on hold due to the slow economy. The building's foundation has been completed. It is on the former basketball courts near Stepan Center. The structure will cost $10.97 million and have 40,000 square-feet. The architect is Moake-Park Group of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Ziolkowski Construction of South Bend is the construction manager. The new building actually did not meet the Board of Trustees' requirements. However, the Board still approved the continuation of construction in order to clear the current security/police and post office sites for future construction projects. The new structure is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2005. A new hotel will take up the site of the current security building. A definite date for construction has not been set. The law school renovations will involve the land of the current post office. A definite date for its construction has not been set yet either.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Our next tale falls in the age-old category of "roommate revenge." Our tipsters report that, "towards the end of an extremely week, our roommate decided to 'get her game face on' a little early." Based on the context you're about to read, the Gipp is assuming this means she was helping a partner stretch his lower back.
The partier's roommates were starting to get a little fed up with their suitemate, being that this behavior started to occur on many weekday nights, even when the roommates had important exams the following morning. So, quotes our source, "after being locked out of the room one too many times, we decided to exact a little revenge..." Ahh, God bless the sinister ellipses.
The begrudged girls stole what they call the rude roommate's "favorite thing" and "left-hand man." But, to the disappointment of the Gipp's youthful curiosity, this was simply a bottle of liquor. The victim of the upcoming prank was already a little tipsy before dark on the night of the crime, so she had no idea (and still had no idea until...right now) that her roommates took turns shooting their spit into the bottle. A half-digested brownie also made its way into the bottle, only later to be strained out by a coffee filter to hide any evidence. The part of the story that really hits home, at least for the Gipp, is that stale water from the dish of a pet frog (supposedly, and appropriately, named "Gipper") was mixed into the concoction as well. How does the story end? Well, you shouldn't have to ask, because Gipp wouldn't publish it unless our clueless pal went vertical on it the following afternoon. She did.
Hall Notes:
Vermin are making a strong showing in the NFL. At the top of the list is Bert Berry '97. Bert began with the Colts was actually out of the NFL for a year or so. He's back with avengeance for the Denver Broncos. Early in the year he was actually leading the NFL in sacks. Bert is #92 and is playing defensive end. He had 15 tackles and 8 assists for a total of 23 stops on defense. That puts him 10th on the team. He has one fumble recovery and is leading the team in sacks with 7. Berry is 5th in the AFC in sacks and 8th in the league through week 11.
Anthony Weaver is having a solid campaign with the Baltimore Ravens. He has 17 tackles and 6 assists to rank 11th on the team's defense. He is second on the squad with 5 sacks. Weaver is 11th in the AFC in sacks and 20th in the league. He also has one fumble recovery.
Jarious Jackson is also back with the Broncos. Jarious was not on the opening day roster. He was playing in Europe in the World League, I believe. The Broncos had the rights to him and called him up with the starter and backup went down. He has yet to throw a pass for Denver this year.
NDSportscenter:
The NCAA has ruled that we can go to a bowl with a 6-6 record. However, that can only take place if enough Big East teams finish worse than 7-5. Our most likely destination would be the San Francisco Bowl or the Continental Tire Bowl.
The women's soccer team opened the post-season with a 2-1 overtime win over Miami in the Big East quarterfinals. Unfortunately the team dropped the semi-final game versus boston college, 2-1. It was our first ever conference tournament loss. Senior Amy Warner was out with an ankle injury. In fact, for the season nine different players had missed a total of 101 games. So the women had to sweat out the seeding for the NCAA tournament. Their late season falter was not held against them. They received the #2 seed and the right to host the first two tournament games. The first game was versus Loyola of Chicago. The ladies dispatched of them 5-0. Sadly, round 2 was the last they would play. Michigan, who knocked us off at home a couple of weeks ago, beat us 1-0. The only goal was on the only corner kick and only shot on goal. Amy Warner and Melissa Tancredi (flu) did not play the first half. Amanda Guertin and Mary Boland were also limited due to injuries. Head coach Randy Waldrum refused to let the injuries be an excuse. The team finished 20-3-1.
The
women's soccer team did have some positive news. Senior central back Melissa
Tancredi was named the Big East Defensive Player of the Year. Freshman central
back Christie Shaner was named the co-Rookie of the Year in the conference.
Randy Waldrum was the Big East Coach of the Year. Finally, junior forward Mary
Boland and senior forward Amy Warner joined Tancredi on the All Big East First
Team.
Nov. 16, 2003
Campus News:
More on the construction the Board of Trustees has given the green light to...
