President Bush’s chief speech writer during his second term will be former Wall Street Journal editorial-page writer William McGurn ‘80. . . . John Walker ’78 produced the Academy Award-winning animated feature The Incredibles. . . . Brett Galley ’97 was on the team of doctors at Loyola University Medical Center, west of Chicago, that cared for the world’s smallest surviving baby. The infant girl weighed 8.6 ounces at delivery last September. . . . The Illinois Republican Party elected Andrew McKenna ‘79 its new state chairman. His term will run until April 2006. . . . Former California Attorney General Dan Lungren ’68 was elected to Congress as a representative of Sacramento. He returns to the House after a 16-year absence. . . . Former Irish defensive end Gene Smith ’77, a member of the 1973 national championship team and an assistant coach on the 1977 title team, is the new athletic director at Ohio State. He had been in the same position at Arizona State. . . . Marine 1st Lieutenant Dustin Ferrell ’00 nearly died from injuries he suffered during the invasion of Iraq two years ago. As he described the experience in this magazine last spring, most of the bones in his face were broken, his jaw was shattered, and he had to undergo an emergency tracheotomy. He was awarded the Purple Heart, but last December the military took the medal back. Officials determined that he had been injured in a traffic accident not from enemy fire. The Humvee in which he was riding crashed into the truck it was following. . . . Attorney T.R. Paulding ’77 is representing Connecticut death row inmate Michael Ross, who has asked to be executed for raping and killing eight women in the 1980s. Paulding has been working against attempts by the state’s public defenders to stop the execution. Ross wrote an article for Notre Dame Magazine several years ago describing the chemical imbalance he says compelled his behavior, later controlled by medication. . . . Marine photographic specialist Ken Howard ‘68 won the grand prize in Popular Photography magazine’s 11th Annual International Picture Contest. The winning image was a shot of sea gulls taken from the surface of waters off the coast of South Africa. The contest received more than 10,000 entries worldwide. . . . Joseph Albright ‘60, ’62J.D. is the new chief justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. . . . After narrowly losing in the race for governor of Puerto Rico last fall, Pedro Rosselló ’66 is campaigning for president of the island’s Senate. Rosselló favors statehood for Puerto Rico. . . . Astronaut James D. Wetherbee ‘74 has retired from NASA to pursue other interests. He flew six times aboard the space shuttle and is the only U.S. astronaut to command five space flights. . . . San Jose State University appointed Tom Bowen ’83 director of athletics. . . . Brian Schultz ’98 of Naperville, Illinois, was killed by a drunk driver early on New Year’s morning. After a night of celebrating in Chicago, Schultz took a cab to a friend’s house, intending to get some sleep before heading home. About two blocks from the house, a drunk driver broadsided the cab, killing both Schultz and the cab driver. Schultz was 28. . . . Indianapolis news anchor Mike Ahern ‘60 signed off last December after 37 years behind the anchor desk at television station WISH. . . . John Michael ’94, ’98MBA, ’98J.D. was the radio voice of this year’s East Coast Hockey League All-Star Game. He is in his second season as play-by-play announcer for the Johnstown (Pennsylvania) Chiefs. . . . Joe Scott ‘90J.D., named Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2004 after guiding Air Force to a 22-7 record and the academy’s first appearance in the NCAA basketball tournament, has moved on to become head coach at Princeton University. . . . The Sacramento Bee profiled Jed York ‘03, 23-year-old son of San Francisco 49ers owner John York ’71 and nephew of former owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. ’68. . . . In spring 2001 three Notre Dame students found they could raise money for charity by selling online some of the books their roommates were throwing away. Today, Better World Books, the for-profit “social venture” founded by Jeff Kurtzman ’01, Chris Fuchs ’01 and Xavier Helgesen ’01 is running book drives on behalf of nonprofit literacy groups at more than 300 colleges and universities around the country, the South Bend Tribune reported. . . . Thomas Matzzie ’97 is Washington, D.C., director for the progressive lobbying group MoveOn.org. Earlier this year the group launched a campaign critical of congressmen supporting President Bush’s plans for Social Security. The targets included Chris Chocola, the Republican who represents the Indiana district home to Notre Dame. . . . Nanci Ferrick ‘94 was named district director of the Saint Louis (Missouri) County public defender’s office, becoming only the third person to hold the title since it was established. . . . Larry Augustin ‘84, founder of VA Linus (now VA Software), which set the record for the largest first-day gain ever by an IPO, was appointed CEO of Medsphere Systems Corporation, which markets an electronic health record system. . . . Last December Reverend Charles Bourke Motsett ’31 of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, celebrated the 70th anniversary of his ordination. The 96-year-old lives in retirement in Danville, Illinois. . . . Gary Cannon ’91 and his “little brother,” Marvin Giles, will be seen on billboards in South Bend celebrating the centennial of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. . . . The South Bend Tribune profiled Thomas Burzynski ’58, who had polio when he was 4 and went on to become regional director of the March of Dimes and later director of Hospice of Saint Joseph County. He is now suffering from post-polio syndrome. . . . The St. Paul Pioneer Press profiled Father Jan Michael Joncas ’78M.A., composer of a famous rendition of the 91st Psalm called "On Eagle’s Wings." He is battling a rare autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. He teaches theology at the University of Saint Thomas in Saint Paul. . . . The International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services presented Anthony Zipple ‘76, ’79M.S. the group’s John Beard Award for outstanding contributions to the field of psychosocial rehabilitation. . . . Donald De Leon ’99, a labor activist in California, won the 2004 Cardinal Bernardin New Leadership Award of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The award honors young Catholics who demonstrate leadership in fighting poverty and injustice in the United States. The Campaign for Human Development is a program of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.