Campus briefs

Dan Coonan: what's important to me

Before a crowd of approximately 50 people, Dan Coonan, director of athletics and recreation, said he knows for sure he's made several correct decisions in his life.

These decisions -- including his choices to attend Notre Dame, leaving the profession of law, proposing to his wife, having children and coming to Santa Clara -- were all tracked through notebooks he kept starting in college.

"What mattered to me most is in these notebooks," Coonan said.

Coonan's speech is part of the larger Discover luncheon speaker series, sponsored by the Bannan Institute, which aims to provide a space on campus to discuss personal experiences and values. The topic of Coonan's speech was "What matters to me and why?"

"The best days are my kids' birthdays," Coonan said. "I love nothing more than teaching them and watching them learn."

The athletics director also addressed a health scare he had last year. A tennis-ball size tumor was found in his abdomen. Coonan said doctors predicted there was a 95 percent chance it was cancerous.

"I didn't sleep that first night," he said. "I wandered into my kids' rooms. I thought, 'What is their life going to be like?' My first thoughts were with my kids."

Though the tumor was found to be benign, Coonan said it refocused his priorities and what matters to him.

"I do have a sense of how incredibly blessed I've been in my life," Coonan said to end his speech.

Future luncheon speakers include Kathy Kale, executive director for alumni relations and the alumni association, and Stephen Johnson, the director of character education of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

Refract House building a victory

As of publication, Team California was leading the pack at the 2009 US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon.

Earlier this week, the team won first place honors in the architecture and communications components, placing them in first place overall.

The competition officially began with the opening ceremonies on Oct. 8 and will continue through tomorrow with the announcement of the engineering component winner. The announcement of the lighting design component will be announced today.

The awards ceremony announcing the winner of Solar Decathlon 2009 will be held tomorrow at 8 a.m.

Previously, in 2007 the Santa Clara team placed third, stunning the competition.

Storm crashes power

Tuesday's storm caused many students to roll over and hit the snooze button -- or brave the weather and classes with a raised umbrella.

But it also crashed power lines in the South Bay and delayed flights for up to three hours at San Francisco International Airport.

The storm, which included heavy precipitation and near-hurricane force wind gusts, dropped rain all around the Bay Area.

The storm stemmed from the Western Pacific typhoon, Melor, which hit Japan last week.

In Santa Clara, wind gusts were expected to reach 50-65 mph.

Search begins for New Business Dean

A new link was posted to the main university Web site this week advertising the vacant dean position for the Leavey School of Business.

"The Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University seeks a dean who will lead the faculty, staff and students to a new level of global influence and recognition," the site said.

The site was developed to aid in the search for the new dean position, which was temporarily filled by Interim Dean Andrew Starbird after Barry Posner stepped down after 12 years.

The new site includes information about the position, information about the Search Committee and a profile on the business school.

From staff reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com.