The $70 million Jordan Hall of Science will be underwritten with a leadership gift from John Jordan, a '69 graduate. Internal University funds will also go to the project. The November ground-breaking will be just north of the JACC. The building will be just east of Juniper Road and west of the Rolfs Sports Recreation Center. It will be a 201,783 square-foot building. There will be 40 undergraduate laboratories for biology, chemistry, and physics; two 250-seat lecture halls; a 150-seat multimedia lecture hall; two classrooms; 22 faculty offices; offices for preprofessional (pre-med) studies; and a greenhouse, herbarium and observatory. The facility was designed by S/L/A/M Collaborative of Glastonbury, Connecticut. Geupel Demars Hagerman of Indianapolis will perform the construction.
John W. "Jay" Jordan II previously funded construction of the Jordan Auditorium in the Mendoza College of Business. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1993. Jordan currently chairs the Board of Trustees investment committee, which oversees the University endowment. He is the founder of The Jordan Company (TJC), a private investment firm that acquires, manages and builds companies for the TJC partnership account. He is also the chief executive officer of the Chicago-based holding company Jordan Industries Inc. The Jordan Hall of Science is scheduled to be completed by summer 2006.
Campus Watch by Me:
This is a VerminNet exclusive. It will not appear in any publication. Thank goodness for the grapevine....
After the Florida State game, a Seminole had torn up part of the turf and was holding it above his head. (Gee, there's nothing like celebrating a victory over a 2-6 team.) A snapshot was taken of the player and his trophy. It appeared in the South Bend Tribune. Our story picks up after the photo was taken. A stadium superintendent had witnessed the incident and radioed the head of the stadium ushers. The head was going to intervene and he had a police officer as backup. He approached the FSU player and informed him he could not take chunks of turf from the Stadium. The turf was then taken after the player resisted but finally gave in. Then, as the turf was being walked back to its divot, the player and his buddies taunted the head usher. Oh, but it doesn't end there. The Florida State newspaper ran a different version: "B.J. Ward wasn't as lucky. When he attempted to leave the field with a souvenir piece of turf, one white-haired stadium usher quickly deputized himself with some Irish police powers. 'The dude tried to choke me out. He said that was his property,' said Ward, who blocked a field goal in the first quarter that kept the momentum going against the Irish. 'Them Irish care about their grass, so I had to give it up. But I got some nice pictures.'" Congratulations to the FSU newspaper for its blatant lies and acceptance of vandalism. And also congratulations to that particular Seminole. What he lacks in class and SAT scores he more than makes up for with improper English.
Hall Notes:
The current Editor-in-Chief of Scholastic is Vermin! Matt Killen is the man running the show. And Carroll was mentioned in a recent inside-cover editorial. The piece was an intro to the Scholastic cover story on ND's dorm system. Matt wrote:
In the summer of 2000 I was getting ready to enter into my first year as a student at the University of Notre Dame. Like any incoming student, I got countless packets of information, all gearing up to that momentous August move-in day. One of these packets listed my dorm: Carroll Hall.
The name sounded good, but that was about all I knew about the place.
That summer, when I came on campus to take a language placement exam, my parents decided to hunt down my dorm and check it out. I emerged from the DeBartolo exam room, and my parents were waiting for me with odd-looking smiles on their faces.
"Let's go see your dorm," they told me.
As we headed out of DeBartolo, turning down South Quad, I naively pointed at dorm after dorm, wondering which one would be Carroll. But we kept walking, and we approached Lyons arch, which I assumed to be the edge of campus.
But, of course, it wasn't.
We kept walking, past the lake, down Carroll drive, and an old, mansion appeared at the end of a small grassy field. It looked like something out of a Scooby-Doo mystery. We had to be well off-campus at this point, I thought. But that was it: Carroll Hall, right before my eyes.
While the isolation of Carroll Hall seemed strange to me at the time, after I moved in it quickly became a great characteristic of a wonderful community; something that set it apart from the rest and made me feel at home.
NDSportscenter:
Since some of you had the good fortune to not have to witness this year's football team in person, I'll fill you in on some things outside the gridiron that made sitting in the Stadium bearable. The U.S. Army delivered the game ball for the USC game. From the air. Eight members of the Gold Demonstration section of the U.S. Army Parachute Team dropped into the stadium from 12,500 feet. The band was the only good thing about the Florida State game. The halftime theme was "Aviation." They played pieces from "Top Gun" and the formations were tight. The first one was of an above view of a fighter plane. Five single-file Irish Guardsmen made the needlenose. The other five set off fire extinguishers at the tail to simulate exhaust as the jet marched across the field. Thankfully one band member had fluorescent batons to guide the plane into the tunnel at the north end of the field. That was followed by two-thirds of the band forming the profile of an aircraft carrier. The rest of the band formed the profile of a plane near the flagpole and marched at an angle and "landed" on the deck of the aircraft carrier. It was wicked sweet.
