Campus News:
The new Center for Social Concerns building continues to be under construction. It has a completion date of August 2009. The building will also house the Institute for Church Life and it will be called Geddes Hall. The hall will be 65,583 square feet when complete. The old Center for Social Concerns (CSC) was only 8,400 square feet. The structural steel frame is complete and the masonry work is underway. While construction is on-going, the CSC has temporarily relocated to the old security building behind the Rockne Memorial. The Institute for Church Life is still in their main offices on the 12th floor of Hesburgh Library.
Geddes Hall will ultimately cost over $15 million. The hall will contain an auditorium, chapel, and common space for student gatherings and discussions. There will also be additional space for future expansion. The building maximizes the available area and avoids lost green space. The hall appears only three stories tall but it has a basement and a top floor located inside the roof line. And three large sycamore trees south of the work site were preserved. The building is of the "green" variety and was registered with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system, a certification of the U.S. Green Building Council.
The building is being funded by gifts totaling $14 million primarily from Michael and Sheila Geddes and Thomas and Mary Cabot. Geddes, a Domer and a Trustee, serves as the chairman and president of Geddes and Company of Phoenix, a private investment and consulting firm. The chapel will be named for the Cabot family, the primary sponsors of the CSC's international summer service initiative.
Campus Watch from The Observer:
Charlie Weis Jr. is a bit of a punching bag on the internet. Junior wears a headset on the sidelines and his presence down on the field brings jokes and criticism. Little Charlie's tasks apparently irk people. The Observer recently ran an article on Charlie Jr. It calls out the haters and tells of Junior's assignment:
"According to Notre Dame's director of football media relations Brian Hardin, he relays the opposing offense's personnel groups to the defensive huddle. Charlie Jr. wears the headset so he can hear the assistant coaches in the press box when they tell him how many running backs, tight ends and wide receivers are in the game. Then Charlie Jr. relays that information to the huddle.
Hardin said it's a job someone on the staff would normally have to do anyway, but since Charlie Jr. does it, it frees up a member of the staff to focus on something else during the game."
Enough with the hating on Charlie Jr.
Hall Notes:
Carroll played its first interhall game against St. Ed's. Our defense was torched early for a 70-yard touchdown pass. The Vermin responded with a 50-yard bomb of their own from sophomore quarterback Kris Kast to junior receiver Tommy Mumford. The two then connected on a 9-yard fade for a touchdown. We missed the point after and were down 7-6. Again St. Ed's used the long ball. A 45-yard pass led to a touchdown as time expired at halftime. We started the second half by throwing an interception. This time St. Ed's connected on a 30-yard touchdown pass. Final score: 20-6. Whoever had St. Ed's quarterback in interhall fantasy football made a killing this week.
NDSportscenter:
Uh oh. Tight end Will Yeatman is in trouble again. Last year he was kicked off the team for drinking and driving. After the Michigan State game Yeatman was one of forty-one arrested at an off-campus house party. With him was freshman center Mike Golic Jr. Thirteen men's lacrosse and six women's lacrosse players were also busted. As was a member of the women's basketball team. But the big news is Yeatman. He was seeing regular minutes and now he is not. Will can still practice (but is currently sitting out with a shoulder injury) but did not play against Purdue. Golic was charged with consuming alcohol as a minor. Will, on the other hand, was charged with consuming alcohol as a minor, false informing, and resisting arrest. Ouch.
The media made much ado about a laptop in the press box at Michigan State. The rule is they are not allowed. A student manager had been using it to type in down and distance with defensive formations. Perfectly fine as long as its not done in the press box. But the Spartan press box is three-tiered. The main coaches were on the first. The grad assistants the second. And the student manager on the third. Charlie stopped it when he heard about it. The issue was put to rest this week. Inadvertent. No harm, no foul. But not with the bottom feeders in the media.
Old school tight end Mark Bavaro has written a book. It is titled "Rough & Tumble" and it is about a New York Giants player navigating a big season. The book is NOT autobiographical. According to Mark, it is not his story because his "life was very boring."
The football team had a visitor to practice before the Michigan game. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts met with the team and saw them in action. He was visiting campus and making a showing at the Law School.
Campus News:
Duncan Hall opened this fall. The dorm took 17 months to construct at a cost of $20 million. It is located on West Quad between McGlinn Hall and the campus road next to the old nine-hole golf course. The residence will house 232 men. It's the first dorm built since 1997. The overwhelming reaction has been positive. The rooms are larger than others on campus. There are three floors and a basement. Every wing contains a social space and a study space. The chapel is actually on the second floor. Only St. Ed's Hall can match that. Check out these other features: 'super quads' - two doubles connected by a common area, complete with bay windows, a bathroom, and a shower; whiteboards built into the wall outside every room; a workout facility in the basement; an area in the kitchen where residents can do food sales; and benches in the stairwells for socializing and reading. The dorm, though, currently is without 'its own identity.' It does not have a mascot, colors, or a signature event. (There are new Duncan Hall t-shirts, but I'm guessing the colors are neutral and white.) The residents will ultimately decide the mascot, colors, and event. About 350 people applied for spots in the 232-bed hall. The current line-up consists of 15 percent seniors, 25 percent juniors, 25 percent sophomores, and 35 percent freshmen. There are six resident assistants. The hall will be dedicated in early October when the residents will get to meet the Duncan family. This is our 28th dorm and 15th for men. It helped reduce the male residence capacity from 104 percent. Overcrowding is still prevalent in women's dorms. The ladies are at 103 percent capacity. Construction is currently underway on a new women's dorm. It is located immediately north of the Bookstore and south of Welsh Family Hall. The unnamed dorm broke ground last March and will open next August. There are also long-term plans to build one more men's and one more women's hall.
Campus Watch by Me:
Did you see all the freshmen on the field last week? I don't know if NBC was spotting them all because there were a bunch. On offense, #9 tight end Kyle Rudolph and #3 receiver Michael Floyd started. Trevor Robinson, #78, played right guard the whole second half. Keep an eye out for Trevor and his long hair at Michigan State. No true freshmen started on defense, but plenty played. At one point our left defensive front - #45 end Darius Fleming and #9 tackle Ethan Johnson - was made up of first year players. Finally, #12 Robert Blanton got in at corner and, man, is this kid gonna be a player. He is BIG for a corner and his run support was impressive. When's the last time you saw a corner just itching to crack a running back? Blanton came off the corner with reckless abandon. No wonder this class was re-ranked #1 by Rivals (due to not all of Alabama's class making it into school).
