Campus News:
More renovations to campus buildings are taking place this summer. Scaffolding has been erected around Sacred Heart Basilica all the way to the very top. The exterior is being renovated and damage from a major storm in May 2007 is being repaired. During the storm, one of the basilica's four large spires crashed to the ground and two stained-glass windows were broken when a pine tree snapped near the top and hit the side of the building. After the storm, the remaining spires were removed. The repairs will include replacing all four spires and fixing slate that was knocked loose from the roof in the storm. The renovations include regilding the cross atop the main steeple, repainting the tower, and tuck-pointing bricks. The project cost is $1.8 million. The scaffolding will remain in place until the project is completed in October.
In May the University announced plans for a new building to house executive education programs for the Mendoza College of Business. Ralph Stayer '65 made a $20 million gift to finance the construction. Stayer of Sheboyga, Wis. is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Johnsonville Sausage. The new Executive Education Center will increase our capacity to create and deliver degree and non-degree executive programs and provide state-of-the-art classroom technology. Where will the building be located? It will be just south of the Mendoza College of Business on land that now serves as a parking lot. The Executive Education program provides leaders in the executive and management ranks the opportunity to develop and strengthen their leadership abilities and business skills. About 120 degrees are awarded annually. BusinessWeek magazine ranked the program 15th among business schools worldwide.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Our final Gipper Hall-of-Famer from November of 2005 receives his award, not only for his level of drunken confusion, but also for his persistence. Like a good Catholic boy, after a night of partying, he did not attempt to go back to the room of a young lady, hoping for some premarital action. Rather, he sought spiritual guidance from his rector. Oh wait, no. He went to his rector's room, thinking it was his own, and rummaged through his closet for PJs. Confronted by said rector, our student repeatedly refused to believe he was in the wrong. It's a shame for him that ResLife took the side of the rector.
Hall Notes:
Last week I spoke of how Carroll was mentioned in the final Scholastic of the year. Well, there was another article that SHOULD have mentioned Carroll. The Vermin were the first to drape a huge sign across their dorm to support the football team in the fall. The sign read "GO IRISH!" A year or so after the Vermin had their idea, zahm had the "idea" to drape a huge sign on their dorm. zahm was original, though. Their sign was green (not white) and their phrase read "HERE COME THE IRISH." zahm received the article in Scholastic. The piece stated: "Countless visitors to campus request to see 'the big sign on the ND applications'." The "famous" banner may be on applications, but the Vermin banner came first and it was FIRST on a University publication. The Carroll sign is shown below. It was part of a University marketing poster that went out to high schools. The Carroll sign went up in 2000. zahm? 2001. Hey, Scholastic, where's the Vermin article?
NDSportscenter:
Alex Bullard of Brentwood, Tennessee is our seventh recruit. Bullard is a 6'4", 275 lb offensive guard. The Rivals four-star recruit (and #11 guard overall) attends Brentwood Academy. Alex chose the Irish over Michigan and Tennessee. He had 21 scholarship offers. Bullard is a wrestler and his quick feet will serve him well in college ball.
The softball team had an average year. So average that instead of winning the Big East tournament we fell in the first round 3-1 to Louisville. We did make the NCAA tournament, though, for the tenth consecutive year. We were the #2 seed in the Ann Arbor regional. The 37-20-1 Irish faced #3 seed Kent State (40-10) first. The ladies knocked off Kent, but then fell to Michigan. We were then doubly eliminated by Kent and finished the year with a record of 38-22-1.
I misspoke about the men's track and field team at the NCAAs. The men tied for 36th place and had two All Americans at the Indoor Championships. Senior Kurt Benninger placed fifth in the 3000 meters and claimed his sixth All American honor. Senior Jake Watson earned his second All American award after coming in sixth in the mile.
We are still in 18th place in the Directors' Cup after the second set of spring sports.
Defensive lineman Pat Kuntz in back at ND. He is enrolled and attending summer school.
For the sixth straight semester the football team has an average GPA above 3.0.
Campus News:
The technology park construction south of campus has begun. Preliminary floor plans for the first building have been released. The three-story structure will have a wet lab, a meeting room, and 8,530 square-feet of tenant space on the third floor. The second floor will have 11,370 square-feet of tenant space. The first floor is very busy. It will contain dry laboratories, a machine shop, administrative offices, and business incubator space.
The entire project is seeking designation as an Indiana-certified technology park. The application is pending. When approved, state money can be received for development. Indiana currently has 18 certified technology parks. State-certified parks can potentially capture up to $5 million in local taxes. They are also eligible to receive an additional $4 million in development funding from the state. And this is for the life of the park.
The Eddy Street Commons project next to the technology park is also developing. The operator of the Hammes Bookstore has been selected to develop a separate store in the Commons. The operator, Follett Higher Education Group, will operate a 20,000 square-foot store that comprises of a bookstore, cafe, newsstand, and a "Notre Dame emblematic clothing and gift spirit store." It will supposedly be a more "contemporary" version of the Bookstore. This development is among the largest tenants in the 90,000 square-foot planned shopping area that will include apparel shops, restaurants, and service-like stores.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
As Notre Dame students, many of us are sports fans and wannabe athletes. Also, many of us are alcoholics. So why not put two of our favorite activities together? That said, why stop at things like tossing around a football at a tailgate? And let's throw in the fact that the vast majority of us are sexually repressed. When these powers combine, we get a rousing game of strip baseball reported in April of 2006. Maybe these fellas should have taken into account the fact that double vision is detrimental to one's batting average. Maybe then they would have left the field with more than just their bats and balls.
Hall Notes:
Carroll received a mini shoutout in the last Scholastic of this past year. It wasn't much of a shoutout. Just a mention really. There was an article on room picks. The piece stated how room picks are decided by a randomized numbered lottery system. It went on to say: "Some dorms, such as Carroll, do their own lottery; other lists, like Howard's, are assigned by the Office of Residence Life and Housing."
It's good to see Carroll is still doing its own lottery. I wondered if that would have ceased when Father Mike Sullivan left. Not so. Apparently Father Mike passed on the process. The Vermin used to have their lottery decided by a "random" number generator. One problem: it wasn't very random. So in the spring of '96, after comparing lists from previous years that showed the not-so-randomization, Carroll went with picking names and numbers out of a hat. I remember it well. It was my pathetic lottery number, excellent memory and whining ass that pled the case for abandoning the "random" computer. As the old saying goes: "Squeaky Vermin get the single."
NDSportscenter:
Our sixth recruit hails from Cleveland. Linebacker Dan Fox attends powerhouse St. Ignatius High School. The school has already given us receiver Robby Parris and linebacker John Ryan. Fox is 6'4", 218 lbs. He needs to add weight but has a ton of potential. As a junior, the four-star recruit had 76 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, and 3 interceptions. Dan had interest from Michigan State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and Stanford. The Rivals #13 outside linebacker also plays basketball and runs the hurdles in track. Fox has ties to ND. His grandfather was on the maintenance crew at the University in the 1930s.