The Big East added five teams from Conference USA. In 2005-06, DePaul, Cincinnati, Louisville, Marquette, and South Florida will join. There will be 8 football teams and 16 basketball teams.
ND men's basketball notes: the team will be on national television 13 times this year....Chris Thomas is a unanimous member of the pre-season All Big East First Team....The Big East will be one division this year. We were voted to finish third behind UConn and Syracuse....alum Matt Carroll has signed as a free agent with the Portland Trailblazers....The student allotment of tickets sold out in an unprecedented hour and a half hours....Prior to the season, Coach Brey had a reunion for coaches, managers, and players of old. The number of returnees was 112. Amongst the crew was former coach Matt Doherty. Doherty said he received only one negative comment from a fan. Overall, he was embraced by the University. Doherty said, "It just showed what the people of Notre Dame are about, the class, the character that they have."
Nov. 9, 2003
Campus News:
The campus construction year-long moratorium has come to an end. The economy and endowment have picked up enough to begin construction again. The Board of Trustees approved the construction of two new buildings and resumption of construction of a third during its fall meeting in October. Monk stated that the University has "funding in hand for these three projects."
One of the new buildings will be the $21.25 million Don F. and Flora Guglielmino Family Athletics Center. It will adjoin the west side of the Loftus Center. The 95,840 square-foot facility will house the football locker rooms, office and meeting rooms. It will also provide the 800 student- athletes with enhanced space for training and sports medicine, strength and conditioning programs, and equipment. The Athletic Center will also contain an indoor practice football field, according to the South Bend Tribune. There currently is an existing indoor practice field in Loftus. It was not reported if two fields will be maintained. The current field was recently renovated. The field was previously astroturf, but is now field turf, the plastic grass-like turf made of rubber. The designer/builder for the project is McShane Construction of Chicago. The Athletic Center will open in the fall of 2005. Kevin White had this to say on the facility: "This center will have an enormous impact on the experiences of all our student-athletes, an in particular on the Irish football team. The consolidation of facilities will make our student-athletes' daily routines much more efficient and, consequently, provide them with a better chance to realize their full potential." Don Guglielmino, a longtime supporter of the University, attended ND in the 1939-40 academic year. He had made previous gifts to the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles scholarship fund, the University's Institute for Church Life, and the football program. Don was recognized as an honorary alumnus in 1996 and was inducted into the ND National Monogram Club after his death in May of 2001. Don is survived by his wife, Flora, and three children.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Recently, the Gipp has received a mouthful of tips concerning activities at the university's new restaurant/pub/discotheque/desperate-attempt-to-keep- kids-on-campus. The majority of these tales involve different stories of strangers swip-swapping. So, apparently, the new club has replaced our old Yacht Yard friend as South Bend's premiere locale for fit-shaced horny 18-year-olds who are willing to sacrifice 15 minutes of sloppy pleasure for 15 awkward DeBartolo sightings. The Gipper doesn't want to delve into the mundane details of these hook-ups, so sorry to all the characters of those drunken dramas - Gipp ain't gonna holla 'atcha this week.
We'll just close it with this: Thanks (seriously) to the university for allowing a trendy pizza shop to be replaced as the top after-party hangout on campus. And students, let's make the stories a bit more interesting; after all, a group of underage students raiding and overtaking the bar by physical force would be much funnier than kissing someone you've never met and hopefully won't ever see again.
Hall Notes:
Jim Butz was the senior captain of the Vermin football team. I tracked him down for the scoop on the Carroll gridiron action for the past few years. In 2000-01 the team was bad. Irish-bad. The Vermin lost all four games and scored only two touchdowns, both defensive. The following year (2001-2002) they failed to field a team because of a lack of numbers. In 2002-03 the Vermin finally got competitive but still lost all four games. This year, though, the men of Carroll were noticeably stronger. Some talented freshmen joined some solid veterans in an opening 10-6 win over zahm. It was the first win in many a year. St. Ed's was victorious (6-0) in the second game. Knott's superb quarterback downed the Vermin 18-0. The last game was against Stanford, the defending interhall champion. Carroll lost 8-0 in a much tighter contest than could have been imagined. The Vermin were driving late but a major injury (to Mr. Butz, actually) and an ambulance on the field took away any momentum. The Vermin finished 1-3 but with hope for the future.
NDSportscenter:
The women's soccer team saw their winning streak come to an end. With two main possible All-American starters out, including the team's leading scorer), the Irish fell to Michigan, 3-2. The ladies finished the regular season with an 18-1-1 record. The Irish outshot the Wolverines 10-6 and Michigan also did not take a shot during the final 41 minutes as they protected the goal. The loss ended a 10-game shutout streak (5th longest in NCAA history). The scoreless minutes streak stopped at 956. The previous Irish shutout record set in 1995 was 8 games. The Irish defense was leading the nation in goals-against-average and Erika Bohn was the leading goalie in the nation in terms of goals allowed. The women's soccer team has fallen from #2 to #3 in one poll and #4 in the other.