Hall Notes:
Vermin football is about to begin again. I scan The Observer to give you updates on their games. I haven't been to a game since I was an undergrad. I have to believe Carroll has a new coach. And I seriously doubt they record the games. Old school VHS videotape recording was a key component to Vermin football back in the day. The games were recorded and the following week we'd go over the games film in the 24-hour lounge before the next game. An even more key component of Vermin football in the mid '90s was the play-by-play analysis on the video recording. A microphone was plugged in and Manish Patel '95 and Phil Culcasi '95 called the games. The analysis was spot on. The commentary was enthralling. The accompanying levity was perfect. Manish and Phil were phenomenal additions to Carroll football. Not bad for a couple of engineers.
NDSportscenter:
The women's soccer team is back at #1. This is the fourth time in the past five years we have climbed to the top at some point in the season. Senior Kerri Hanks has become the sixth player in women's NCAA soccer history to score 60 goals and have 60 assists. Two of the other five players are also Domers: Cindy Daws and Jenny Streiffer.
A new lounge has been builts in Notre Dame Stadium. The Alumni Players Lounge is adjacent to the lockerroom. It is open and available to all former players on Fridays before games. It will also be used for recruiting and post-game interviews. The funding was provided by the Monogram Club. The lounge has five large flat screen televisions. There are also displays of the National Championship teams and the names of all football monogram winners.
Former Irish baller Pat Garrity has announced his retirement from the NBA. Pat put in 10 seasons, 9 of which were with the Orlando Magic. For his career he averaged 7.3 ppg and 2.6 rpg. His best years were '01-'02 (11.1 ppg) and '02-'03 (10.7 ppg) when he started 96 games.
Former Irish baller Rob Kurz has signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors.
The Michigan game was a big weekend for recruiting. We hosted around 20 top recruits. Six of the visitors were already committed to us. There were both juniors and seniors checking us out. They received quite a show. The team was so pumped that after the victory a few went up into the stands to do cheers with the students. Rivals has us currently with the 9th best class in the country.
Campus News:
As is always the case, the newest class to enter the University has the strongest resume in school history. This freshman class is 1,995 strong. These make up only 26 percent of the total number of students that applied. The number of applications was the second largest ever received. This class is from the top five percent of their high school classes. The average SAT score is 1405, which is a 20-point increase from last year's class. That point jump is the biggest in recent history. Twelve years ago the average SAT score was 1303.
About twenty percent of this class is made up of ethnic minorities. This is a decrease from the past two years. The class of 2010 had 24 percent while the class of 2011 has 22 percent. The Admissions department considers anything below 24 percent to not be acceptable. The minority breakdown is 9 percent Hispanic, 6 percent Asian, 3 percent African American and 1 percent Native American.
Three percent of the students are international from 27 different countries. More students come from Korea, Canada, and China than any other countries. Catholics make up 83 percent of the class. Twenty-four percent are children of alumni and seven percent are first generation college students. About 75 percent of the class is receiving some kind of financial aid.
Other interesting facts: 10 percent were student government president, 11 percent were the editor of a school publication, 90 percent participated in community service, 64 percent lettered in a varsity sport, 7 percent participated in the Eagle or Gold Scouts, there is one Olympian, a certified firefighter, one student from the island of Molokai, and two students from an Alaskan fishing village of 7,000 people.
Campus Watch by Me:
Digger will always be a part of this University. I saw Digger Phelps at a CVS drugstore last Sunday, a day after the San Diego State game. He played an integral part in the halftime show last Saturday. Digger was actually on the mic with a small scripted part. His role was basically to call for more cowbell. At first, one member of the band was banging the bell. Digger interrupted the band and kept interrupting until he had pulled in about a dozen cowbells. The student section was into the whole "MORE COWBELL!" thing. This pop culture reference is a tad old by now, isn't it? Then again the Midwest is always the last to catch on to trends.
Hall Notes:
The football season is again underway. That means pep rallies. This year, as in most years, the rallies are held in the JACC. But there have been times when the stadium has housed a rally or two. I'm trying to recall the first rally of the '97 campaign. Our opponent was Georgia Tech. It was the first game in the newly completed and expanded stadium. The pep rally was held the Friday evening before the game, of course. But where does Carroll come into this?
The pep rallies are not solely dominated by the football team. Non-athletes can play a role to boost school spirit. Such was the case this particular rally. A Vermin (name escapes me) performed a killer skit before over 30,000 people. He came out dressed like Chris Farley's motivational speaker from Saturday Night Live. The crowd was rolling. He has us in the palm of his hand. He even had a classic Farley pratfall. Those in attendance roared when they were informed that after the game, Georgia Tech would be "in a van, down by the river." It was beyond classic. The sad thing is that this occurred in the pre-YouTube era. The hits this would have generated would have been huge. Maybe a tape can be found and posted. All because of one incredibly funny Vermin.
NDSportscenter:
The women's soccer team has opened the year on fire. The ladies travelled to North Carolina for a four team tournament. The #5 Irish bested #3 North Carolina 1-0 on the Tar Heels home field. Then we played #12 Duke. We downed them 3-1. The ladies have risen to #2. It looks like the team will contend for another title.
Coach Mike Brey has landed another recruit for next year. Mike Broghammer is a 6'8", 230 lb forward from Minnetonka, Minnesota. He attends Hopkins High School and last year averaged 12 ppg and 9 rpg. Our third recruit is rated a three-star prospect. Other schools he considered were Colorado State, Illinois State, Iowa, and Lehigh. And get this... he's the nephew of former Duke star Christian Laettner.
For the 2006-07 academic year, we were second amongst all universities in recruiting spending for all sports. Only Tennessee spent more on recruiting. Since '96-'97, recruiting spending is up 161 percent. Since '01-'02, spending is up 73 percent. Certainly this can be explained by our national coverage and our ability to get recruits from all over the nation. Spending is also up because we are no longer 60 scholarships short of the NCAA allotted amount for 26 sports like we were a decade ago.
The Notre Dame athletics website is incredibly popular. Last year we were second only to North Carolina in internet traffic. Our site attracted over 35 million hits last year.
Campus News:
If you come back for the first game, you'll probably notice the intense scaffolding around the Basilica. Renovations are on-going to the tune of $1.8 million. The project began after commencement and will end this month. It will take about a month to deconstruct the scaffolding. A storm in May 2007 damaged the Basilica. Other repairs were scheduled as well. Crews fixed aged and weathered wood and metal. New paint was applied. Broken brick and mortar joints were repaired. Also, the cross atop the Basilica was re-gilded. The storm damage was to the front-left spire. It fell and shattered on impact. Pieces of the three remaining spires were removed for precautionary reasons. The project involved rebuilding all the spires and installing reinforcing steel. No services at the Basilica were interrupted as a result of the construction.