The men's lacrosse team won the Great Western Lacrosse League Tournament. The #6 Irish received an automatic berth in the NCAA tourney field of 16. The team was 13-2 and made their third straight NCAA tournament. We hosted the first round for the first time ever. First up: #10 Colgate. We were down 5-2 at the half but stormed back to win 8-7 in overtime. Then we took on #3 Syracuse. The lads put up a good fight but fell 11-9. We finished the year 14-3.
Last week I spoke of one woman making the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. I misspoke last week. She did make some noise. Junior Alyissa Hasan became our first ever multi-event All American. She set the school record in the pentathlon. Alyissa finished in 9th place but was in the top 8 amongst U.S. competitors. This was her first ever All American honor.
Campus News:
More on the new nanotechnology consortium.
The establishment of the consortium will continue to push the University toward becoming a major player in the field of research. We have a heavy focus on nanoelectronics. The University's Center for Nano Science and Technology was established in 1999. The center "explores the fundamental concepts of nanoscience to develop unique engineering applications using nano principles." The center is made up of a multidisciplinary team of researchers from various science and engineering fields.
Some of the current campus construction is focusing on science. The new engineering building, Stinson-Remick, is expected to be completed in late 2009 or early 2010. Stinson-Remick will produce more nanotechnology research opportunities.
And now the Innovation Park development south of campus is moving forward. The remainder of the Notre Dame Woods is being removed. The technology park recently received a $776, 376 in startup funds from the federal government. The money will go to purchase initial equipment to serve in life sciences research. The park could create as many as 300 jobs. The park will include two areas. One is the facility near campus. The other is the Studebaker Corridor downtown which will act as a "landing area" for businesses that expand and move out of the park.
The Innovation Park's first building will start going up this summer. More next week on Phase I of the park.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
As long as we're on the topic of awkward sexual experiences, let's look at last September's Gipper. We all know the famous Dazed and Confused line, "That's what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age." While these may be the words to live by for sketchy townies, they really shouldn't define the standards of Notre Dame students. I guess one of our boys missed that memo. Luckily, the girl's parents were able to meet him in the morning to deliver it.
Hall Notes:
The last couple of weeks I've told of new additions to Carroll. I discovered anothere new edition, but this one was outside. A path has been created by the Vermin over the past few years. Instead of using the stairs, the men of Carroll cut across the slope at an angle before setting foot on the walkway lined with trees. We had some lazy Vermin back in the day but this puts them to shame. I believe it was Homer Simpson who said, when faced with the daunting task of talking to one of his offspring in their upstairs bedroom...."So many stairs." I'll see if I can't snap a photo sometime this summer.
NDSportscenter:
Carlo Calabrese is our fifth recruit. With a name like that it's clear he's a middle linebacker from New Jersey. Carlo attends Verona High School, Anthony Fasano's old stomping grounds. Last year the Scout four-star recruit had 104 tackles and four sacks. Calabrese is 6'2", 225 lbs and has no neck. He committed to us on his mom's birthday. (What about Father's Day?) Others seeking his service were Rutgers, boston college, and Florida. (Seriously, does Florida ever do their own recruiting analysis or do they just offer everyone we offer? They steal two and they think they can steal them all? Bastards.)
Freshman linebacker Aaron Nagel is transferring. Taking into account the incoming freshmen, Nagel was likely fourth-string with no chance of ever cracking the starting lineup.
Tight end Will Yeatman, who had been suspended for drunk driving, was re-instated to the football and lacrosse teams.
Chris Zorich is back. The former Outland Trophy Winner has joined the athletics administration as the manager of student welfare and development.
Our track and field teams had a rough indoor season. At the Indoor Big East Championship the men were second and the women were sixth. But senior Kurt Benninger did win the mile with a time of 4:00.12. We sent eight (seven men, one woman) to the Indoor NCAAs, but no one had a strong showing.
The #27 women's golf team won the Big East. The ladies took their third championship in the last six years. We were the #9 seed in the NCAA Central Regional. The team came in 16th (out of 21) and missed the cut by 23 shots. But we do have a bright future thanks to freshman So-Hyun Park. She had the 14th best scoring average in the country at 73.12
Campus News:
More on the announced nanotechnology consortium.
The consortium does not just affect various universities. South Bend also plans to invest money in the near future for a facility for nanoelectric commercialization where the old Studebaker car manufacturing buildings once stood. Some speculate that this could be the biggest economic development since the aforementioned Studebakers. The entire endeavor is considered a huge coup for the Midwest. Federal money will be coming in as well as the potential for well-paying, high-technology jobs in the region. New companies and added jobs are certainly expected.
Nanotechnology will help to revise outdated computer systems. The mission is to discover and develop the next nanoscale logic device, the basic building block of smaller, faster computers of the future. The South Bend Tribune went on to say: "Conventional microelectronic technology has relied on shrinking transistors to produce increasingly smaller, faster and cheaper devices ranging from cell phones and personal music devices to laptop computers. That approach is nearing its physical limits. The mission will be to explore and develop advanced devices, circuits, and nanosystems with performance capabilities beyond current devices." Nanotechnological advancement is an internation issue. This consortium is a major player in the race of this billion-dollar industry. It will heavily involve the six major U.S. semiconductor businesses of IBM, Intel, Micron, Texas Instruments, AMD, and Freescale.
More next week on the University's involvement.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Sex. Most of us aren't having it. Which is good because most of us probably wouldn't know what to do if we could. That is probably the reason why so many of Gipper's subjects have such traumatic sexual encounters. In October of 2005, he told the tale that would make every Sex Ed teacher in the nation cringe. A certain freshman was rounding third and heading for home with an oh-so-lucky lady, when both parties remembered the importance of birth control. Now, most people on campus believe that you cannot acquire contraceptives on campus, but freshie will tell you that they have them in the Huddle Mart. In the form of plastic trash bags. To his dismay, the object of Hefty's affection knew better (maybe she went to a public high school?) and bailed.
Hall Notes:
Last week I mentioned peeking into Carroll's basement. In addition to the old school video arcade game, I saw a universal weight machine. I found that very interesting. Back in the day we bought a bench. It had an olympic bar and free weights. I think we had other weight items as well. But after a few years, after the purchasers had graduated, I heard that the luster had worn off. The dorm had dispatched the weights. Why? To where? I don't know. And now weights are back. I wonder if this happens every five years or so and no one is the wiser. Anyway, the universal machine presently there is not the most dynamic model. It's a single-seat unit with attachments around it allowing for a few exercises. For the space available it seems like a good purchase.