Some very disturbing football notes: the FSU game was our second worst home loss ever....We were held scoreless at home for the first time since 1978....This is the first time we have lost three in a row at home since 1984....We were 2-6 for the first time since 1963....Not since 1960 have we been shutout twice in the same season....Prior to the Navy game, our passing efficiency was ranked 117th in the nation. Out of 117. Oy vey.... With our loss last weekend and Michigan's win, the Wolverines overtook us for the best winning percentage in college football.
The women's cross country team won its second straight Big East Championship. The ladies blew everybody out with 59 points. (Providence and Georgetown tied for second with 80 points.) All five Domers finished in the top 20. Sophomore Molly Huddle came in third with a time of 20:47 for the 6K race. She was joined on the All Big East team by junior Kerry Meagher and junior Lauren King who finished sixth and fourteenth, respectively. Coach Tim Connelly received his second straight Big East Coach of the Year Award. The women's cross country team is currently ranked #4 in the country.
Nov. 2, 2003
Campus News:
And so the campus construction begins again. In August ground was broken for a new building just south of campus on the other side of Angela. The new building will house Indiana University's local medical branch and ND's transgene research center. The IU center had been in the basement of Hagger Hall on campus. The new seven-acre site was acquired by IU four years ago. The University will lease 46 percent of the 66,000 square- foot building for the Keck Center for Transgene Research, which produces genetically engineered rodents for medical research. "Genetically engineered rodents"? Are they going to be making Super Vermin? Sweeeeeet.
The agreement with IU took three years of planning. The new structure will be in Gothic style similar to other buildings on campus. The new center will include a 250-seat auditorium, classrooms, teaching laboratories and exam rooms for the medical program and office and research facilities for the transgene center. Although the building will be owned and operated by IU, the architects worked closely with the University. The cost of construction was reported at $12.8 million. Once this building and the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts are complete, the University plans to create an open green space between DeBartolo and Angela. The new IU building will be completed in the Fall of 2004. Then the University hopes to gain permission from the city and county to straighten Angela east of Notre Dame Avenue. ND administrators would like to extend Angela straight east through an undeveloped area known as the Notre Dame woods and soccer fields south of Edison.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Cheer up, Gipplings. As long as you have this column to brighten your fortnights, who cares if our team scores about as often as the priests on camp- hmm, wait, that joke is no longer accurate. Never thought Gipp would see the day. In any case, the Gipp has compiled a list of the top five things to pass the time when, every Saturday, your players suck more than LeMans. (Actually, you oversensitive perverts, the Gipp was simply referring to the widely-known fact that LeMans gals just aren't cool.)
5.) Spend the games trying to collect as many old-man usher caps as you can (hey, if they're not wearing green, you're just helping out the team....)
4.) After the game, blame your school's loss solely on your opponent's lack of class. Supplement the complaint with campus newspaper editorials that attack a group of people who will never read your words.
3.) Remember, seniors, marshmallows don't stain clothing. Eggs do. (P.S. They wear blue jackets - you can't miss 'em.)
2.) Skip the game, and throw one back for every point you see the opponents score on your TV.
1.) Write a seemingly bitter, pessimistic, anonymous bi-weekly column that allows you to take unlimited cheap shots at whatever suits your fancy.
Hall Notes:
Basketball season is about to start for the Irish. One of our own will be getting more minutes this season. Sophomore Rick Cornett is looking to contribute at the power forward spot. So Rick stuck it out after his first year in Carroll. He didn't transfer to an inferior dorm. Must have been the high ceilings. Rick will be easy to spot. Just look for the headband. Hopefully he will become the beast on the boards that he was in high school. He just has to release his inner Vermin and plague upcoming opponents.
NDSportscenter:
Abe Elam will not spend a day in jail. Elam, though, will have a felony criminal record for his conviction of sexual battery. The judge gave Abe an 18-month suspended sentence and put him on probation for two years. He also has 200 hours of community service and must pay court costs and other fees. Elam will be allowed to serve his probation in his home state of Florida. The judge had a difficult time with the sentencing saying, "This is as close to a no-win position as I've found myself in 14 years." Elam's attorney said a felony record would prevent Abe from getting into two colleges that offered him scholarships. Elam has completed an associate's degree in business at a community college in Florida and has been working in a dentist's office.