Former president Monk Malloy had a busy summer. On Aug. 11, Monk donated a kidney to an anonymous 61-year-old woman. It was part of a four-patient operation. The woman's son donated his kidney to Monk's nephew. Monk had no qualms about giving up a kidney. The 67-year-old stated his father lived 77 years with one kidney and never had any bad effects. Initially Monk was to donate to his nephew. Age was not an issue. Two weeks before the scheduled operation, Monk was notified of an anonymous mother-son pair who were compatible with Monk and his nephew, respectively. This kidney trade was the first of its kind. The procedure took place at Johns Hopkins University Hospital.
Campus Watch by Me:
Did NBC show Clausen without his helmet on? The golden boy had grown out his golden locks. His straight blond hair is no match for Samardzija's mane. And some of the offensive skill players, specifically the freshmen, decided to shave their heads. But not the offense line. Don't be surprised if you see brown hair streaming down the back of some shoulder pads. Freshman guard Trevor Robinson has hair almost halfway down his back. He is second string already and is likely to see action if he hasn't already.
Another freshman making noise is cornerback Robert Blanton. Literally. He talks all day on the field. But by all accounts, he can back it up. His confidence matches his skill level. Blanton is up to any challenge and the talk is he is out next great cornerback. He isn't starting but will be in for passing downs when we need more defensive backs. Keep an eye out.
Hall Notes:
The first Butler Vermin tailgater of the season was a success. Butler '96 had the Vermin flag flying south of the JACC. That will be the 'gater location for every game but Michigan. This game had quite a few Vermin present: Cris 'Pimpi' Diaz '96, Mike 'Rangers' Reider '97, Dave Ratliffe '97, Dan Delgado '97, Brian Buoye '98, and Todd Kuczaj '98. Unfortunately Joe Schenher '98 was not able to attend. He was slated to attend but came down with a rather serious illness. He's still in the hospital as of this writing and hopefully he will be released soon so he can return to his family.
NDSportscenter:
Our fourteenth recruit is Rivals three-star prospect E.J. Banks. He attends Montour High School in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. The 5'11', 180 lb athlete will likely play safety or cornerback. E.J. runs a 4.5 - 40 and was being sought by West Virginia and Ohio State. Banks plans to enroll early and will come to campus this January. His early entry will be joined by defensive tackle Tyler Stockton.
Our women's swimming team coach resigned this summer. She was our head coach nad she resigned to become an ASSISTANT coach at Wisconsin. That's a bit of a head-scratcher. She is an '02 Domer. She was named head coach in '05. Over the past three years she earned two Big East Coach of the Year awards. And then she resigned to be an ASSISTANT.
Our NEW women's swimming coach is Brian Barnes. For the past three years he has been an assistant at Auburn. Barnes is an Osceola, Indiana native and went to Indiana University. Being an assistant at Auburn primes someone to be a head coach. Auburn won the NCAA Championship in 2006 and 2007. Barnes has helped coach multiple All Americans and plenty of individual National Champions. I believe this would technically qualify as the new Athletic Director's first fire. Seems like a great one.
Sophomore guard Ty Profitt has left the basketball program and will transfer to another school.
Utah, who just beat Michigan in the Big House, has been added to our 2010 football schedule.
Campus News:
The school year began this past Tuesday. The students are dodging construction throughout campus to attend classes. Father Jenkins has begun another year at the helm. Did you know Father Jenkins has office hours?
Last year Scholastic did a piece on Father Jenkins' accessibility to the student body. The president has monthly office hours that are part of a program meant to encourage open dialogue between students and the administration. Undergrads and graduate students offer up aplethora of topics. To be received, students must first register on the presidential office's website. A form must be completed with graduation year, a time slot, and a topic. Father Jenkins' office hours coordinator reviews the requests and decides who will receive an allotted time that month. The coordinator tries to pick a range of topics for Jenkins to discuss and tries to select students that may have been denied a previous time.
Each allotted time slot is 15 minutes. Sometimes the 15-minute session will consist of a group of students with similar issues. Some students feel the time limit is too short. By the time introductions were over and reasons for the discussion were explained, only a few minutes would remain for Jenkins to respond to the questions. Other students were not as frustrated and were pleased to receive follow-up from Father Jenkins a few weeks later. Either way, the move to create office hours has made access to the president at least attainable for the student body.
Campus Watch by Me from the South Bend Tribune:
Guess where the men's basketball team was for almost two weeks before school began?....Ireland. The squad was able to travel abroad for 12 days. The team played six games which allowed for plenty of free time. They literally traversed the whole island. Point guard Kyle McAlarney was on assignment for the South Bend Tribune. He wrote daily of their escapades and the writings were put to print. I always get a bit nervous when one of our athletes provides communication to the public. Will the pieces be coherent? Will the grammar and vocabulary be adequate? Will they come across as a step above or below? McAlarney's contributions were acceptable. He did not come across as an English major but he did touch on more than just basketball. Kyle led the team to six victories in six games over teams from Ireland, Poland and Iceland. The Irish won the Emerald Hoops International Basketball Series behind MVP McAlarney who averaged 26.3 ppg in the three tourney games. He even canned 10 three-pointers in one contest. If you can do that who cares if you can compose an articulate article for the newspaper?
Hall Notes:
Any Vermin coming back for the first game? John Butler '96 has a history of tailgaters and his flags calls out to Vermin far and wide. (And many Vermin are wide now-a-days.) Vermin of the mid to late '90s, feel free to swing by. It's a maroon flag with a large gold 'V'. It also bears John's name in gold below the letter. Looks like there will be some '96, '97, and '98 Vermin attending the San Diego State game. The 'gater is usually around Senior Bar (or what used to be Senior Bar), but don't hold me to that.
NDSportscenter:
Freshman Kyle Rudolph is starting at tight end. Junior Will Yeatman is still working back from his suspension for drunk driving. And sophomore Mike Ragone is done for the year. This summer Ragone tore his ACL. He tried to play through it and postpone surgery until after the season. But Mike couldn't make it go so he just went under the knife. In steps the 255 lb freshman who is a complete stud. Keep on eye on #9. Zibby's old number is now at tight end. And don't be surprised to see #9 on defense. Frosh defensive end Ethan Johnson will try to bring Tommy Z's tenacity. Those are two of the eight freshmen pushing for playing time.
A couple more Domers are gold medalists. Kate (Sobrero) Markgraf '98 and Shannon Boxx '99 stood atop the podium in Beijing as the women's national soccer team defeated Brazil 1-0 in overtime. Kate and Shannon both played all 120 minutes.
Speaking of soccer, senior Kerri Hanks was one of eighteen on the Under-23 National Team that competed at the Nordic Cup this summer. The team won the title. The USA has won 9 of the last 11 Nordic Cups.
This summer we re-signed some of our main coaches. Basketball leader Mike Brey signed a two-year contract extension. He is now under contract to coach through the 2014-15 season. His eight years of coaching have brought 167 wins and a .662 winning percentage.