NDSportscenter:
Kevin White has left his Athletic Director post after eight years with the University. He has accepted the same position at Duke University despite having four years left on his contract. The story leaked last Saturday and became official on Monday. Deputy Athletic Director Missy Conboy has been named the interim Athletic Director. She is an '82 Domer and has spent 21 years in the Athletic Department with the last four years as the Deputy AD. Missy was a varsity basketball player for the Irish for her four years as an undergraduate. The search is on for a permanent replacement. Many names have been mentioned. Expect someone to be named in the fall.
White's legacy will most likely be mixed. He pushed for fully funding all NCAA-allowed scholarship limits for all sports. White also oversaw a vast expansion of our athletic infrastructure which will continue after his departure. He also made excellent coaching hires for hockey, men's soccer, and women's soccer. But his career will be marred by the Bob Davie contract extension, George O'Leary, and Tyrone Willingham. After all, we are a football school. One good coaching move out of four is not a respectable percentage.
After the first set of spring sports we are still 15th in the Directors' Cup.
Basketball news: We have landed a second transfer for the men's team. Scott Martin, a 6'8" forward, has left Purdue. He looked at Butler and Valparaiso before settling on us. As a freshman he averaged 8.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 1.9 apg. After sitting out a year, Scott will have three years of eligibility remaining....Chris Quinn made around $700,000 during this past NBA season for the Miami Heat. During a 13-game stretch late in the season he averaged 15.1 ppg, 5.7 apg, and had a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. And now Chris is a free agent....Men's assistant Gene Cross left to become the head coach at the University of Toledo....Charel Allen was drafted in the third round (#43 overall) by the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA. She's the seventh Domer in the past eight years to be drafted....Tom Timmermans '04 is back on campus. He is the Coordinator of Compliance Information for the Athletic Director. Tom spent the past three years playing international ball, most recently in Switzerland.
Campus News:
Earlier this spring local, national, and University officials met with executives from IBM and the Semiconductor Research Corporation to announce the opening of a nanotechnology consortium on campus. The research center, re-named the Midwest Institute for Nanoelectronics Discovery (MIND), is part of a nationwide effort to develop nanotechnology that aims to optimize performance capabilities of computer devices. Notre Dame was chosen because it is 'a prime Midwest capital for research initiatives.' The announcement meeting featured Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, Indiana speaker of the house Pat Bauer, Congressman Joe Donnelly, South Bend mayor Steve Lueke, Purdue University interim provost Vic Lechtenberg, University vice president for research Robert Bernhard, and University President Fr. John Jenkins.
The research consortium will work in partnership with Purdue. Approximately one-third of the research will take place in West Lafayette. In addition to Purdue, the consortium will include the University of Illinois, Penn State, Michigan, Argonne National Laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory.
The entire budget for the project is roughly $61 million. Funding will come from a variety of sources. The University plans to invest $40 million, Indiana $15 million, IBM and the Nanoelectrics Research Initiative $5 million each, and South Bend about $1 million. Organizers anticipate more money will come through federal grant applications under the National Nanotechnology Initiative, for which the federal government plans to allocate $1.5 billion a year.
More on the consortium and its ripple effects next week.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Yeah, I know, I know. You just opened directly to your favorite article of Scholastic, 'The Gipper.' And it's not here. It turns out that there are lines even Gippy is not allowed to cross. Figure out who he (or she) is, and maybe you'll be let in on what was too risque, even for this magazine.
As a result, we at Scholastic have compiled a list of our favorite Gipps from years past. So while you are being denied a new story of embarrassment and humiliation, just revel in the fact that the following individuals are being burned....again. In no particular order, we give you the best of the worst:
One of the Gipper's favorite themes is something we can all relate to: the intense urge to urinate while intoxicated. Unlike most of us, however, Gipper's victims seem to have serious issues controlling said urges. Take our friend from the February 2007 issue. He found himself stuck in a corner of a bar and too lazy to force his way across to the nearest restroom. No problem, this guy had a pitcher. Too bad he didn't have the dexterity to pass the pitcher to a friend who wanted to contribute to the collection of pale ale. What's worse than wetting yourself in public? Wetting yourself with someone else's urine.
Another old story next week.
Hall Notes:
Last weekend I was biking near Carroll. Graduation had been the week before so the campus was empty. I went to the 'back' of Carroll to peer inside. Technically the back is the west side. But since we all enter the south end, let's consider that the front. I was on the north end and I glanced in the window on the back door. I was checking on the status of the basement lounge/rec room/one-time SYR dance hall. I wondered if any changes had been made since I last saw it. One change was the addition of an arcade game. Remember those? Old school arcade games. Before there was the Xbox. I couldn't tell what the game was but it had a central roller control (not a joystick) like Centipede from back in the day. Remember Centipede? I sure hope the Vermin set up the game to work without quarters. How sweet would that be?
NDSportscenter:
Our fourth recruit is another running back. Theo Riddick of Somerville, New Jersey selected the Irish over Penn State, Pitt, Rutgers, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and boston college. Theo is 5'10', 190 lbs and attends Immaculata High School. The Scout four-star prospect had 1,200 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns as a junior. He also had five interceptions as a safety and runs a 4.4 - 40. Tom Lemming rates him as the 81st best player overall. Lemming had our other running back, Cierre Wood, #5 overall.
Other football news: We will be playing Arizona State in Dallas in 2013. It will be played in the new 80,000-seat stadium that is being built for the Dallas Cowboys. The stadium opens in 2009. NBC will televise the game....ISP Sports, the new carrier of Irish football games on the radio, decided to retain the commentating duo of Allen Pinkett and Don Criqui. The upcoming season will be Don's third and Allen's eighth....President Bush has appointed Charlie Weis to the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities. Weis is one of thirteen on the committee. His two-year term began May 12.
Melissa Cook Stadium, our new softball venue, opened to competition on April 12.
The men's soccer team took on the Mexican Under-20 National Team this spring. The teams battled to a 0-0 tie.
The plans for the new hockey arena expanded this year. The project jumped from $15 million to $30 million. The University has $25 million earmarked so far. The new arena will be named Charles W. 'Lefty' Smith Jr. Rink. Lefty was our first modern era coach. He took over in 1968 and coached 19 seasons before retiring in 1987. He had 307 wins, was the WCHA Coach of the Year in '72-'73, and produced 6 All-Americans.
Campus News:
Money keeps rolling into the University. University Trustee W. Douglas Ford has donated $6 million to fund a new program in development that will focus on research, including some in connection with the University's Millennium Development Initiative. The Kellogg Institute announced the creation of the Ford Familyi Program in Human Development Studies and Solidarity. The program will reflect the University's mission by "channeling the incredible power of the human mind toward service of God and the human good." The new program will incorporate teaching, research, and outreach in the field of development studies and be "devoted to real problems experienced by real people."
