Notre Dame

NOTRE DAME - More fascinating history as we continue to delve into Notre Dame's 170th anniversary. Did you know a devastating cholera epidemic almost wiped out the campus 12 years after the university first opened its doors? WSBT's Kelli Stopczynski reports how campus leaders kept the disease secret from students and the South Bend Community.

The cost of a Notre Dame education appears to be paying off. A new report from the Indianapolis Star newspaper shows ND grads are among the highest paid in the country. The report says students coming out of the university start off making an average salary of nearly $60,000. That number puts Notre Dame at Number 11 on the list of the top 20 highest paid undergraduate schools. Notre Dame is the only Indiana school to make the list.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - The University of Notre Dame is holding a Blue Mass to pray for police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and their families. University president Rev. John Jenkins will celebrate the Mass at 5:15 p.m. Thursday at the school's Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The public and police and fire departments are invited. The Blue Mass is named for the predominant color of uniforms worn by police officers and firefighters. The Mass was first celebrated at Notre Dame for the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Notre Dame is moving on up! After stuffing Stanford Saturday at the goal line to take a 20-13 overtime win and improve to 6-0, the Fighting Irish have climbed to No. 5 in both the Associated Press and coaches college football polls. In the AP poll, Alabama is number one followed by Oregon, Florida, Kansas State and Notre Dame. LSU, who beat previously No. 3 South Carolina, moved up three spots to 6 th . Ohio State climbed a position to 7 th despite a scare by IU. The Hoosiers rallied but fell short, losing to the Buckeyes Saturday night, 52-49.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) - The University of Notre Dame and five other universities have been chosen to share in $194 million for research supporting the U.S. semiconductor industry. Notre Dame and the other schools will lead microelectronics research centers under the new Semiconductor Technology Advanced Research Network program, or STARnet. The five other schools are the universities of Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, UCLA and the University of California, Berkeley. Each center will get about $30 million over five years from the Semiconductor Research Corporation and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) - The Atlanta Falcons have selected Notre Dame safety Zeke Motta with their second of three seventh-round picks. Motta was the second straight safety selected by Atlanta in the seventh round, following Central Florida's Kemal Ishmael one pick earlier. Each was a compensatory pick. It marked the second time in the draft the Falcons took players at the same position in consecutive picks. They opened the draft by picking cornerbacks Desmond Trufant and Robert Alford.

An Indiana native and Notre Dame graduate has taken command of the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Kevin Ford became the station's commander Sunday with the departure of three astronauts from the U.S., Russia and Japan who landed safely Monday in Kazakhstan. The 52-year-old Ford remains on the space station with two Russians and they are to be joined next month by astronauts from the U.S., Canada and Russia. Ford's crew arrived at the station on Oct. 25 and is scheduled to return to Earth in March.

55 years! That's how long the Oklahoma Sooners have been waiting to beat Notre Dame on the football field. Now, this football rivalry is heating up more than both teams can imagine. Notre Dame is ranked number 5, and Oklahoma is close behind at number 8. The city of Norman is really hoping Sooner fans will welcome Irish fans with southern hospitality. The University of Oklahoma president sent a letter to students urging them to welcome Notre Dame fans with respect, saying when he was here years back, he received a warm Notre Dame welcome, and if you ask most rival fans, when they come to this stadium, without a doubt, it's a friendly rivalry.

Notre Dame moved up two spots in the BCS standings after beating Oklahoma, and now stands at No. 3, behind Alabama and Kansas State. The Irish leap-frogged Oregon after sitting behind the Ducks last week. The lead could not be closer though, as Oregon trails Notre Dame by .001 in BCS Average. Notre Dame is No. 4 and both the human polls -- the Harris Interactive and USA Today Coaches Poll -- but is tied with Kansas State for No. 1 in the computers. Oregon is No. 2 in both human polls.

WSBT's Pete Byrne is in Dayton, Ohio following Notre Dame and IU. Here's the latest NCAA Tournament news::