Also signed to a two-year extension was women's head coach Muffet McGraw. She is now also under contract through 2015-15. Muffet has won 474 games and has a .716 winning percentage.
First game is next week at home versus San Diego State. Tune in to NBC at 3:30pm EST and watch us set the tone for the season by pounding on the Aztecs.
Campus News:
The school year is about to begin. The news is thin now so this week will feature some historical news.
Last week news was given on the extended NBC contract for football games. But what happened before NBC came along? On October 25, 1947 the first Irish home football game was televised. On that day the viewing audience saw us defeat Iowa. In 1952 the NCAA entered the television business. This was done to mostly limit our national television exposure. In 1964 the University assembled a collection of 110 independent television stations around the country to show replays of games. In 1990 we signed our first independent broadcast with NBC. It was a four-year deal worth $38 million. Our first NBC game was against Indiana on September 7, 1991.
Anybody else just get done watching two weeks of Olympic events? The swimming was top notch. Here's some ND swimming for you.
Last year Scholastic did a piece on some Irish swimmers. Not varsity athletes, but ordinary students. Who just happen to be blind. Did you know we have an Irish Aquatic Masters/Paralympic team? The Masters team had three members last year. One was an undergrad. One was a grad student. And one was a graduate, Lori Miller '97. Senior-to-be Ashley Nasheanas and Miller are former Paralympians and Miller even participated in cycling at the Sydney Games in 2000.
The big obstacle for blind swimmers is making a turn, of course. They depend on the timing of an assistant "tapper." This person stands at the end of the lane with what is essentially a pole with a tennis ball affixed to one end. The task is more difficult that it may seem. Competitive swimmers have tapping preferences and need it to be done just right to match the timing of their turns. Not just anyone can do it. There is "about a 40 percent attrition rate" among tappers. What about a mechanical tapper?
A patented mechanical tapper device is being developed and tested right here at ND by two graduate students. The device is known as ADAPTTAP and the Irish swimmers compliment it and see it needing just a little refinement. But a larger test group is needed and the specifics of the model need to be finalized. The project needs about $10,000 for completion. In the meantime, teamwork will be a necessity for swimmers and their tappers.
Campus Watch by Me from the South Bend Tribune:
The "New Jersey" in Charlie recently came out. As you may recall, last year freshman receiver Duval Kamara wore number 18. Duval expected to carry on with the number this year. Kamara is a very big receiver. He came into fall camp at 223 lbs. That's too big. His required weight entering camp was to be 219 lbs. As punishment, Charlie stuck him with number 60 until he receded to 219 or less. It was bad enough he lost his number, but he was also taunted by being given an offensive lineman number to reflect his added weight. No word on whether Charlie came into camp overweight.
Hall Notes:
Selim Nurudeen did the Vermin proud at the Olympics. He was in heat 4 in round 1. Selim came in third with a time of 13.58 seconds. The time is Nurudeen's personal best. (Great place to achieve that!) By placing in the top four finishers, Selim advanced to round 2. He was in the fourth heat. The Vermin posted a time of 13.66 seconds. Selim came in fourth despite being the slowest out of the blocks. However, his fourth place finish missed qualifying by one spot. It was still a respectable showing. Not bad for a Carroll man who undoubtedly honed his skills getting from The Hotel to DeBartolo in two minutes flat.
NDSportscenter:
Domer Mariel Zagunis won another Olympic medal. She helped the women's sabre team take the bronze medal by beating France 45-38.
There is some good news and some bad news from fall camp. Left tackle Paul "El Matador" Duncan has lost his starting spot, as has left guard Michael Turkovich. That's the very good news. The bad news is that Turkovich is now the starting left tackle. I don't see that working too well. I have longer arms than he does! Hopefully sophomore Matt Romine can get healthy and take the spot. If he doesn't, expect a tight end and/or running back to always be on that side. Other good news: the practices are faster and more physical. Bring on the hitting.
Tom Lemming says our 13th recruit is the best player in Indiana. Offensive lineman Zach Martin comitted recently. He is out of Indianapolis and attends Bishop Chatard High School. The Rivals four-star prospect is 6'5" and 275 lbs. His services were being sought by Michigan, Illinois, Virginia, and Kentucky. Zach was actually scheduled to visit Michigan after us. But of course he cancelled that after setting foot and being sold on The Promised Land.
The '06 football recruiting class has again shrunk by one. Junior receiver Richard Jackson has decided to transfer. He was third string. He played less than two minutes as a freshman and had no time as a sophomore. Jackson is the sixth member of his class to transfer. Two others left the team but remained as students. The class of 28 is now down to 20.
The men's basketball team is currently on the road. In Ireland. The team is traveling and playing all over the country for nearly two weeks. We have been blowing teams out and easily scoring over 100 points per game.
Campus News:
Very soon the University will be home to one of the most cutting-edge cancer research centers in the world. The state of Indiana approved funding for the $20 million project. The Harper Cancer Insitute will be a partnership between the University and Indiana University School of Medicine at South Bend. Half of the cost will be funded by a $10 million appropriation in the 2009 state budget. The other half of the money will come from a donation by Domer Charles M. Harper, retired Chairman and CEO of Con-Agra Foods and Nabisco. The cancer research center will be an addition to the current IU School of Medicine building just south of campus.
Scholastic did a feature last year on our growth into cancer research. The Walther Institute for Cancer Research "conducts pioneering research on the genetic causes for various forms of cancer." The most recent initiatives at the institute focus on drug development, specifically targeting prostate and colon cancer. Drugs are designed, tested in stock culture against cancer cell lines, and then tested in animals to see if they are effective in treating cancers.
Undergraduates play a role in the research. They do research "at all levels" and work with individuals in all departments. The student interest is greater than the available spots. Typically the students commit to the projects for a long period of time so securing a position is a very worthwhile endeavor.
Campus Watch by Me from the University's athletics site:
Last May Coach Weis made a trip to the Middle East with a few other coaches to visit the troops. And he ran into a Domer right off the bat! Charlie and the others were flown in by a '76 Domer who was a two-star general pilot. Charlie had quite a bit of luggage as well. The Bookstore provided "5,000 to 6,000" old The Shirts to give away. None of the other coaches had much in the way of clothing to give out. The Middle East became Irish in a matter of four days.
One soldier form Cleveland was tickled green to see the Notre Dame coach. He came up to Charlie in Irish garb and could barely contain himself. He said he was a huge ND fan with the only bigger fan being his father. Charlie busted out an international cell phone and dialed up Cleveland. It was 4 am in Ohio at the time. No matter. The father was roused for a chat with the Notre Dame coach. Then Charlie passed the phone to the son so he could talk to his family for a bit. Just another day in the life of the Irish football coach.