The program will begin by conducting a survey in conjunction with the people of Nnindye, a small village in central Uganda. ND students will work with Uganda Martyrs University students this summer to help develop and implement this survey. The Ford Family Program will work with the people of Nnindye to implement the survey's results.
The Ford Program's inaugural event was a student-organized symposium on human development. The February event had ND and Uganda Martyrs students presenting their research on human development. The students are just a small part of the program's mission. The program aspires "to build a transnational and interdiscplinary alliance of students, faculty, development practitioners, and policy makers that will be devoted to promoting respect for human dignity."
Another donation came from the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. Richard Notebaert gave $10 million to the Graduate School. The funding will go toward the creation of Graduate School fellowships, which will provide merit-based financial aid to doctoral candidates. Doctoral candidates will receive full tuition, health insurance, and a generous stipend.
Campus Watch by Me from The Observer:
So who remembers the absentee policy from back in the day? Of course I read duLac cover to cover. Unfortunately the exact page escapes me. As I recall, the word on the street was we could have three unexcused absences. Well, The Observer ran an article this past semester that set the record straight. The newspaper stated: "Attendance policies may grow stricter this semester following a letter from University Provost Thomas Burish reminding professors that students are not allowed three unexcused absences." The letter declared: "Contrary to common student lore, there is no University policy permitting students three unexcused absences from class without consequences. The letter went to professors near the end of winter break. The letter also said "most" surveyed faculty members supported the statement as saying "a strong and clear statement be sent to students and faculty alike reiterating the University policy that classes must be held on all scheduled class days, including the days before and after holidays, and that class attendance was expected." Policy states that instructors are responsible for stipulating attendance policies at the beginning of the semester. They may also fail students for excessive absences. Before this happens, however, instructors must warn students in writing. The letter is not just aimed at students. One professor stated: "I think there have been some faculty who have cancelled class before major holidays, and I think that part of the purpose of the letter is to remind faculty that they are expected to hold class when it is scheduled." That's the way it is. So much for the reliability of the grapevine.
Hall Notes:
Some of you '97ers already know this one but I'll re-tell it since I don't have anything else right now.
So who all remembers their room numbers from when they lived in Carroll? OK, now who remembers their phone number? Not as easy. I'll wager about half of us can easily remember at least a couple of our room numbers. I'll wager no one but Tim Mullakey '97 and his followers remember a phone number. I'm apparently a follower of Tim because I can remember his phone number and none of my own. It's pretty much burned into my memory. My brain is forever scalded because that damn Wisconsinite thought up the most asinine memory trick for his number. It's not like he put a lot of thought into it. It came out durings usual bout of doing nothing and trying very little: "4 times 2 is 8.....8." And now I can't get "4288" out of my memory bank. It will be with me for all eternity. Like Hepatitus C.
NDSportscenter:
Our third recruit is Tyler Stockton of New Jersey. He attends The Hun School in Princeton, Jersey, the same school as current receiver Duval Kamara. Tyler is a 6'1", 290 lb nose tackle. He had attened three or four camps here and has been on our radar for awhile. Both Rivals and Scout give him four stars. Stockton was also looking at Penn State, Pitt, Tennesse, and UCLA.
We have another basketball transfer coming in, our first in a few years. Ben Hansbrough, a 6'3" shooting guard, will sit out next year after transferring from Mississippi State. He will have two years of eligibility remaining. Last year Ben played 33.5 minutes per game. He averaged 10.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and 2.5 apg. Hansbrough also was courted by Butler, Missouri, Oklahoma State, and Purdue. Ben is the brother of Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina's All American. Ben starts summer school next month.
After the final set of winter sports, we were 15th in the Directors' Cup.
Former head coach Lou Holtz has been named to the College Football Hall of Fame. He will be enshrined in 2009. For his career, Holtz was 249-132-7. One hundred of those wins came at ND. Lou is the only college coach to lead six different programs to bowl games. He is the sixth Irish coach to go into the hall. Lou is also the 48th ND inductee overall, most of any school.
At the end of the basketball season, Luke Harangody was named one of ten to the John Wooden All American Team. Already we are being talked as a top ten team to start next season.
Recently graduated soccer star Joseph Lapira has signed a pro contract to play in Norway.
Campus News:
Last month the University mailed 3,523 acceptance letters to applicants. This was about 25 percent of the approximately 14,000 applications received this year. The total application number was down from 14,501 last year. Of those accepted this year, the average student was in their class' top 5 percent, the SAT average was 1400, and the ACT average was 32. About 23 percent are children of alumni. All 50 states are represented. There are 4 percent international students and 24 percent ethnic minorities.
In past years, around 56 to 58 percent of admitted students chose to enroll. That percentage is behind only Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, Columbia, and MIT. There are around 1,000 applicants on the waiting list. Last year, about 175 students were selected from the waiting list.
The Law School just received another large donation. Robert and Frances Biolchini of Tusla have given a $15 million gift to help underwrite the on-going renovation. Robert is a member of the Board of Trustees and a partner in the Tulsa law firm Stuart, Biolchini & Turner. He is a '62 Domer.
After the renovation of the existing building, it will be re-named Biolchini Hall and house an expanded law library. The renovation will include two 50-seat classrooms, new space for the Notre Dame Law Review, and new offices for admissions and career services. A covered archway will link Biolchini Hall to Eck Hall of Law. The Eck Hall will be completed in January. Then the law school will effectively move to it while the existing building is being renovated.
Campus Watch from a recent ND mailing:
Birth of a Tradition
The 1812 Overture, the band- and fan-favorite played between the third and fourth quarters at Irish football games, did not start life that way. It began in the early '80s as a Pep Band standard at basketball games. As it was playing, students in the bleachers would rock in unison, and the bleachers would sway back and forth, pulling away from the Joyce Center walls. When we threw our hands up and down, the bleacher effect was even more noticeable.
Soon, fearing that the bleachers would become unhinged, the Notre Dame Pep Band was prohibited from playing the song. But enterprising students brought kazoos and played their own version, and the rocking continued. Within a week, the 1812 Overture was banned from the Joyce Center entirely.
The following fall, the band played it at a football game and students threw their arms forward and back, in tribute to the bleacher swaying. And thus was born a tradition.
- Mary P. Malone '83, '93 J.D.
Hall Notes:
Part 2 of the Scholatic article featuring Carroll Hall Assistant Rector Brian Vassel....
As a student of scripture, Vassel was inspired by 2 Corinthians 12:10: "For when I am weak, then I am strong." "Strength, for men, is often stereotyped as gutting things up," Vassel says. "Strength, for this group, is admitting the need for help and talking about it."