We may have lost to boston college in football, but we beat them in hockey. It was a HUGE upset. We were unranked and on the road. boston college was playing before a sellout crowd at home and was ranked #1. The Irish was 1-0. It was only the third start in goal for freshman David Brown. He made 27 saves. We only managed 18 shots on goal, but sophomore Mike Walsh put one of those in the back of the net. The Irish had been 0-6-2 against the Eagles in the last eight meetings. The last victory was back in 1994. The team is now 3-2-0 in this young season.
Sophomore Omari Peterkin of the men's basketball team has withdrawn from the University. He has left the team and headed home for "personal reasons." Peterkin is from the island of St. Thomas. He did not play last year as he was red-shirted. He was not expected to play much, if at all this season.
The men's basketball team was in Barbados over fall break. The team won two of three games in 100 degree temps and stifling humidity. Chris Thomas led the way with 21 ppg. He and sophomore Chris Quinn played well together. The two 6'1" point guards will be our starting backcourt. Torin Francis will definitely start. The other frontcourt starters will likely be seniors Torrian Jones and Tom Timmermans.
Oct. 26, 2003
Campus News:
Fall break has come and gone. One quarter of the school year is history. Time flies. The break began last week, the same time the Board of Trustees was conducting its full meeting on campus. The main news item that came out of that meeting was what DIDN'T happen. The Board didn't name a replacement for Father Scully. It has been nearly four months since Scully resigned as executive vice president. The position has yet to be filled. While the position remains vacant, Monk Malloy is overseeing his normal responsibilities and those normally performed by the executive vice president. The topic was most likely discussed at the Board meeting but certainly not resolved.
See Dick run. Actually, see Chris run with help from Dick. Dick Cheney was recently on campus to help raise money for Indiana Congressman Chris Chocola. The non-Notre Dame-sponsored fundraiser was held at the JACC. The facilities were rented out to the Chocola camp as they revved up their campaign for 2004. The dinner was a $250-a-plate affair. Prior to the dinner and speech, a meet-and-greet was held with the Vice President for $2,000 per person. The event was estimated to have raked in about one quarter of a million dollars. The fundraiser did not fly in under the radar. Approximately 100 protestors were well aware and stood outside the JACC speaking out against Cheney adn the current administration. Supporters of Cheney were also on hand. The Domer College Republicans volunteered at the Cheney event. Cheney and Bush continue to support Chocola with annual visits to the Bend.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Gipp would like to share with our community a perplexing message he received last spring. Apparently, in that modern edifice know as O’Shag, it’s raining men-— little men, that is. As our tipster noted, “It’s dripping from the ceiling, smelling up the gorgeous carpets and disgusting all.” No word on whether this problem still is an issue. And to all those who moaned that their having to put up with this situation was “bull crap,” the Gipper says, “Nope, that’s your crap.”
Hall Notes:
It has recently come to my attention that Carroll once again has a football team. The last time we reported about Vermin football it was to tell of its demise. The pigskin is back in our beloved dormo. I'm very happy to report on the team's first game. Carroll defeated zahm. The Irish may be 2-4 but the Vermin are keepin' it real. I have the name of the captain so hopefully he can give us the skinny on the rest of the season.
NDSportscenter:
So boston college sold out. They have decided to leave the Big East and become the 12th member of the ACC. The ACC commissioner spoke of the brainless nature of his conference when he stated, "If you look at their graduation rate, boston college will jump right into the higher echelon of our conference." Prior to this turn of events, four Big East schools sued the ACC and Miami. A Connecticut judge, though, dropped the ACC as a defendant. The Connecticut Attorney General threatened to sue boston college if they defected. boston college was not deterred by that or the exit fee which could be from $1 million to $5 million. Of course another lawsuit was filed. The new Big East lawsuit was against boston college, its athletic director, and 4 ACC officials. This suit against individuals was done to get around a jurisdiction issue that prevented the ACC from being sued as a conference. It is speculated boston college will not join the ACC until 2006. Oh, by the way, Miami has returned the favor by countersuing Connecticut and other members of the Big East for defamation and monetary hindrances from being in the Big East. What does this mean for ND? Well it immediately puts to rest the unfounded story that came out a few weeks ago that we were in talks with the ACC to join that conference.
It seems the halftime marshmallow wars in the student section during home games have been snuffed out. During the Michigan State game, 12 to 15 students were ejected for marshmallow throwing felonies. The crackdown took place because students were supposedly putting rocks, coins, and ice in the soft, white projectiles. Apparently NBC complained that a camera was hit in the fray. For shame! So stadium security was out in full force for the USC game. They were mainly going to target the marshmallow "ring leaders." Ring leaders? It's about time. The turf wars between the S'mores and the Stay Pufts were getting out of control. No one, though, threw a sugary treat. So no one had their ticket book confiscated. No one was sent to Res Life. Surely the ushers were basking in the glory of their stifling defense.