Hall Notes:
Well, I thought I had heard that the 110 meter hurdles would be on the 18th. Turns out the Round 1 heats are TONIGHT. Sorry if you missed this. Vermin Selim Nurudeen will first compete in one of two races. He will be in either the 11:26pm heat or the 11:50pm heat tonight, August 17 (all times are EST). If he wins you can see him in Round 2 on August 19 at either 8:53am or 9:09am. I don't know if Selim can make the semi-finals on August 20 at 9:40am. And the finals are on August 21 at 9:45am. Unfortunately most all of us will be at work. Hopefully I can track down the results for you next week.
NDSportscenter:
The first U.S. gold medal of the Olympics was won by a Domer. Mariel Zagunis repeated as an Olympic champion for America. On the first day of the 2008 Summer Games she triumphed in women's sabre.
Recruit #12 is considered the second-best player of the class so far. Guard Chris Watt attends Glenbard West High School in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Scout gives him five stars and considers him the second-best guard prospect in the country. Chris chose us over Ohio State. He benches 325 lbs, runs a 5.1 - 40, and has a 4.3 GPA with honors classes. Watt is aggressive and nasty with solid drive blocking skills. But his pass protection needs work. More attributes: great feet, good lateral movement, toughness, long arms, anad quick hands. Tom Lemming stated: "On film he dominates."
Freshman phenom receive Michael Floyd has been bestowed with the classic #3 jersey. He is the freshman most likely to play right away this fall. He is physically developed and has the skill set to even start in game 1.
Our football television contract with NBC has been extended to 2015. That would make the partnership a full 25 years. The deal is reportedly for $9 million a year. The money plays a key role in our financial aid. Since 1991, about 2,400 students have been helped to the tune of $26 million. The money also benefits endowed doctoral fellowships in the Graduate School and MBA scholarships in the Mendoza College of Business. In 2007, Forbes reported that the football program returned to academic initiatives a dollar amount that was more than the next five programs combined. NBC will soon be showing the Irish in primetime to hopefully help its bottom line. There will be no night games at Notre Dame Stadium, but there will be off-site "home" games every other year at neutral sites that NBC will televise.
Campus News:
On August 1, the new outdoor practice athletics fields were scheduled to be available for use. They are mainly for the football team but will also be used by the soccer teams. The fields are just east of the JACC on the site of the former university track. There are three practice fields. Two are made of artificial turf and one is natural grass. All are lighted and the fencing screens off public view.
This is just one project of many that involve upgrading our athletics facilities. Other improvements are a new soccer stadium with natural turf for both the men's and women's teams. There will be a new lacrosse stadium with artificial turf for both the men's and women's teams. A new track and field facility will be going in next to the new softball stadium. The campus tennis courts will be resurfaced. The former softball field will keep its natural grass and be used as a soccer practice field. Depending on fundraising results, that land eventually may contain a new tennis stadium.
The JACC basketball arena renovation will begin this fall. In late September construction will begin on the 60,000 square foot expansion at the south end. A new south entry and atrium will be built and the area will contain a new ticket office and a corporate entertainment area. This first phase will not affect basketball this season. Phase 2 will begin after commencement in May 2009. All seats and bleachers will be replaced with chair-back seats. Phase 2 will finish in October 2009 and be open for the basketball season.
Campus Watch by Me from the South Bend Tribune:
Fall practice has yet to begin and already the disparaging newspaper articles are beginning. Tuesday's article spoke of a picture that is circulating on the internet. The whole article was about this picture. Football was secondary and not even mentioned. It seems there is a photo out of some sophomores at what appears to be a party with alcohol. Jimmy Clausen is one of three underage players in the photo. None of them have labeled alcoholic beverages in hand and none are shown to be chugging. Apparently the athletic department was contacted about the photo and offered a terse "no comment." It remains to be seen if this photo has any legs. Clausen will be 21 in late September. This is not the first time a party photo of Clausen has hit the net. I saw one last year. It never made the paper, though. I deleted it for just that reason. It was just a party picture, for the record. There was no toasting of beer bottles or glorification of intoxication. Just some freshmen having a good time. We'll see if the 2008 version is equally harmless.
Hall Notes:
Last week it was mentioned that there are currently eight Domers competing at the Olympics in Beijing. Actually there are nine Domers in China. And the ninth is Vermin. Selim Nurudeen '05 is running the 110 meter hurdles for Nigeria. Selim was a seven-time Big East Champion. He was a four-time champion in the 110 meter hurdles. In 2005 he earned All American honors after placing 7th at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Selim's heats begin on Monday, August 18. I kept an eye out for Selim during the opening ceremonies. But Nigeria had 90 athletes and NBC only provided a couple of seconds of coverage.
NDSportscenter:
Back to recruiting. Our 11th verbal comes from Tyler Eifert of Bishop Dwenger High School in Fort Wayne, Ind. Tyler is a 6'6", 220 lb "athlete." He can play tight end, safety, receiver, or outside linebacker. Tyler's bloodlines are laced with college athletics. His father played basketball for Purdue. Eifert had scholarship offers from Purdue, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Indiana, Minnesota, and Northwestern. Last year the three-star recruit caught 30 balls for 600 yards and four touchdowns.
Junior Josh Sandman became our first ever golfer chosen as an individual qualifier for NCAA regional play. His 73.10 stroke average was the fourth best in school history. At the NCAA Central Regional Josh tied for 65th. He was +16 over 3 days and was only nine shots away from advancing.
The men's track and field team won the Big East Outdoor Championship for the fourth time in the last six years. It was a total team effort as we had no individual champions. We were also honored with the Coaching Staff of the Year. The women's team finished third. A few athletes advanced to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Junior Patrick Smyth was 8th in the 5000 meters. The time of 13:47.82 earned Patrick an All American honor. Kurt Benninger was 11th in the 1500 meters (3:44.95). Finally, Alyissa Hasan competed in the heptathlon.
This summer we again had a Notre Dame Fantasy Camp. Approximately 50 people paid $5,490 for five days as an Irish football player. Fourteen of the campers were 60 years or older.
Campus News:
More on campus music.
Funding will be going to the music department, but it will be limited due to the department's size. Ten years ago there were about 40 undergraduate majors. Today, there are 80 undergrad majors and 10 more are expected to declare this year. The number will have to be capped at around 100 because of a lack of resources.
Another hindrance to gaining funding has been the removal of the music minor. The graduate program has also been removed. It wasn't deemed "competitive with performance programs at schools of music or with academic programs in Ph.D. departments." It also didn't help that for the past year the leadership in the music department was not of a musical background. Last year's chair came from the department of romance languages. But positive changes are on the way.