MoS will address the critical issues as they emerge. "One thing I am open to is transforming the group to meet the needs of the men who come to us," Vassel says. MoS is not based on groups on other campuses but was started from scratch. Vassel began planning the group in fall 2007 and "doing the background research was important," he says.
Meanwhile, Men Against Violence (MAV), another all-male group sponsored by the GRC, focuses on the alleviation of violence against women. "We are very happy about the creation of the new group. In fact, there may be some overlap in membership," MAV President Michael Redding says. Lacking concern over a conflict of interest, Redding feels that MoS will be able to "look more at what it is to be a man and what it is to be a spiritual man."
MoS does not aim to achieve club status but hopes to exist solely as a ministry and support group. "If there are men who desire to integrate faith and sexuality but don't have the tools to do so, I hope that this group will be an opportunity to work on those skills," Vassel says.
NDSportscenter:
A couple of weeks ago Bookstore Basketball wrapped. The tournament tried a slightly different format this year. Instead of having the final on Sunday afternoon, it was moved to Monday night. The Blue-Gold Game was on Saturday. Bookstore took that day off and moved the final four to Sunday. A few football players like appreciated that. Only one of the final four featured gridiron players. Tackle Paul Duncan, guard Michael Turkovich, and safety Kyle McCarthy played for Bumped. They were booted by #2 Saltines. The Saltines were re-united. Two years prior they lost in the finals. Last year they went separate ways. They faced #7 Mean Girls in this year's championship. It wasn't even a game. Junior guard Carl Andersen scored 9 points and took MVP honors as The Saltines owned Mean Girls, 21-14. Carl dominated all tournament long and Mean Girls even tried a box-and-one to contain him. No dice.
Blue-Gold weekend we landed top recruit Cierre Wood, Rivals #3 overall player. The five-star running back committed to us over UCLA. He had other offers from Auburn, California, Florida, Oregon, and USC. Wood is 6'0", 189 lbs and runs a 4.5 - 40. He attends Santa Clara High in Oxnard, California. Last year he ran for 2,600 yards and 42 touchdowns. Cierre is said to be a big-time difference-maker who carries big-play potential with every touch.
A couple senior football players that were undrafted were signed as free agents. Long snapper J.J. Jansen went to Green Bay and Travis Thomas will work for Cleveland.
Campus News:
Domer and longtime benefactor Frank Eck passed away last December. In April the University received a $20 million gift from this estate. The money is to go to support the Center for Global Health and Infectious Diseases, a collaborative research program that will be renamed for the Eck Family. The center was originally established as the Vector Biology Laboratory. It has conducted research for more than four decades. Faculty, staff, and students, primarily in the Department of Biological Sciences, are concerned with a broad range of research topics from biomedical science to human rights issues to alleviating suffering and death caused by infectious pathogens in the world's poorest populations.
The donation will be used in a number of ways. Some are general educational activities like sending graduates and undergraduates overseas to participate in research projects. Students will be given the opportunity to do research and word in disease-endemic field settings. The gift will cover some administrative costs, centralize all the related research currently underway at the University, and enable the Center to invite researchers to give seminars. Special attention will be given to the areas of gemonics and bioinformatics, which are the studies of chromosomes and computer science in biology, respectively. The Eck contribution will allow the center to focus on long-term research efforts.
This latest donation puts the Eck overall total at more than $55 million. The Eck Hall of Law, the current expansion project to the law school, received $21 million. Prior to that was an endowed library collection in chemical engineering, the Eck Tennis Pavilion, Frank Eck Baseball Stadium, and the Eck Visitors' Center. Eck graduated in 1944 with a bachelor's degree in chemcial engineering and served as chairman of Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) of Columbus, Ohio.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
Continued from last week...
She removed them and relocated to the floor. Shortly afterward, she woke up again and wondered why no one was in the bed - surely it was more comfortable than the floor! Confused and delirious, she tried to climb back onto the bed, only to find the sheets clammy once again. Upon our naked boy's return, he too made the same realization, so both our spooners took refuge on the safe, dry floor. In the morning, no one remembered why the bed was wet and empty. But luckily, our girl is a science major, so using her knowledge of bodily functions and the scientific method, she deduced this conclusion: her new part-time lover was a full-time bed-wetter. Mr. Exhibitionist flatly denied her explanation, but when someone found his crumpled, soaked boxers in a nearby trashcan, even he couldn't ignore the facts. To atone for his guilt, our hero gallantly took the soiled sheets back to campus for a washing. Naked people with bladder-control problems certainly have hearts showered in gold! Even his innocent lady friend forgave him, which makes Gipp believe that our lad found an innovative way to fertilize the seeds of love.
Hall Notes:
Carroll was mentioned in a Scholastic article from this past semester. I'll share the piece over the next couple of weeks....
Sex & Faith
New Gender Relations Center group explores what it means to be a man
Between the notorious "Man Laws" that govern the world of the Y-chromosome and the barrage of scantily clad exhibits on so many walls, how can one fine room for spirituality? Will the words "sex" and "faith" be divorced forever? Second-year Masters of Divinity student and Carroll Hall Assistant Rector Brian Vassel discovered a growing demand on campus to aid the process of reconciling sexuality and spirituality. "I saw a need to integrate faith and sexuality," he says, "but I didn't have the tools to do so." With support from the Gender Relations Center (GRC), Vassel created the all-male support group of Men of Strength (MoS), which will hold its first meeting on Feb. 13
Men of Strength aspires to create an atmosphere of brotherhood. The three primary functions of the group are to share personal stories, pray together and support one another. By building a safe and open environment to express one's feelings, MoS aims to provide a forum for the discussion of oft-avoided issues such as masturbation, pornography, and relationships. "People are reticent about sexuality," Vassel says.
Conclusion next week.
NDSportscenter:
We won three football games last fall. Last weekend we had four players drafted into the NFL. John Carlson went to the Seattle Seahawks in the second round with the 38th overall pick. Another second round pick was Trevor Laws. The Philadelphia Eagles took him 47th overall. The Baltimore Ravens nabbed Tom Zbikowski with the 86th overall pick in the third round. Finally, center John Sullivan was selected 187th overall by the Minnesota Vikings in the 6th round. In other news, tight end Anthony Fasano was traded from the Dallas Cowboys to the Miami Dolphins.
Athletic Director Kevin White secured a six game home-and-home series with Connecticut. One catch, though. Their "home" games will be played at various eastern sites like Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts or sites in New York and New Jersey. These venues will host the UConn games because their 40,000 seat stadium cannot accommodate our ticket demand. We tried to secure a Rutgers series. But they demanded to host their home games at their 51,000 seat stadium. That was a deal breaker.
