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.
(April 2005)
