November 2002			The Days of the Dolphins Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad Bear? Annual Report 2001-2002 Annual Donor Report 2001-2002	E Line Sports Alumni Passages Books From the Field Classes First-Person Huskiana
		1980s Shannon E. Griffiths, MJ’80, of Frederick, Maryland, retired in July after more than sixteen years at Hood College, where she was an associate professor of sociology. She received emerita status at Hood’s commencement in the spring. Her research spans the social sciences, including criminology, the sociology of law, and medical sociology. Griffiths also serves as a consultant to police departments, prisons, and community-action organizations throughout the country on such topics as diversity training for police officers, police profiling, prison architecture, prison health-care, community ethnic relations, violence and suicide, and culturally competent health-care. Griffiths has taught at Hood College since 1986. She was awarded the college’s Outstanding Academic Adviser Award in 1987 and the Excellence in Teaching Award in 1988. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and her doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania. Griffiths is currently working on an anthology about the sociology of law. William H. Mitchell, MBA’80, of Hanover, New Hampshire, is the chief financial officer of MaxWorldwide, of New York City. He came to MaxWorldwide from Tally Systems Corp., where he also served as CFO. Mitchell started his career as a certified public accountant with Price Waterhouse. His prior positions include senior vice president of finance for TKR Cable, senior vice president and chief operating officer in the Atlantic Division of Tele-Communications, and executive vice president and chief financial officer of Bigfoot Interactive. Gerry Weiser, BA’80, is the vice president of commercial banking for Citizens Independent Bank in Hopkins, Minnesota. Weiser has more than twenty years of experience in accounting, finance, and banking. Prior to joining Citizens, he was assistant vice president in the commercial banking area of U.S. Bank. He and his family live in Plymouth, Minnesota. Maxwell G. Whiting, EDD’80, of Winthrop, Massachusetts, recently received professor emeritus status from Middlesex Community College (MCC). Whiting served as professor of social sciences and human services for more than sixteen years at MCC’s Bedford and Lowell campuses. During that time, he taught a variety of classes, advised student clubs, served on many academic committees, and acted as project director for Enhancing Educational Opportunities in Ethiopia, a multiyear international initiative in support of Addis Ababa Commercial College. Before teaching at MCC, Whiting served as dean of students and campus life at Roxbury Community College and as a faculty member at Northeastern. Despite having retired in June 2001, he plans to continue teaching at MCC. He also owns a management training and consulting company, Whiting Associates, and still finds time to play bass with his group Musicmakers on Friday evenings at Winthrop’s Center Bistro. Carl Twomey, E’83, is a manager at Raytheon Company, where he got his start as a co-op student. In May, he received an MBA from Babson College. He also reports a German record label recently released a vinyl record of songs by his band the Mighty Ions, with which he played during his Northeastern days. He lives in Ashland, Massachusetts, with his wife, Janet, and children Geoffrey and Katherine. In 1997, Twomey received a kidney transplant from his sister, Jean. Contact him at <cjtwomey@attbi.com>. Mike DiFranza, E’84, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, founded Captivate Network in 1997; the company is now the largest elevator-media provider in North America. The company, which has more than $100 million in funding, has installed a network of 4,000 flat-panel television screens in elevators in more than 375 office buildings. DiFranza was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in both 2001 and 2002, and was recognized as one of the Forward 40 by Boston Business Forward. A graduate of Harvard Business School, DiFranza has appeared on CNN, CBS Marketwatch, and MSNBC’s The News with Brian Williams. Lisa Madeleine Cukier, AS’86, of Brookline, Massachusetts, is an associate with the Boston law firm Burns & Levinson, working in the probate litigation group, where she concentrates on guardianship, mental health law, and elder law. Prior to joining the firm, she served as an assistant legal counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health, where she was the metro Boston area legal counsel. She has also been assistant general counsel for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation, serving as legal counsel for the western Massachusetts region. Cukier is a member of the Massachusetts bar and is admitted to practice before the State Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First District. She is the vice president of the Massachusetts Family and Probate American Inn of Court. Pamela Childers, MA’88, of Signal Mountain, Tennessee, announces the publication of Roadsongs: A Journey into the Life and Mindscapes of an American Artist, which she edited. The coffee-table book offers thirty etchings of the American landscape with accompanying lyrics by artist-poet Malcolm G. Childers. For information, visit <www.roadsongs.com> or e-mail <write2art@aol.com>. Scott Heslink, E’88, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has joined Bank of America as senior vice president for customer satisfaction and loyalty, after spending fourteen years in high technology, most recently at Hewlett-Packard. E-mail him at <scott.heslink@bankofamerica.com>. Christopher Kochenbach, CS’89, of Brookline, Massachusetts, married Margaret (Peggy) O’Shea on July 6 in Oyster Bay, New York. He describes the reception, which took place at a classic Old Westbury mansion, as “a blast.” The newlyweds honeymooned in Hawaii and at Disneyland. Chris works as a senior software engineer. Peggy, a graduate of Texas Christian University who earned a master’s degree at Boston College, is a managing supervisor at Fleishman-Hillard International Communications in Boston. E-mail Chris at <ckochenbach@yahoo.com>. Marcelo A. Kopcow, CJ’89, MJ’90, was appointed a municipal judge for the city of Greeley, Colorado, where he lives. He predominantly handles criminal cases.