Charlie has secured four recruits for next year. Two were secured at the Blue-Gold Game. The first, though, was before the game. Tight end Jake Golic will join his brother, Mike Jr., who is coming on board this fall. Golic is 6'5", 220 lbs and hails from West Hartford, Connecticut. Of course his father played for the Irish and in the pros and now works for ESPN. Jake accepted as soon as we offered. His only other offer came from UConn. Jake has interest from boston college, Florida, Maryland, Ohio State, and Rutgers. Last year the Northwest Catholic High School product caught 21 balls for 410 yards and 2 touchdowns. Word on our second recruit next week.
Campus News:
A new women's residence hall is now under construction. The dorm is going in immediately north of the Bookstore and south of Welsh Family Hall. The dorm has yet to be named but is scheduled to open for the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. The hall will be 74,600 square feet and house 248 women. This is the second new dormin a series of four to be built.
Duncan Hall will open in August. The new men's dorm already has assistant rectors and resident assistants hired. A rector has yet to be selected and an announcement is not expected until the summer.
The two other planned halls - one male, one female - will be located on part of what used to be Juniper Road. The dorms will be east of Pasquerilla East and Knott Halls. There is no timeline for their construction. The dorms are meant to alleviate the overcrowding in all of the current dorms.
Some dorms are also being scheduled for renovations. Keenan and Stanford have been singled out for renovating. Part of the focus of the renovations will be to give students more options within the dorms. There has been a mention of knocking out walls to create more room size options. The changes will take place over a particular summer so that all residence halls will be open during the school year.
Campus construction may be at an all-time high. In addition to the two new dorms, the engineering building and law school expansion are taking up most of DeBartolo Quad. The Bookstore recently opened with renovations and some landscaping still needs to be done on the just-dedicated softball stadium. The new Center for Social Concerns is going up on the site of the original. And this summer North Quad will be tore up for major pipe installation. The work never stops.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
But what about love? I know that's what you're thinking, my little Gippies, because your most mortifying moments have all happened in eyeshot of your treasured bunnies of affection. Don't worry, I have a parable from which we can all surely learn a lesson. This story is much closer to home, namely in a luxury complex dedicated to the house that Rockne built, and begins, as many stories do, with 20 solo cups and two bouncy little balls. After a night of intense competition and consequential motor-skill impairment, bedroom doors closed, and couplings of ardor ensued. Until one door opened and out stumbled a disoriented gentle blond giant, skivvies in hand. In an exposed state of glory, our hero first wandered to the wastebasket to toss out his unmentionables, then embarked on a meandering journey through the apartment. He was discovered by the apartment resident whose room he had commandeered a few hours before, and she kindly helped him re-cover his family jewels with a convenient (although small) pair of shorts. Meanwhile, back in the lovenest, his girl had awoken to find her pants mysteriously damp.
Oh, I'm stopping right there. To be continued next week.
Hall Notes:
Well, with the talk of new dorms comes the constant rumoring of old dorms being closed. This was recently addressed in The Observer. A University spokesman said there are "no plans to close any dorms." It is not a long term goal of the University. The Observer stated: "When asked specifically about rumors that Fisher, Pangborn, Stanford and Keenan Halls are in danger of being closed, Shoup strongly denied that the University had any such plans." The spokesman, Shoup, went on to say, "We're not planning on removing any residence halls. We're going to renovated rather than tear them down."
Huh. Somehow Carroll did not even make the rumor mill. That's a first.
NDSportscenter:
Last week the Blue defeated the Gold 47-46. Wait a second. Don't go getting excited that we suddenly have a prolific offense. The scoring system was insane. A point for a first down. Points for big plays. Points for sacks. Points for interceptions. Jimmy Clausen threw for the game-winning touchdown to Duval Kamara on 4th and 8. For the day, Clausen was 10 of 27 for 183 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The fifth-largest crowd (30,286) saw rising sophomore running back Robert Hughes tote the ball 22 times for 100 yards and one touchdown. He earned Offensive MVP honors. Sophomore-to-be Harrison Smith was the Defensive MVP after an interception returned for a touchdown (10-point play in this game) and five tackles.
Other news from the game: receiver Golden Tate caught 3 balls for 73 yards. One catch was a 57-yard bomb on 4th and 10 on the game-winning drive....the offensive line had a TD pass called back because of a holding penalty. They committed false starts and also gave up four sacks...The winning team was to receive a steak and shrimp meal. The losers? Hot dogs and beans....oh, and there was a skirmish or two. The pushing and shoving made ESPN.
Charlie has named captains for next year. We will be led by linebacker Maurice Crum, receiver David Grimes, and safety David Bruton.
Around 30 recruits were in for the game. Thankfully it did not rain. Some of those who came had offers extended to them. Two players decided to end their recruitment and they committed to play for the Irish. News on that next week.
Campus News, Campus Watch and NDSportscenter all in one:
The Non-Offending List (2008)
Expecting to read the 2008 version of "The Censored List"? Sorry to disappoint but not one team name was censored this year. What? That should be a good thing, right? The offending names should be easy to pick out. Not so fast. None of the names were truly offensive. Hard to believe when around twenty percent of the teams were blacklisted each year prior. What happened? Did the students suddenly lose their edge? Did they conform like good little boys and girls? The truth is startling, not unlike discovering that Adolf Hitler had a proclivity for whimsical haikus about pink unicorns. (Blue-eyed, blonde-maned Aryan unicorns, of course.)
What really happened? A reliable source passed information that team names deemed offensive were replaced with harmless names. Instead of "Team ###", the censors intentionally re-named teams. Why? Well, it makes it more difficult to put together a "censored list" without an actual list. Did lil ol' me bring about a loss of drivel liberties? Did the sense-of-humorless rob others of their slack-ademic freedom?
The grapevine has murmured examples of the re-named teams. Would you like to be named "Unpopular Culture"? Or "Gummy Bears"? Not only were teams stripped of their original monikers and numbers, but they were bestowed with the incredibly boring at the hands of the exceedingly lame. Or, as I like to call it, the mission statement of Student Activities.
So most likely about twenty percent of the teams were discriminated against. Yes, I said discriminated. Like the Irish of old, numerous teams were symbolically shown the "No Irish Need Apply" sign that reared its ugly head in the late 1800s and early 1900s. How awful for the genuinely mischievous. (And if you thought that analogy was outlandish, just you wait.)
Let's get into some of this year's list. The overall list is shorter this year and is strictly made up of the cleverest names. Categorization was attempted. First up, the play-on-words/ pop culture grouping...
Weapons of Mass Seduction
Rice Rice Baby
Lost in Transition
Backboard Confessional
303 Problems But a Loss Ain't One
This Isn't Russia. Is This Russia ? This Isn't Russia (Caddyshack rules!)