The Spirit of Notre Dame campaign is currently raising money to remodel and put an addition on Crowley Hall. In the meantime, more access will be given to practice rooms during evening hours. Chapels in dorms will be opened for practice. Sound-proof practice rooms will be made in residential halls and the band building. Space will be made available in the Performing Arts Center and Malloy Hall's chapel. Those interim steps will be replaced by $1.5 million in Crowley Hall renovations. The ultimate plan is for a new building (but don't hold your breath).
Where's the real money going? Everywhere else. This past spring the University announced that it plans to spend an additional $40 million each of the next two years on research and has proposed spending another $40 million the following year. The University has targeted five research areas this year: 1) developing innovative micro-sensing devices; 2) promoting the development of new drugs and vaccines for infectious diseases; 3) exploring alternatives to standard silicon-based transistor technology; 4) starting an institute to explore questions of value (I don't know...don't ask me); and 5) "creating an integrated imaging facility that will consolidate capacity dispersed around campus." (Huh? Whatever. Cool. Research away, baby.)
Campus Watch from Various Media Outlets:
Jeff Samardzija has been called up to the Majors and the news sources are all over it. ESPN showed him striking out his first batter faced. Jeff was throwing in the high 90s and even hit 99 mph. Footage was also shown of him throwing a pitch so wild that there was no chance of domesticating it. In his first relief effort he did give up two hits and an earned run. But in his second game Jeff got settled in. He threw two perfect innings, had three strikeouts, and earned a save. The Shark has five Ks in just two outings. To compliment his historic moment, Charlie Weis sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Charlie's singing?...It was so wild that there is no chance of domesticating it.
Hall Notes:
This week we'll share a story that was already shared. Yes, it's a slow news week. Yes, I'm recycling. Consider these notes "green"...
NAKED GUY
This is a story from Andres "Big Country" Arredondo '00. A rollicking good time. And the names have been RADICALLY changed to protect the guilty....
When CJ Howard, Jim Blaum, and I (Andres) lived in Rm #310 our sophomore year where many random things happened....one in particular...
A certain Golf Team Captain (let's call him Drian Bonahoe) slept walked into our room, ASS-NAKED, and pissed all over our desk/entertainment center which held our TV, all of CJ's notes from class, and....not to mention our POTATO CHIPS.... I recall CJ waking up (after hearing me cuss my brains out) and asking Drian "Hey, Drian can you use the bathroom down the hall?" In his sleeping state, Drian replied, "Just a minute buddy, just a minute buddy." After he was done pissing, he proceeded out towards the door and wiped his feet on a blank sheet of paper on the floor. That was frightening, but we all tried to look on the bright side.....WE SAW A NAKED GUY!!!!! Oh, Jim slept through the entire ordeal.
NDSportscenter:
The Olympics are right around the corner. Eight Domers will be competing. Defender Kate (Sobrero) Markgraf '98 and midfielder Shannon Boxx '99 are main cogs on the U.S. women's soccer team. Two more former soccer players will suit up for Canada. Melissa Tancredi '05 and Candance Chapman '06 will represent the land up north. Our other specialty is fencing. Junior-to-be Kelley Hurley will compete in women's epee. Mariel Zagunis will be back in women's sabre. She won gold in 2004. And freshman Gerek Meinhardt will wear the red, white, and blue for men's foil. Ireland native and '07 graduate Thomas Chamney will run in the 800 meters for his homeland.
On July 19 former defensive tackle Chris Zorich was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame. The '90 Lombardi winner is one of the youngest members to ever be inducted. He's the third Domer defensive lineman to enter the hall. It's pretty nice to have your name next to Alan Page and Ross Browner.
Amanda Polk was a member of the Women's Eight that competed at the World Rowing Championships in Germany. The Women's Eight won the gold.
SI.com recently selected the top ten Notre Dame athletes of all-time. Nine athletes in alphabetical are Shannon Boxx, Tim Brown, Austin Carr, George Gipp, Paul Hornung, Joe Montana, Brady Quinn, Ruth Riley, and Joe Theismann. The tenth selection was a bit of a cheat: The Four Horsemen.
The women's lacrosse team began the year ranked #12. The Irish were 12-6 and made the NCAAs for the first time since 2006. There first round opponent was #1 Northwestern. The ladies were tied with the Wildcats 5-5 at the half, but we fell apart in the second half and lost 15-7.
Campus News:
Last week the campus piece detailed the history of Crowley Hall. Now for a little campus music history courtesy of Scholastic....
Father Sorin played the clarinet. Moose Krause studied music prior to becoming an athletic director. Knute Rockne played the flute. The third major building Sorin had constructed on campus was the music hall. Only the Main Building and the church preceded it. The founders formatted the curriculum after a Jesuit theory of university education that included the study of music. The marching band first performed a mere four years after the University was begun. So, of course, we are the oldest band in the land. But what has become of music on campus?
The biggest problem is Crowley Hall. The building was never intended for music. There is a severe lack of sound-proof practice room. Adjacent tiny rooms constantly overhear each other. The building also has poor quality heating and cooling. Instruments go out of tune easily from inconsistent room temperatures. Also, high levels of humidity can cause thousands of dollars of damage to instruments. The building also lacks an elevator. In addition to being non-handicap accessible, the lack of an elevator makes large instrument transportation very difficult. Try moving pianos to the second floor practice rooms.
But the Spirit of Notre Dame campaign is raising funds to remedy some of these problems.
More next week on campus music.
Campus Watch by the Gipper from The Observer:
A few weeks back news was given on Coach Weis being invited to serve on a White House commission for Americans with disabilities. But how did that whole thing shake down?
Last summer the White House sent a representative to meet with Charlie. Apparently representatives went out to meet 21 people across the country. Charlie was asked if he'd be interested in being on the commission. Charlie said, "They had asked us if we would be interested in having a little visit with the Big Boss on Thursday. We thought that would probably be a good thing to do, so we did it." Weis was referring to the Thursday after last fall's Stanford game. After the game on Nov. 24, Weis worked his way east making recruiting visits. From Arizona he flew to Washington for the meeting. Apparently the "Big Boss" was receptive to Charlie's charms. Weis is serving two years on the commission.
Hall Notes:
Cheese fries. What I wouldn't give for a plate of cheese fries. The Vermin of the mid '90s were the last to know of this delicious dish. Food Sales were a dorm staple back in the day. We journeyed to the bottom of the north stairwell and took in the aroma. I'm sure there were other things on the menu but I was all about the fries and the cheese. The former Food Sales room is now home to Carroll's mini-laundromat. Despite the presence of detergent and fabric softener, if you sniff strongly you can still catch a whiff of melted velvetta. Damn, that's good.
NDSportscenter:
Our best defensive player is gone. Junior cornerback Darrin Walls will not be enrolled this fall. As soon as summer school is done, he will return home for "personal reasons." Weis hopes he will return in the spring. Competing for his vacated spot will be junior Raeshon McNeil, sophomore Gary Gray, and freshman Robert Blanton.