Oct. 19, 2003
Campus News:
In late September it came to an end. Six years. Seventeen law firms. Thirty-six inches of paperwork. The Notre Dame Stadium lawsuit is over. A settlement was reached. Of course the terms of the settlement were kept confidential. (And you thought the White House was secretive. That administration has nothing on this one.) The details of the suit had been deliberated over the summer. Settlement checks were distributed in September and attorneys signed off to end the case. The judge signed the briefs "with prejudice," which means they cannot be refiled in any court of law. Had a trial taken place, several months would have been required to resolve the issue. One of the companies sued was Casteel Construction. The owner said, "We have built over 25 buildings on campus and still have a tremendous history with the University....we are glad to finally be able to mend fences and put the past behind us"
Comedian David Spade recently played campus. (I didn't even know he still did stand-up!) Apparently it was a late notice booking. Spade played the JACC and must have commanded quite a large sum. Students had to pay $20 per ticket and locals had to shell out $35. Spade did 75 minutes of material before a crowd estimated at about 1,300. The Observer did a review of the show and seemed to give Dave props for a solid act. The South Bend Tribune, though, said Spade was close to bombing. Based on the box office take of "Dickie Roberts," I'd say the latter review may have been closer to the truth.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Two Southies, most likely after striking out a few times that night with the local skirts, took up the mature activity of a hallway water gun fight. An innocent bystander took in some splashes, and, unable to pull the stick out, was not too pleased. So, says our source, he “placed a note on the perpetrator’s door saying that if he shot him again he would be dead. The perpetrator never saw it.” Instead, the note was found by another uninvolved party, who misinterpreted the note as a jab against our military, and proceeded to hunt down the author and let loose, if you will, on the note in front of his door. The author had no idea who the kid was, or why he was relieving himself in the middle of the hallway. Of greater surprise was the author’s lady friend, who apparently wasn’t too impressed with her new friend’s proportions.
Hall Notes:
One last Haunted House Skit from the memory of Vermin Sean Donnelly...
For the most bizarre, completely-whacked, funky mama-jama skit, I think back to my freshman year. Mike Natran and Dave Allard decided to use the first floor bathroom. They turned off all the lights and placed a candle in the middle of the room. Mike laid down in one of the shower stalls. Meanwhile, Dave, with a stocking over his head and tennis balls covering his eyes, ate mostaccoli off of Mike's stomach. Needless to say most of the visitors just looked at them strangely or said, "This isn't scary, it's just weird...." At which Dave, trying to salvage his scene, would scream, "THIS IS YOUR WORST F*CKING NIGHTMARE!!"
NDSportscenter:
So who saw the sixth game of the Cubs-Marlins series? Ya know the fan that tried to catch a fly ball and, in doing so, prevented the Cubs from making an out? He's a Domer. Steve Bartman is a 26-year-old 1999 graduate. His name was released in a Chicago paper and then went national. They even released what company he worked for! (Hewitt Associates, an international consulting firm) Bartman was a finance major (as I was told). Of course he didn't live in Carroll. No Vermin would injure the Cubbies. He lived in the heartless dorm of Keenan.
Off the hook. Not as in "cool," but as in "getting let go." The special prosecutor in the case of the four former football players that allegedly raped a female Domer has announced that she would not proceed with the trials of Lorenzo Crawford and Justin Smith. The cases have been dismissed and the two men will not be going to court. Abe Elam and Donald Dykes have already gone to trial. This news by the prosecutor comes two weeks prior to Lorenzo Crawford's court date. The decision to dismiss was reached based on the lack of success in the first two trials. Dykes was completely acquitted and Elam was only convicted on the lesser charge of sexual battery. Elam has not yet been sentenced. The prosecutor will attempt to have the conviction sentenced as a felony, which carries three years in prison. The defense hopes to get it reduced to a misdemeanor with no jail time.
Courtney Watson is not only a star on the field, but also off. The senior linebacker was one of eleven people named to the 2003 American Football Coaches Association Good Works Football Team. The honor is bestowed on those players who make a strong commitment to community service. Courtney has done a tremendous amount of work and you can read all about it in the piece on the "Articles of Interest" page.
The volleyball team opened the year with an upset of #10 Arizona. The strong opening has helped the ladies to climb to #15 in the rankings. The Irish continue to dominate the Big East. One very interesting item about the team is the presence of twins. California natives Jessica and Kristen Kinder are the only identical twins to ever play at ND. The senior co-captains have led the team to a 14-2 record (6-0 in the Big East). Kristen is an All Big East setter while Jessica is an outside hitter. Both want to give pro beach volleyball a shot after graduation.