Hemoglobin Trotters
My So-Called Bookstore Basketball Team
If Game Lasts Longer Than 4 Hours, Consult a Physician
SMcLovin
The Dramatic Chipmunks: An Ode to the YouTube Video That Will Change Your Life
No Bookstore for Old Men
This next grouping will just go by the name "Sports Related." Gathering these names together was a bit of a stretch, kind of like saying the Program of Liberal Studies is a major. (Hey, PLS jokes NEVER go out of style.)....
Ballin Like It's 1985
Bad Newz Kennels (Poor Michael Vick)
We Do It Better on Ice (Women's hockey team? You bet your ice.)
Dana Jacobson's Censors
Shawn Kemp's Progeny
Kelvin Sampson's Fave 5
Kelvin Sampson Won't Stop Calling Us
Sixty Percent of the Time, We Foul Every Time
"Race and Religion." Always a great category coming from the most homogeneous student body outside of Utah . And thankfully Domers are intelligent enough to know the meaning of "homogeny." I guarantee someone from Sparty-land would declare: "You sayin' I'm gay?"...."No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying you prefer sheep." (Hey, Michigan State jokes NEVER go out of style.)....
4 Catholics, 1 Jew
Five Skinny White Guys
Asian Invasion
Caucasian Persuasion
SensAsians
Minority Midgets and Colossal Caucasians
Once You Go Asian You Don't Go Caucasian
Finally we get to some distasteful names. There aren't many, though, that survived the censors (or should I call them "alterers"?) Normally this grouping would be many with plenty of innuendo. Now, in the past, the censors would use UrbanDictionary.com to bust teams. But the times they are a-changin' (bobdylan.com). Supposedly offensive YouTube-referencing names were axed. "Five Guys, One Cup" was turned away. For those of us that have jobs, such a name is innocuous. For those of us that YouTub (yes, it's also a verb), it's a spinoff of the highly crass "Two Girls, One Cup." Look it up for yourself if you wish. I shan't describe it. I have a weak stomach and I'd rather not dust my cookies on an innocent keyboard and flatscreen. Anyway, YouTube is not a safe zone for team naming. Here are a few other distasteful names...
Blue Beavers
Dropping the Kids Off at the Pool
Don't Pee In Your Room
Like a Mullet (Just kidding. Mullets aren't distasteful. Now turn on some George Thorogood and tap a keg.)
Let's group the next batch under the "Oddly Comical" tagline, or "The O.C." (That line would have been so much sweeter if this was 2002.)....
We Ain't No After School Special
Concerned Advocates for the Geographical Disassociation of California from the Continental U.S.
We Brought U A Basketball But We Eated It
We're Better at Halo. Just Kidding...But Seriously
Will Play for Jobs
In Memory of Our Friend Lim Twang, Who Is Still Alive
Guy Goes to the Doctor. Doctor Says I'm Sorry You Have a Cataract. Guy Says Nope, It's a Lincoln
The Procrastinators....We'll Play You Tomorrow
One of these names is not like the other ones. These teams cut on themselves so much I'm going to call them "Emo"...
All Five Of Us More Well Without the Basketball
We're the Real Reason Brett Favre is Crying
We Lost to Girls Last Year
You Might Leave the Game With Your Girlfriend But We're the Reason She's Here
Picked Last in Gym Class
Guess Whose Daddy Left Them
We Don't Have Us Advancing in Our Bracket
We are down to our last group. Final chance to chastise the censors for stealing the independence of the depraved. The discrimination is not unlike the Chinese police beating down a Tibetian monk. The analogy is appropriate. One is a dictatorial, oppressive, communist regime physically abusing harmless pacificists. The other is a mean, mean Student Activities meanie. It's the same thing. To carry on the "Mean" theme...
5 Guys Hoping to Get More Playing Time Than Brady Quinn Did This Year
Client #9
Clients No. 10-14
You, Me & Ashley Alexandria Dupre: Clients #11-15
Spitzer's Callgirls
We Score More Than Spitzer
Lee Harvey Oswald and the Sharpshooters
Heath Ledger's Sleeper Pick
Heath Ledger and the Painkillers
Kobe and the Consenting Adults
Another list has come to a close. Not quite on the level as the previous years. Maybe future discriminated teams will come together and stop this injustice. Possibly through Facebook. Possibly through MySpace. Possibly through other networking sites I don't know a damn thing about. See ya next year.
Hall Notes:
It's Bookstore time again. It's been awhile since the Vermin fielded a top-ranked team. DOS KLOSKAS dominated the tournament during the mid '90s and were eventually crowned champions. I haven't seen or heard of stellar Vermin squads since then. But there's at least one obvious team from our dorm in this year's competition. "3 Carroll Guys, a Boxer and a Townie" were unranked and apparently scoffing at the rule that said players may one be students, faculty or staff. Or maybe the staff member was labeled a townie. Hmmmm.... Must be. It's not like Vermin to break the rules.
Campus News:
The keynote speaker at this year's Commencement will be Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The five-year archbishop emeritus of Washington D.C. will receive an honorary doctor of laws degree at the 163rd exercises on May 18. McCarrick, a native of New York City, graduated from Fordham University and St. Joseph's Seminary. He was the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey for 14 years before his appointment in Washington. The Cardinal has been the chancellor of the Catholic University of America and the president of the Board of Trustees of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He is a member of the board of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and chairman of the CRS Foundation. McCarrick has also served on the Administration of the Patrimony and Holy See for the Vatican as well as the United States Commission for International Religious Freedom.
The March space shuttle launch went into orbit carrying a giant robot, the first piece of a new Japanese lab, and experiments from the University of Notre Dame. Endeavour's seven astronauts were going to an international space station. The experiments were designed and constructed in the lab of Dennis Jacobs, a chemistry and biochemistry professor. The experiments are part of the Materials International Space Station Experiment, a multi-institutional collaboration to explore how materials degrade in the low-Earth orbit spacecraft environment. The astronauts spacewalked to install the experiment outside the space station. The device gathers data every 20 minutes for a year. A different astronaut team on a later mission will retrieve the experiment.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from Scholastic:
This tale takes us across mountains and oceans to the far away land of Euro for a birthday celebration. Here, the festivities included drinks, merriment and embarrassing personal ads for the birthday boy (more than one intrigued barfly was seen furiously copying down the phone number listed on said posters - surely a testament to how good our birthday boy looks in a French maid outfit). The party was a smash, and our birthday boy had just started popping, locking and dropping with his former T.A. when a wily band of brothers showed up. These foreign army officers weren't exactly peace ambassadors, and when they offended a female party guest, birthday boy had no choice but to disgrace the offender right back, in the foreign language no less. Note to self: when studying abroad, if you get into a fight with a native, don't repeatedly ask him if he can understand you.... as you speak his language. Because he can. Because it's his language. And, case in point, this officer certainly seemed to understand enough to want our boy to shut the duck up. He wound up and laid out one clean blow straight across birthday boy's face. There's no gift quite like a militia smack-down to celebrate the big 2-0! And just like that, the party was over. Nevertheless, in the morning, our amnesia-stricken lad insisted it had been his most delightful celebration to date. He had no recollection of his birthday spanking, though he did complain that his cheek pained him ever so slightly.