Receiver D.J. Hord is transferring. For his career he had two catches for seven yards. Hord was considered the best player in the class Weis cobbled together in a short time when he first came on as coach.
Our 10th verbal commitment comes all the way from San Bernardino, Calif. Cornerback Marlon Pollard switched his commitment from UCLA to us. The 6'1", 160 lb Pollard is rated #70 overall by Tom Lemming. Pollard had committed to UCLA when he was only 15. But the ND allure proved too great. While in Chicago at a camp, Marlon decided to make an unofficial, impromptu visit to campus. The Rivals and Scout four-star recruit was blown away. Recruit Cierre Wood also helped woo Pollard. They were teammates in a 7-on-7 passing tournament in Las Vegas. Last year Marlon had 60 tackles and 3 interceptions. He has long arms, quick feet, and a smooth back pedal. But at 160 lbs he needs to gain weight and strength.
The men's tennis team won its second straight Big East Championship with a 4-3 victory over South Florida. We made our 17th NCAA in the last 18 years. The #22 Irish faced #41 East Tennessee State in the first round. We fell 4-2 and finished the year with a record of 16-11.
Campus News:
Crowley Hall of Music. Do you know anything about this building? As a non-music major, I had never set foot in the hall. Still haven't. Which makes it all the more interesting. All of the following information comes from a Scholastic issue from last year....
Crowley was never even intended for music. Originally, it was an engineering building, later being used for chemistry, pharmacy, architecture, law and psychology. The building now known as Crowley Hall was built in 1883 and was originally used for engineering. This engineering was one of Father Zahm's pet projects.
After it served as the engineering building, it became a chemistry hall and was the site of Father Nieuwland's many chemistry experiments. The first floor had three large laboratories, a lecture hall, and a library. The second floor was for the department of pharmacy and held a lab, a modern drug store, a lecture room, a museum, a library, and a general stock room. Inorganic, organic, and general chemistry labs were on the third floor.
In 1916, a fire caused by a phosphorous science experiment injured five men. It caused damages amounting to $70,000. The third floor and the roof caved in. The abundance of chemicals helped the fire spread very quickly and create small explosions, injuring the firefighters.
Today, all that is left of the third floor of Crowley is a single staircase leading up to a small office.
The chemistry hall became Koynes law school and then a psychology hall until 1974. It became Crowley Hall of Music after renovations made in honor of Patricia and Patrick Crowley '33. They were the first couple to receive Notre Dame's highest award, the Laetare Medal, for the founding of the Christian Family Movement, an apostolic movement that spread to 60 countries and over 100,000 married couples.
Campus Watch by Me from The Observer:
Continuation from last week.
Former football player and recent graduate Abdel Banda has helped form a charitable organization that provides computers to orphanages. Banda recruited a former teammate to help the cause. Starting middle linebacker Maurice Crum Jr. is on board. "I jumped at the opportunity based on the background information of what the organization is and what it stands for," Crum said. "Anything that I can do to help anyone, I'm all for it." Banda and Crum took a trip to Ghana in June. They were joined by their entire organization which included the co-founders, volunteers from Banda's high school, and members of the Board of Trustees. They went to complete the installation of the learning facilities. The party was there for a week and taught and interacted with the children. Because Banda has graduated, Crum will be the group's ambassador on campus for the 2008-09 school year. "I don't want this just to be about me," Crum said. "I'm a representation of the team, and we're not just about football."
Hall Notes:
Anybody miss some of Carroll's hallway games from back in the day? The hallways were excellent for any type of activity. Very high ceilings. Very wide walkways. Quite unlike all the other narrow-halled dorms. Footballs could easily be thrown. Baseballs could be tossed. A frisbee sighting was not uncommon. My favorite item that was airborne in our hallway was the lawn dart. Who remembers that classic '80s toy/death projectile? We had dangerous playthings back in the day. Bee-bee guns. Woodburning kits. Teeter totters. And lawn darts. Pointed, piercing ends that were meant to be thrown. Carroll's hallway became an artificial lawn. The best part? The Vermin were opposite each other (not on the same end) and barefoot. If there's no injury potential, it just ain't fun.
NDSportscenter:
We have a new Athletic Director. He is 54-year-old Jack Swarbrick. Swarbrick is a lawyer and partner at the firm Baker & Daniels in Indianapolis. Don't worry, he's a Domer. Class of '76. Jack graduated magna cum laude and received his law degree from Stanford in 1980. He may be a lawyer, but the man knows athletics. Jack is the former chairman of the Indiana Sports Corp. He served as president for eight years. He was a one-time candidate for president of the NCAA in 2002. He was also nearly elected to be the head of the Big 12. And the list goes on... Sports commissioner of the U.S. Olympic festival (1982), competition director at the Pan Am Games (1987), chairman of the World Gymnastics Championships (1991), and World Rowing Championships advisory committee (1994). Jack was also instrumental in moving the NCAA headquarters to Indianapolis and securing NCAA basketball tournament games, NCAA Final Fours, and the Superbowl for Indiana's state capital. Expect more information on the new AD throughout the summer and into the fall.
The rowing team took another step forward this year. They own their fifth straight Big East Championship by winning all six grand final races. It's the first time we've won all six races. Amanda Polk was named a 1st Team All American, the first Domer to be so named. Polk is now a four-time All American. She has been named to the Under-23 National Team and will compete at the World Championships in Germany at the end of July. Amanda will be a member of the Women's Eight. She is one of forty-seven men and women on the rowing squad.
Campus News:
The school year will begin at the end of next month. In September there will be the Fall Career Expop. Last year's expo had an interesting storyline. Last year four students attened the job fair to protest the presence of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Raytheon, a defense and aerospace systems supplier. The students were a part of two campus groups: Progressive Student Alliance (PSA) and Notre Dame Peace Fellowship (NDPF). Prior to the protest the students sent a letter to The Observer and copies to Dean Carolyn Woo of the Mendoza School of Business, Father Jenkins, and Lee Svete, director of career services. The letter stated that the CIA and Raytheon represent practices that violate human rights.
At the expo, the students distributed information sheets they had compiled. The sheets listed thirteen "forms of illegal interrogation methods" supposedly used by the CIA. The protestors claim that the CIA's and Raytheon's work does not coincide with the University's mission statement. The protestors did not stay as long as planned. Six NDSP officers ushered the group out of the JACC. The officers were apparently responding to a complainty from recruiters. The students were cooperative and left with no trouble.
The CIA has an established relationship with the University. The CIA cannot report on hires but a senior recruiter said, "We wouldn't be here if there wasn't a consistent excellence of applicants." Raytheon has a 20-year relationship with the University. Student interest in the company is always high. There are eight to ten hires by Raytheon each year. The CIA has been protested at four fairs on campus and Raytheon at two (including this one).