Oct. 12, 2003
Campus News:
For those of you who were not at the Michigan State game, only nine members of the Irish Guard were working the game. Where was the tenth? He had received a beat down and was unable to go. A day prior to the game at least one Guard member was attacked along with two other Domers in downtown South Bend after leaving a pizza place. A guardsman was so severely injured he could not march. University administrators tried to play detective. The incident occurred at 3:10 am and involved three men who pulled up in a black Mercedes. The students told police they did not know why the men started a fight with them. The men in the Mercedes told police one of the students threw a slice of pizza onto the car. One patrolman reported all six men were "very uncooperative and the stories that they were telling me were not making sense. The stories I was getting were conflicting on both sides." One student was bleeding with a large bump on his forehead. Another was also bleeding from a cut lip and nose. The third had some teeth knocked out. We aren't called the Fightin' Irish for nothing.
Another Irish Guard item was recently in the news. In 2000 Molly Kinder was the first female member of the Irish Guard ever. He name, though, was not listed on an Irish Guard website. Samuel Rauch, a former guardsman and '95 graduate, had been operating a website titled "Original Irish Guard web page." The site included a list of former guardsmen dating back to 1949 (when the Irish Guard began) except for Molly Kinder. The South Bend Tribune contacted Rauch, but he declined an interview. The next day the website was shut down. It had been up since at least December 2000. Kinder had emailed Rauch several times with polite notes about his "oversight" in not listing her. She has never received a reply.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Late night drunken behavior is the fuel that drives the Gipp’s tank, but most readers probaby don’t enjoy every other tip being about something funny that happened upon an inebriated freshman’s return to his or her dormitory. So, for the sake of brevity....
Tip One: After a long night at a local pub, and a kicking back of a few more in the dorm, a young Irishman made the old mistake of climbing into someone else’s bed. Usually not a big deal, but this happened to be the bed of his residence’s Assistant Rector. And our friend happened to strip down to his underwear before crawling in. And the AR happened to already be asleep in the bed. The polite AR simply hopped on over to his couch, and waited until the morning to start the standard inquiries.
Hall Notes:
Another classic Haunted House skit as remembered by Vermin Sean Donnelly...
For humor, I turn to another one of Tom Giblin's skits. One of the Vermin, Tom Hitselberger maybe, was supposed to be a little boy sleeping in bed. They had baby music wafting through the room. Then someone turned on a strobe light and began blaring Metallica's "Enter Sandman". Soon evil versions of Santa Claus, Easter Bunny (Mark Vives in hilarious bunny ears), and Tooth Fairy (Bill Keen, not to be outdone, in a tutu and a fairy wand!) climbed out from under the bed and beat the crap out of the kid. Giblin topped it off as everybody's childhood nightmare--an evil clown.
NDSportscenter:
The women's soccer team started the year ranked #6 in one poll and #10 in another. Twelve of the top thirteen players were back from last year's team that made the third round of the NCAA tournament. The big hit was the loss of junior All-American Candace Chapman. The defender was lost for the year with a torn ACL. However, the ladies climbed to #2 in both polls by not losing a game. After defeating #10 Santa Clara 2-1, the Irish were 7-0-1. Last week the women knocked off #5 West Virginia after scoring eighty-four seconds into the contest. The team came into this past weekend with a mark of 12-0-1 and right behind North Carolina in the rankings.
Our fourth verbal commitment for football hails from Santa Ana, California. Lineman Brandon Nicolas is out of Mater Dei High School and his 6'5" frame tips the scale at 260 lbs. He is being recruited as a defensive lineman. Analyst Tom Lemming says Brandon is "not a difference-maker, but a good, solid player." Nicolas orally committed to us instead of Oregon State, UCLA, Oregon, Arizona, Arizona State, Nebraska, or boston college.
According to statistics released by the NCAA, ND ranks among the top 10 Division I-A schools in 5 major student-athlete graduate rate categories - overall, football, men, women, and African-Americans. The stats cover the enrollment years 1993 through 1996. The stats allow 6 years to graduate and count transfers as non-graduates. ND graduated 87% of its student- athletes (3rd), 81% of its football players (7th), 85% of its men (2nd), 92% of its women (2nd), and 78% of African-Americans (6th). Among student-athletes who completed all four years of athletic eligibility at ND, 99% earned their degrees. The NCAA recently presented an Academic Achievement Award to the University for its best-in-the-nation one-year graduation rate of 92% for all student-athletes who enrolled in 1996.
