When Indiana Governor Frank O'Bannon collapsed and later died
from a stroke last September, Lieutenant Governor Joe
Kernan '68 ascended to the governor's post. Kernan, a
former mayor of South Bend, had previously announced that he would
not run to succeed O'Bannon, who was prevented from seeking another
term because of term limits. He later reconsidered and announced
he will seek the office in 2004. . . . Justice Department prosecutor
John Dion '68 is overseeing the investigation into whether
a member of the Bush administration leaked the identity of an
undercover CIA officer in retaliation for her husband's criticism
of the Iraq war. Dion heads the department's counterespionage
unit. . . . Steve Bartman '99 became a target
of intense scorn from many of his fellow Chicago Cubs fans after
he was identified as the person who tried to catch a foul fly
hit down the left field line in the eighth inning of Game 6 of
the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field. Replays
suggested that Cubs left-fielder Moises Alou may have had a play
on the ball, which Bartman, seated in the first row, reached up
for along with others in his section. The catch would have produced
the second out of the inning with the Cubs still in front 3-0.
A Cubs win would have clinched the team's first World Series appearance
since 1945. But the Florida Marlins rallied to take the game and
then the series before eventually beating the New York Yankees
in the World Series. . . . The Fort Wayne
(Indiana) News-Sentinel profiled Angela
Flood '89, a Fort Wayne native who serves as special
assistant to President Bush and deputy director of the White House
Office of Political Affairs. . . . Tom Hannigan '74
has been serving as lead attorney for the Boston Archdiocese as
it seeks to settle more than 500 lawsuits associated with the
priest sex-abuse scandal. . . . José Antonio Ocampo
'72 was appointed United Nations under-secretary-general
for economic and social affairs at the U.N. headquarters in New
York City. . . . Allen Hemberger '01 served as
color and lighting technical director on the films The Matrix
Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. . . . A Notre
Dame connection helped lead the Detroit Shock to last year's WNBA
title. Ruth Riley '01 scored a career-high 27
points to help the Shock win the deciding Game 3 of the league
finals and was named Finals Most Valuable Player. Detroit Coach
Bill Laimbeer '79 selected Riley first overall in a dispersal
draft after Riley's original team, the Miami Sol, folded. Riley
and Sheryl Swoopes are the only two women to have been voted finals
MVPs in both the college and pro basketball ranks. . . . Shannon
Boxx '99 was one of the bright spots on the United States'
disappointing World Cup women's soccer team, which finished third.
The midfielder was named a first-team all-star for the tournament.
She set a U.S. record by scoring in her first three international
games. . . . Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts
promoted Danica L. Petroshius '91 to chief of
his staff. Her predecessor in the post left to become campaign
manager for presidential candidate John Kerry. . . . Tom
McDermott '00J.D. was elected mayor of Hammond, Indiana,
near Chicago, becoming the first Democrat in 20 years to win the
office. He defeated the hand-picked successor of his father, Tom,
Sr., a Republican from California who won the office in 1983.
The elder McDermott was the first Republican to win the office
in 60 years. Father and son both were elected at the same age,
34. . . . The Wall Street Journal Online told
the story of John Crowley '92, who about five
years ago quit his job as a financial consultant and formed a
biotech company to search for a cure for Pompe disease, a rare,
fatal illness from which two of his three children suffer. He
later sold the company to a larger one, hoping it would speed
development of a treatment, but then the company decided to test
the drug on infants first to speed FDA approval. His children
had to wait months until special arrangements could be made for
their treatment with the experimental drug. According to the article,
posted in August, the older of the two affected children, daughter
Megan, 6, was showing marked improvement. . . . Anthony
Earley Jr. '71, '79J.D., '79M.S. won praise from many
quarters, including the Michigan governor's office, for how the
electrical utility he heads, DTE Energy (formerly Detroit Edison),
responded to the massive blackout that hit the East Coast and
Midwest last August. . . . Paul R. Charron '64
is chairman and chief executive officer of Liz Claiborne Inc.
. . . U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno '74 of
Miami has been put in charge of a long-running lawsuit against
the state of Florida for allowing farm and urban runoff to pollute
the Everglades. . . . The Notre Dame Club of Greater Orlando and
the N. Donald Diebel Jr., M.D. Good Samaritan
Fund announced their sponsorship of a bedroom dubbed "The Diebel
Room" at the new Ronald McDonald House in downtown Orlando. In
June 2002 Diebel '89 stopped on a Florida Interstate
at about 1 in the afternoon to try and help a newlywed couple
trapped in an overturned pickup. He and a firefighter were both
killed when a tractor-trailer lost control on the wet pavement
and struck them. Diebel's wife, Karen (McGuigan) Diebel
'89, and their three young children remained in their
car when he got out to help. The family was on its way to visit
Karen's parents in Georgia. Dr. Diebel, 35, practiced obstetrics
with his father, N. Donald Sr. '64, in Winter
Park, Florida. . . . The Dallas Morning News profiled
Salem Abraham '88 and his commodities investment
firm, located above a steak house in tiny Canadian, Texas, which
uses computer programs to buy and sell 5,000 futures contracts
every day. . . . Chicago magazine and other media have
been profiling Jim O'Connor '95, founder and
principal of a new college-prep middle school in the low-income
Austin neighborhood on the city's west side. . . . Augusto
Villalon '66 headed a team of conservation specialists
that restored the historic headquarters of Gota de Leche (Drop
of Milk) in Manila, the Philippines; the organization provides
free milk and medical care to indigent children. The restored
building received honorable mention in the 2003 United Nations
Educational, Scientific Organization (UNESCO) Asia-Pacific Heritage
Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation. . . . A feature in the
Denver Post recalled the participation of 1942 Irish
football captain George Murphy '43 in the Marines'
"Mosquito Bowl" game on Guadalcanal during World War II. Murphy
later died leading his platoon in the battle for Sugar Loaf Hill
on Okinawa.
(January 2004)