Campus Watch by Me from The Observer:
It isn't often you hear about a football player making news outside of his sport. This past spring a story came out about senior Abdel Banda. Banda suffered a career ending injury during his sophomore year. During his senior year he scored a touchdown with his philanthropy. With a friend he created Students Bridging the Information Gap (SBIG), a non-profit organization based in New Jersey. Banda saw he had the ability and opportunity to give back to communities as they had given to him. SBIG plans to chose an orphanagge each year and give funds based on a needs assessment process. Each orphanage chosen will receive adequate funding to install approximately 12 to 15 computers, build fully equipped facilities such as computer labs and libraries, and hire full-time computer instructors to teach various technological skills. This year two fundraisers in New York City collected $50,000. The chosen orphanage is located an hour outside of Accra, the capital of Ghana. It houses about 300 children of all ages.
More on this story next week.
Hall Notes:
So I happened by Carroll recently. I went up to the dorm to inspect last year's resident list. I didn't recognize any football player or basketball player names. Carroll did house center Dan Wenger his freshman year but he has apparently moved inland. He's still Vermin, though. Jarious Jackson was only in The Hotel for one year but he's still a man of Carroll. And I need to become more familiar with our hockey team. We may possibly have a skater but I'm clueless. I'll have to glance at the roster and hopefully become clue-full.
NDSportscenter:
Like our eighth recruit, our ninth is a kicker. But Nick Tausch is a place kicker. Nick is 6'1", 180 lbs and attends Jesuit High School in Dallas, Texas. That's the same school as former receiver Omar Jenkins. Last year Tausch connected on six of eight field goals. More importantly he recorded 11 touchbacks on 12 kickoffs. Nick's father played on the offensive line at Texas and spent time in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers. Tausch committed to us without ever seeing the campus. We actually extended this scholarship offer after a deadline passed for another kicker. Apparently we do not want to spend a lot of recruiting effort and time on kickers. I feel fairly confident we do not have deadlines on any top 100 recruits.
The women's tennis team won the Big East Championship for the third time in four years. We did so by defeating South Florida. The Big East title put us automatically into the NCAA Tournament. It was our 13th straight post-season appearance. We entered with a record of 21-8. Along the way, Brook Buck and Kelcy Tefft tore it up on the doubles circuit. They rose to #1 in the rankings. The #22 Irish faced Florida International in the first round of the NCAAs. We won 4-1. But we then fell to Miami 4-0. Buck and Tefft, meanwhile, made it all the way to the semi-finals before losing to the Fresno State duo. That is the farthest an Irish duo has ever gone. And the future looks bright for the squad. This year's recruiting class was ranked #3. The two players were the #1 and #2 players in the Great Lakes Area. One was #1 in Ohio and the other was #1 in Michigan.
Campus News:
Notre Dame has gone Google. The University reached an agreement to provide student email through Google Apps for Education. Google works with colleges and universities to provide email, a start page, a calendar, documents and spreadsheets. The new system will be integrated with the existing system this summer. Google Apps allows schools to combine Google tools and services, and customize them with the school's logo, color scheme, and content. Campus current email addresses will not change.
The past semester on campus was a rough one. Junior Andrew Bunikis passed away. Andrew, 20, was a zahm resident. The Phoenix-native had taken the semester off to teach English in Thailand. Andrew died in a bus crash.
There were three sexual assaults this past semester. One was an alleged assault and two were alleged rapes. All took place on campus.
Lou Holtz will be the latest coach to receive a statue on campus. Last year Ara Parseghian had a statue dedicated. This year Lou will be honored before the Michigan game on September 13.
Recycling on campus has intensified. Garbage recepticals around campus now have a top bin for recyclable bottles. Supposedly every dorm room on campus is supposed to include a small blue recycling bin for personal use. There are two recycling groups on campus, Students for Environmental Action (SEA) and Recyclin' Irish. The percentage of tons of waste has grown since its inauguration in 1990. In 1992-93, 9.65 percent of waste was recycled. The all-time high was 62.13 percent in 2003-04.
Campus Watch by Me from the South Bend Tribune:
Recruiting is in full swing. Football camps are being held on campus. I have a recruiting tidbit to share. It's actually from last year's recruiting process. And of course it involves Florida coach Urban Meyer. Center Braxton Cave had already committed to the Irish. That didn't stop Meyer from pursuing him. But his tactics were a bit ridiculous. "(He) had me talk to his wife, so that was kind of interesting," Cave said. "Basically, the weather and how they were on the boat and all this stupid crap." Unimpressed, Braxton stuck with the Irish.
Hall Notes:
Anybody remember playing pool in Carroll's basement back in the day? To say our table was not level was an understatement. It was incredibly tilted to one corner pocket. It was just not possible to win a game on that table. Not because you couldn't make shots into other pockets. No, the real reason a game could not be won is because you could never really finish a game. It's just not possible to put fifteen balls in one pocket. You just can't finish the game! I wonder if the table is level today. It should be since it stays in one place. Back in the day it was moved for the Haunted House and SYRs. And moving it back to a level position the next day was just not possible. You try putting something level when you can't even walk straight. In fact, to the hungover mind, the pool table must have seemed properly placed.
NDSportscenter:
Our 8th football recruit didn't exactly light up the internet message boards. Who does cartwheels over a punter? Ben Turk of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. attends St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Aquinas produced current players tackle Sam Young and center Dan Wenger. Turk is 6'0", 190 lbs and last year averaged 40.8 yards per punt. Tom Lemming speculated the kid could be the "real deal." Ben committed without ever seeing campus. Turk has football in the bloodlines. His uncle, Matt, has been in the NFL for 13 years and is currently with the Texans. Uncle Dan was an NFL long snapper from 1985 to 1999.
We came in 21st in the final standings of the Directors' Cup. Last year we were 22nd. Our best ever finish was 6th in 2005-06.
The baseball team had its roughest season in a long time. The team finished the season by losing eight games in a row including two losses in the Big East Tournament to South Florida and West Virginia. Their final record was 33-21-1.
Despite the poor season, there was some good news. Junior righthanded pitcher Kyle Weiland was drafted in the 3rd round (#108 overall) by the Boston Red Sox. Only four Domers have been drafted higher. We had six players and one recruit selected in this year's Major League Baseball draft. That ties for our most ever in a single season. The recruit was taken in the 42nd round. The six college-aged draftees were all juniors and seniors and were snapped up from rounds 14 through 29.
One last baseball note. Jeff Samardzija has been promoted to the AAA Iowa Cubs. Jeff had been with the AA Tennessee Smokies. With the Smokies he had a 3-5 record and 4.86 ERA through 76 innings.