Campus News:
A retired Notre Dame professor was severely injured while working in Iraq. He was one of the victims of that massive terrorist attack on the United Nations headquarters back in August. Gilburt Loescher, a professor emeritus of political science, was treated at a military hospital in Germany. Loescher lost both of his legs from just above the knee and his right hand was severely damaged. He also received a tracheotomy and was not able to speak until just a couple of weeks ago. He now has a smaller breathing tube and still requires the aid of a respirator. Gilburt was in Iraq working for the Open Democracy Project, an organization studying the human costs of the war and reconstruction, including humanitarian needs. He specializes in international relations, human right, and refugees. Loescher has been a member of the ND faculty since 1975 and has a wife and two daughters.
Remember the Boat Club bust story from last yea? Well in August, Superior Court Magistrate Richard McCormick dismissed about 40 of the 200 lawsuits that had been brought against the students by the owner of the bar citing fraudulent representation of age. The bar owner was seeking $3,000 in small claims court from each student. Of the suit, McCormick said that is is "difficult to see how [the] Plaintiff could prevail on the issue of damages as a proximate result of [the] Defendant's conduct. One lawyer seems to be representing most, if not all, of the students. Attorney Ed Sullivan said he believes the remaining cases will be dismissed since they are all the same. In late September, though, those 40 dismissed cases were appealed and the rest were delayed until April. All of the cases will be appealed to the Indiana Court of Appeals in Indianapolis. Once it finally reaches the appeals court (after months of paperwork), a panel of three judges will likely take about six weeks to reach a decision. Six weeks to reach a decision! And people talk about guys having a hard time making a commitment.
Campus Watch by Me:
So ESPN's "The Season" covering Irish football has been locked in at 11:30pm central time on Thursday nights. The show is also down to half an hour. Word on the street is that this is the case for two reasons. One is because we got spanked by Michigan and are getting rocked by everyone else as we struggle mightily. But the bigger reason is that supposedly ESPN doesn't have any dirt to air. Apparently they were looking for internally squabbling, players skipping class, subs bickering about starters, and other issues of strife, discontent, and scandal that make for great television. No such luck with Tyrone's program.
Hall Notes:
Here is a second Haunted House Skit as remembered by Vermin Sean Donnelly...
For production values, you couldn't beat Mike Canzoniero's Room o' Thrills. Mike, being the cinematic genius, rivalled DeMille (or more appropriately Fellini, perhaps) with a wonderful display of weirdness and wit. Tim Sosnowski was effective as a decaptiated head. Soz used one of the aluminum recycling bins, climbing inside and poking his head out of the hole. Jay Lubanski was a ghoulish Domino's Delivery man (complete with uniform) toting a disgusting pizza topped with rats, maggots, etc. To top it off, Canz portrayed Dr. Frankenstein reviving his creation, the Monster, played by our resident UVA law student, Tom Giblin.
NDSportscenter:
The Pittsburgh game is going to be on ESPN on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 5pm central time.
So we had a bye week. We were 10 point underdogs anyway.
Where's the love? It's one thing to make "Muck Fichigan" shirts but must Domers bust on our own? Some on campus made t-shirts calling for Brady Quinn to start at quarterback. Insult was added to Carlyle's struggles as the shirts read "The Holiday's Over....Win With Quinn."
Sports Illustrated now has a mini-campus edition. It has been coming out on Fridays on campus with The Observer. One issue listed ND #1 in a category. We were tops in rankings for "Best Campus, Worst Town." Another issue had a piece called "100 Things You Gotta Do Before You Graduate." ND was mentioned four times: #7 Pull a Rudy and walk on; #21 Visit Notre Dame Stadium; #40 Play Bookstore Basketball; and #68 Kegs & Eggs early morning gameday 'gater.
Another week, another trial. Remember coverless cornerback Clifford "Toast" Jefferson? Yeah, I'm trying to forget too. Well, ol' Cliff was in court a couple of weeks ago. It stemmed from an accused sexual assault back in March 2001. This was a civil trial so Jefferson could not receive any jail time. The woman was seeking $12 million, $2 million in compensatory damages and $10 million in punitive damages. The civil suit was filed after a decision was made that no criminal charges would be filed. (Likely no charges were filed because the woman was intoxicated and no physical evidence was preserved.) Jefferson represented himself at trial, saying he could not afford an attorney. (Not surprising considering he did not pay previous attorney fees or stay in contact with them or even show up at all the court hearings.) Jefferson also refused to testify, invoking the Fifth Amendment. The two-and-a-half year old case lasted two days in court. Clifford did not call any witnesses. He did cross-examine the woman. The jury deliberated for a mere three hours. The woman was awarded $1 million, $500,000 in compensatory damages and $500,000 in punitive damages. The woman's attorney stated, "That's good...He will be paying that for the rest of his life." Probably true. In January, Jefferson said he was employed boxing chips at a Frito-Lay plant in Dallas. Ouch.