Then, one day in the spring of 1981, things got personal.
386. In our day, Dillon Hall fancied itself the Animal House of all the dorms. This cartoon inspired a few mock threats to me, all in fun. While most of the campus enjoyed the cartoon for blatantly stating in print what everyone felt, I believe Dillon appreciated the affirmation of their status as campus bad boys. Meanwhile, a review of Duke Tumatoe and The All-Star Frogs appeared on The Observer’s features page.
387. As I’ve noted, I limited myself to one fencing cartoon a year even though I was on the team . . . and this was the season I won my first monogram. This cartoon features saber captain Greg Armi ’81 (now a dentist) and the legendary, late Mike DeCicco ’49, Notre Dame’s winningest coach. DeCicco’s program allowed schlubs like me to work hard and earn a monogram. For that opportunity and the lessons it taught me, I will be forever thankful.
388. This was the second of three cartoons playing with the format of cartoons. It, too, bombed. The Observer was still reporting about the arrest of eight St. Mary’s students at Corby’s for underage drinking. They were strip-searched.
389. I was once at a dorm Mass where the fervent guitarist was breakings strings. A front-page Observer photo featured the student production of Pippin. It always impressed me how Notre Dame students created their own entertainment. With the theatre department being a bit snooty and the football program featuring future NFL stars, ND students simply put on their own plays and ran their own full-dress football league. I suppose it was one advantage of going to school in the middle of what some people called nowhere.
390. A major story in the Observer reported the administration confirming that the non-alignment of the Pasquerilla dorms was NOT a mistake.
See the first five classic strips. Check back monthly for more classic Molarity strips. Molarity Redux, the updated, continuing adventures of Jim Mole and friends, also is posted monthly. For those new strips, check out the cartoon archives.