During the July 7 terrorist bombings in London,
law student Patrick Roach got off an Underground train that was
headed to a station where an explosion would occur a few minutes
later. When he got back to his apartment he found a bomb had gone
off on a double-decker bus in front of his building. A police
officer escorted him through the bloody scene to his door and
told him to stay inside. Roach said he had been taking the Tube
to the King's Cross station, site of an explosion that involved
trains on three different lines. He was going there to buy tickets
for an amusement park. At the last second he decided to get off
at an earlier station and go to the Notre Dame London Centre near
Trafalgar Square. He was in London taking law classes. . . . Junior
Raquel Elena "Rocky" Garza won the first College Football
Hall of Fame Enshrinement Queen Pageant. The hall of fame is located
in downtown South Bend. Among the questions posed to her during
the judging was how many yards does it take to make a first down.
She answered correctly, 10. . . . The teachers-of-the-year
award winners for 2004-05 were: Arts and Letters, Gail Bederman
(history) and William Ramsey (philosophy); Science, Randal C.
Ruchti (physics); Engineering, Jesus A. Izaguirre (computer science
and engineering); Business, Timothy Loughran (finance). . . .
Jean Joseph Dorvil, a Haitian grad student who
served as an administrator for the University's program to eliminate
the disfiguring disease lymphatic filariasis in Haiti, was killed
last December by Haitian rebel insurgents near Port-au-Price.
Now the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has established a scholarship
program in his memory. The $175,000 Jean Joseph Dorvil Award will
support scholarships for students of Haitian descent seeking Notre
Dame degrees or participating in various educational initiatives.
Dorvil had been pursuing a Master of Science in Administration
from Notre Dame. . . . Readers who looked at the cover
of this magazine's summer issue and marveled at the scaffolding
erected around the Dome for the regilding may be interested to
learn that a Notre Dame mechanical engineering alum, Joseph Puccinelli
'56, invented and patented that particular scaffolding system.
. . . An editorial printed in the South Bend
Tribune on Father Malloy's last day as president (June 30)
recited the many accomplishments and signs of growth at the University
during his 18-year tenure. The editors noted that the accomplishments
were not Monk's alone, but they said Monk deserved sole credit
at least for one feat: improving relations between Notre Dame
and the surrounding community. "Once upon a time, the word 'aloof'
would come up in connection with the campus north of town," the
city paper wrote. "Malloy observed the chill in the relationship
between 'town and gown' and set out to warm it up." . . . It
may be cooling already. The South Bend Common Council
sent a letter to University officials earlier this year asking
Notre Dame to share in the cost of traffic control for a seventh
home game the Irish will add in 2006. The city estimates it will
cost an extra $16,000 to pay traffic cops. A University spokesman
said it's the responsibility of the city and county to keep roadways
open beyond the campus. He also noted that the games bring millions
of dollars to the community in the form of business revenues and
taxes. . . . This year marks the 100th anniversary
of the Dome yearbook. The editor of the very first Dome,
1906, was Charles L. O'Donnell, later the Rev. Charles L. O'Donnell,
CSC, 11th president of Notre Dame. Walter Smith edited the 1926
edition. He later became a legendary sports columnist in New York
under the nickname Red. The 100th anniversary edition will be
only Volume 97 of the Dome because wars prevented publication
in 1919 and 1944-46. The oldest living former Dome editor
is Lou Hruby '35, age 91. . . . Responding to the NCAA's
decision to ban Indian-associated and other team mascots
and nicknames deemed hostile and abusive, the Chicago Tribune's
Mike Downey fired off a tongue-in-cheek column calling for euthanasia
of the Notre Dame leprechaun. Describing himself as a proud Irish
American, Downey also called on the NCAA to "put an end to the
degradation of this 'Fighting Irish' slur once and for all. A
lot of us don't fight. Well, I did toss a guy out of a bar in
Greece last summer, but he was drunker than I was." . . . Columnist
Paola Boivin of The Arizona Republic endorsed
the NCAA's decision on mascots but said Notre Dame's should be
exempt because it's a mythical creature. "The Cleveland Indians'
Chief Wahoo is a buck-toothed, faced-painted representative of
a real group of people that lost their land and then their dignity,"
she wrote. "The Fighting Irish's leprechaun is, well, a leprechaun."
. . . Speaking of leprechauns, two women driving
around the Joyce Center this August asked a Notre Dame employee
where the statue of Regis Philbin was. They said Philbin had mentioned
it on his show. The employee assured them that Regis probably
was joking; no such statue exists on campus. Yet. . . . If
Carl "Bud" Schmitt keeps his streak alive -- and he intends
to -- by the end of this football season he will have attended
every Notre Dame home football game the last 50 years. What makes
the record even more impressive is that he lives in East Peoria,
Illinois, more than 200 miles from South Bend. Schmitt, 80, says
he was raised Catholic and thinks he first became interested in
Notre Dame football because Benny Sheridan, a player for the Irish
in the 1930s, was from Havana, Illinois, not far from East Peoria.
Schmitt saw his first game in Notre Dame Stadium in 1950, and
it was not an auspicious occasion. The Irish lost 28-14 to Purdue,
ending an undefeated streak covering four entire seasons. Schmitt
named his son Ara after former coach Ara Parseghian. . . . BallPark
Pens makes pens out of wooden seats and benches removed
from historic ball parks. Though it doesn't offer Notre Dame Stadium
pens through its website (www.ballparkpens.com), the company says
it does have a supply of wooden bench material from the stadium
(with certificate of authenticity) and will turn it into a polished
wood writing instrument for $50 for the wood plus $35 for the
turning. Contact William Hartel, whartel123@aol.com. . . . Brother
Roger, the 90-year-old founder of the Christian ecumenical
Taize Community who won the 1996 Notre Dame Award, was stabbed
to death during a worship service in Burgundy in August. Witnesses
said a woman with a knife killed the monk during a prayer service
at the Taize Community, known worldwide for its promotion of peace.
The Notre Dame Award was established in 1992 in celebration of
the University's Sesquicentennial. It honors persons "within and
without the Catholic Church, citizens of every nation, whose religious
faith has quickened learning, whose learning has engendered deeds,
and whose deeds give witness to God's kingdom among us." At the
presentation ceremony honoring Brother Roger, Father Malloy remarked
that he was always delighted to meet a fellow "monk." . . . A
student tour guide was showing a troop of Boy Scouts
around campus this past summer when it began to storm. The guide,
carrying the only umbrella, ushered the group into a nearby building
and teased the scouts about not being prepared for the storm.
After a few minutes, the troop leader recommended continuing the
tour. The guide led the group back out into the downpour. When
she turned around to face them, she found each was wearing a rain
poncho, and several had umbrellas.
More seen and heard
(October 2005)