Hall Notes:
This note is a bit unique. Here goes...
Is that Dan O'Brien '99 in that McDonald's (or is Burger King?) commercial that touts it's $1 menu? The ad started awhile back but I had to see it a few times before I remembered Mr. O'Brien. He could be an actor now. He was an Arts & Letters major and a musician (guitar and vocals in Carroll's own band, The Florida Evans Show Band and Revue). You know the commercial? It's the one when the guy claims his cousin did his haircut. He banters back and forth with another man about their cheap expenditures. It's gotta him. Finally, Vermin on television other than those on sports teams.
NDSportscenter:
The hockey team made it all the way to the National Championship. We knocked of Michigan State and Michigan on the way to the title game. The #1 Wolverines were bested 5-4 in overtime by Swedish freshman Calle Ridderwall's goal. We lost to boston college 4-1 in the championship. But we were the first #4 seed to make the Frozen Four and, therefore, the championship. Thankfully our team is young. We will be back and coach Jeff Jackson will bring us a National Championship.
The Blue-Gold game is a week away. Some spring football notes: offensive tackle Sam Young has switched back to right tackle while Paul Duncan is back at left tackle (and Jimmy Clausen is unable to sleep at night)....two players are out of spring ball because of surgeries. One is a walk-on and the other is linebacker John Ryan....Charlie recently visited with Virginia Tech head coach Frank Beamer to discuss special teams. In return Charlie shared some of his offensive expertise....In an effort to improve his image and the image of the program, Charlie is hiring a "director of head football coach relations" to handle public relations....We hosted a second junior day. About ten prospects visited campus....some former Irish gridiron players are coming back for the Blue-Gold game. Amongst those returning are Green Bay running back Ryan Grant and recently retired San Francisco 49er Bryant Young....Charlie is going on a trip to the Middle East. He is one of five coaches going to visit the troops from May 20-26....Quarterback Evan Sharpley is spending most of his time with the baseball team. He is tearing it up on the diamond. Sharpley is leading the team with 6 home runs, 19 RBIs, a .370 batting average, and a .833 slugging percentage....former lineback Kinnon Tatum from the mid '90s is back. He has joined the staff as a graduate assistant. Tatum had been coaching high school ball in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Campus News:
The Vagina Monologues were back on campus this year. The play was performed on March 26, 27, and 28 in 101 DeBartolo. It was free and open to the public. After each performance an academic panel discussion was held. One part of the panel presented the Catholic Church's teachings on issues related to sexuality. Last year's performance was held off-campus because of a lack of on-campus backing. This year three departments - sociology, anthropology, and political science - sponsored the play. The show did not go off without a little disturbance. After the first act, twenty to thirty students walked out and left letters of protest on their vacated seats.
Indiana is soon to play its role in the national presidential primaries. While the Republican nomination is secured, the Democratic one is not. So folks are stumping for their desired candidate. Last week Legends (or Senior Bar to us old schoolers) hosted the Northern Indiana Student Democrats. The key speakers were actor Sean Astin (Rudy, The Goonies, Lord of the Rings) and Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary.
BusinessWeek just came out with its rankings for undergraduate business programs. The Mendoza College of Business came in third. Last year we were seventh. In 2006 we were also third. In first place is the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School. The University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce was second.
Campus Watch by Me:
Weightwatchers. So word has gotten out about the pounds that have been put on by some of the football players. It's been four months since we last saw the team. We knew Jimmy Clausen was going to beef up. His elbow surgery limited his weight room activity last year. He has gone from 194 lbs to 212 lbs. The other area of concern was the offensive line. Center Dan Wenger has gone from 282 lbs to 300 lbs. The most notable gain happened on the frame of sophomore offensive tackle Sam Young. It's been reported Sam had a difficult time keeping weight on during the season. At Thanksgiving Young was supposedly 287 lbs. Now he's at 330 lbs. Wow. That's weight fluctuation that would make Oprah proud.
Hall Notes:
Where were we? Oh yes, the three amigos of 211 were trying to tap into the rector's cable. We scouted the cable from the exterior. Then we had to inspect the cable firsthand. But how? It was twelve to fifteen feet above the ground and a couple feet below our window. We did the only intelligent thing we could think of: lean the tallest member (Buscak) out the windo and have the strongest member (Delgado) hold his legs. Where was Zawada? I don't remember. The smartest member was most likely sleeping. Or drinking. Or sleeping while drinking. Anyway, we didn't have a spotter. Buscak trusted me and today he is alive and without a broken neck. But back to the story.
Dean checked out the cable. We had some of the necessary items but held off from doing it immediately. It turns out our neighbors next door were also trying to splice into the line. Well, they actually cut it. Unfortunately for them they did not properly repair the line and its original signal. The rector was without his entertainment. The subsequent investigation busted our neighbors. And they were punished accordingly. Meanwhile we were left without cable. Son of a....
NDSportscenter:
The hockey team did the near impossible. They made it to the Frozen Four. We lost our leading scorer at the beginning of the playoffs and fell behind in the first round conference playoffs. Yet somehow we got into the NCAAs. We were the last squad in the 16-team field. As the #4 seed in the West Regional we faced #1 seed New Hampshire. We finally found our offense. The Irish blew up 7-3. Next up: Michigan State, the team that knocked us out of the NCAAs last year. The offense and goaltending brought us a 3-1 victory. We were 26-15-4 and on to our first ever Frozen Four in the program's 40-year history. Now we face CCHA rival Michigan on April 10 in Denver, site of the final rounds.
The women's basketball team had its season ended by the Tennessee Volunteers. The Irish fell 74-64 and no answer for All American Candace Parker who poured in 34 points. We finished with a record of 25-9. Our all-time record versus Tennessee is now 0-20.
The Notre Dame Pro Day was held in Loftus recently. In attendance were 31 scouts from 23 teams. John Carlson performed well now that he is healthy. His 40 times were 4.67 sec and 4.72 sec. (At the NFL Combine he posted a 4.89.) John's vertical jump came in at 35.5 inches (only 30.5 inches at the Combine). Carlson ran routes and caught all 30 balls thrown to him, juggling only one. Trevor Laws participated but only on position drills. Tom Zbikowski built on his impressive Combine numbers (24 bench reps and 4.44 - 40 time). He performed well at various drills and has drawn the admiration of Deion Sanders. Deion likes Zibby so much he was expected to invite him to his home in Dallas to work out.