The nature trails and woods adjacent to Saint Mary’s were closed for a week in winter to allow bow hunters in to hunt deer. The deer population around Saint Mary’s has been booming in recent years as the animals have been displaced from other nearby wooded areas, including the parcel north of Notre Dame that became the Warren Golf Course. Groups of deer can now be seen regularly on the Saint Mary’s campus, especially around dawn and twilight. With no natural predators in the area, they’ve also become aggressive. That’s created a personal safety issue on the women’s campus, which is also home to large number of retired nuns in their 80s and older. The chief executive for the group that manages the property for the Sisters of the Holy Cross said the bow hunters were recruited in hopes of reducing the estimated 50-60 member herd by 15. But with the trees bare of foliage and the hunt having missed the mating season — when deer are naturally distracted — the hunters had trouble cornering many of the animals. They managed to kill only eight. One other deer was found to have been killed illegally on the private property by a rifle. Another was struck and killed on the highway between Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame. The company would prefer to feed or inject the deer with a drug that would keep them from reproducing, but state regulations bar them from using it, the official of the management company said. That means there may have to be another deer season on the property. . . . As many as 30 squirrels are thought to have been living, uninvited, in Carroll Hall this past winter. They were getting in through unscreened vents leading from the second-floor bathrooms of the dorm on the west end of Saint Mary’s Lake. From there they made their way throughout the building, moving between walls and above ceilings. Carroll’s residents found the new lodgers amusing at first, feeding them moon pies and catching them by wearing hockey gloves or just barehanded. When someone discovered the squirrels were of the flying variety, they began launching them down the hall to see them float. One day junior Tom Silio put his foot in his ROTC army boot and found it full of shells from Reese’s Pieces. Apparently a squirrel had found a stash of the candy in another room and stored them in Silio’s boot for later munching. Once the bathroom vents were screened, animal control professionals were able to trap and evict the rodents. . . . Juan Mendez, director of the Law School’s Center for Civil & Human Rights and professor of law, has been elected president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. A part of the Organization of American States, the commission oversees the protection of human rights in all member states. . . . Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies is collecting oral histories and memorabilia from alumni and current students for an exhibit on the history of Latino students at Notre Dame. . . . A press release occasioned by the 50th anniversary of The Morris Inn in May included these facts about the inn: The structure is built on what was once the University’s pig farm. Conrad Hilton of Hilton hotels fame was an adviser during construction and suggested that air conditioning was unnecessary. When the Inn opened in 1952, the room rate was $6. Today it’s $98 for one person, $116 for two, but full breakfast in the dining room is included. . . . By now most Domers who watch TV know that President Josiah Bartlet, the commander-in-chief on the NBC series_ The West Wing_, is a Notre Dame alum. The series recently fleshed out his biography to include that he graduated summa cum laude with a degree in American studies. . . . On a related note, the South Bend Tribune earlier this year carried an article about a former South Bend resident who has suggested an eerie tie-in between series and reality. On the show, President Bartlet is said to be descended from Josiah Bartlett (two T’s), a real-life signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Hampshire. Later in life, the historical Bartlett moved to South Bend, where he established a bakery that grew into a grocery and general store. He also built a house that still stands on West Washington Street. Here’s the tie-in: The house was rented to Notre Dame students from 1963 to1970, a time frame that could include President Bartlet’s fictional years at Notre Dame. . . . Four students — all football players — face felony charges after a fellow student accused them of raping her at an off-campus residence in late March. All four indicated to news organizations that they were expelled following a Student Affairs hearing — which preceded the filing of criminal charges — determined that they had violated Notre Dame’s policy on sexual misconduct. The victim, who was acquainted with the players, told police she ran into them at a bar and agreed to accompany them to the home of one of the players. Justin Smith ‘01, former senior Donald Dykes and former sophomore Lorenzo Crawford were each charged with rape, conspiracy to commit rape and sexual battery. Crawford faces an additional charge of criminal deviate conduct. Former sophomore Abram Elam was charged with criminal deviate conduct, conspiracy to commit rape and sexual battery. Through their attorneys, the players said the sex was consensual. Crawford was a receiver on the team, the other three all played safety. Smith completed his eligibility last season. . . . For his graduate thesis, John Hooker videotaped himself standing in one spot on the roof of the art building, Riley Hall, for 24 hours. No food, no water, no sitting, no bathroom breaks. The only times he moved, other than shifting from foot to foot, were to change the cassette in a camcorder. The resulting videotape could be watched — in real time or on high-speed time-lapse — in the lobby of O’Shaughnessy Hall during April and May as part of the Snite Musuem’s annual senior and graduate art student thesis exhibit. In his artist’s statement posted outside the large black viewing tent, Hooker said he suffered back pain almost the entire time, and his feet swelled, forcing him to remove his shoes. Eventually he began hallucinating, seeing heads in trees and faces in the stones covering the flat roof. For a while there seemed to be a large cat-like creature lurking in one corner, and sometimes leaves appeared to catch fire. Writes the artist: “Themes in my work include euphoria and exhaustion, and the rationalization of disorientation in an increasingly comfortable world.”. . . Father E. William Beauchamp ‘75J.D., ’81M.Div., the No. 3 executive at Notre Dame until a few years ago, is leaving the Dome for the Holy Cross sister institution the University of Portland. Beauchamp served as executive vice president from1987 to 2000, at which point he became executive vice president emeritus and special assistant to the president. In Portland’s newly created post of senior vice president, he’ll be responsible for an array of operations along the lines of what he oversaw at Notre Dame: finance, business, human resources, campus construction. . . . A day after turning 85, Father Ted received his 150th honorary degree, a doctor of humane letters from the University of San Diego. It was a case of going back for seconds. San Diego awarded him an honorary doctor of laws in 1980. Hesburgh holds the record for most honorary degrees ever received. . . . Former Notre Dame defensive end Grant Irons is on a first-name basis with world-famous investor Warren Buffett. Irons told the South Bend Tribune that he met Buffett through Tom Mendoza, the benefactor of the Mendoza College of Business whom Irons calls his mentor. “The first time, [Buffett] called me in my dorm room. I was shocked,” he told the paper. “Since then we’ve talked once or twice a month about business, football, anything.” When Buffett spoke on campus in April, Irons picked him up at the airport. A two-time defensive captain of the Irish, Irons earned a bachelor’s degree in management information systems and business management. . . . The student-created website NDToday.com launched a free on-line auction area this spring similar to e-Bay but reserved for the campus community. With little real merchandise to browse during the site’s first few weeks of operation, some students opted to auction off their roommates and friends. Sophomore Diana Guillen put her Breen-Phillips Hall roommate and best friend up for sale in an ad titled “Curly-haired Irish girl” with accompanying photo. With less than an hour remaining in her auction, Curly had drawn 25 bids and her price was up to $152.50. Said Guillen: “We never really expected people to make any bids, but what can I say? We were hot items — ha!” She and her roommate planned to offer the winning bidders the choice of a lunch date at Reckers or a coffee date at Starbucks. Other flesh-and-blood merchandise posted included “Mrs. Jeff’s Mom” (“sexy woman, in good condition but slightly used, low mileage [religious reasons] and power windows.”) and the “Sherminator” (“A sophisticated sex robot sent back in time to change the future for one lucky lady”).
Notre Dame Magazine, Summer 2002