As one of three first-place winners in the Perfect Proposal contest
sponsored by Korbel Champagne, Drew Mitchell '01
received a diamond engagement ring and help setting in motion
his dramatic marriage proposal to Denise MacDonald '02.
Mitchell, a Minnetonka, Minnesota, native and current resident
of White Plains, New York, returned to his hometown for a visit
in early February and took his girlfriend, MacDonald, from Minneapolis,
on what she thought was a chartered flight to a ski resort. A
few minutes into the flight, he directed her attention outside
the window to the frozen Bryant Lake below. Korbel had arranged
for 8-foot-tall rose-covered letters to be laid out on the snow
asking "Will You Marry Me?" The proposal was shown on The
Today Show two days before Valentine's Day. As of late February
the couple hadn't yet set their wedding date. . . . Marine
Colonel Jerome M. Lynes '80 commanded a battalion that
seized the International Airport near Kandahar, Afghanistan, and
defended 3,500 multinational coalition forces during Operation
Enduring Freedom, the military action that brought about the expulsion
of Taliban and Al Qaeda forces from Afghanistan. Lynes was awarded
the Bronze Star for his involvement in the operation and more
recently received his fifth Meritorious Service Medal. . . . Former
ND lacrosse star Tom Glatzel '01 is playing lacrosse
professionally for the Boston Cannons of Major League Lacrosse.
. . . Scott E. Moran '90, '97 J.D. serves as
international liaison for the Atlanta Silverbacks professional
men's soccer team. . . . Joel Maturi '67, former
athletic director at Miami University in Ohio, is the new athletic
director of the University of Minnesota. . . . State representative
Dan McElroy '70 was appointed director of the
state of Minnesota's finance department. One of his first tasks
is to manage a projected budget shortfall of up to $3 billion.
. . . Elizaveta "Liza" Kuznetsova '96, manager
of the Deloitte & Touche tax and legal department in Moscow,
was found stabbed to death in her apartment last November. The
28-year-old was engaged to Igor Krivoshekov '93M.A., '97J.D.
A memorial Mass was celebrated for her on campus last
December. Charged with the crime is a former elementary school
classmate of hers from her hometown of Perm, Russia. . . . Former
Secretary of Agriculture Richard E. Lyng '40
died February 1. He was 84. Credited with influencing global farm
policies and helping develop the nation's food stamp program,
he served as agriculture secretary during the second Reagan administration.
. . . Father James G. Karaffa, CSC, '74, '86M.A. was
killed by a giraffe last summer while hiking in a game park in
Kenya. There were no witnesses to the attack, but a news report
said an autopsy showed he had been struck three times, in the
chest and head, apparently by the hooves of a large animal. Investigators
discovered an unusually aggressive giraffe in the area that eluded
capture until it plunged over a cliff to its own death. According
to the report, human blood on the giraffe's hooves matched the
priest's. Father Karaffa was 50 and had been teaching canon law
and pastoral counseling at a college in Nairobi. . . . The Army
renamed a street at Fort Shafter in Honolulu "Hyland Lane" in
memory of Lt. Col. Stephen Neil Hyland Jr. '77, who
was killed on 9/11 in the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. He
once worked in a building on the street. At the end of the dedication
ceremony, the Army band played "Notre Dame, Our Mother." . . .
The bagpipes and drums of the Chicago Police Department's Emerald
Society played the "Notre Dame Victory March" as the recessional
at the memorial Mass for Mario "Motts" Tonelli '39 in
January. The ceremony was held at Chicago's Our Lady of Lourdes
Parish. Tonelli, 86, was a star fullback for the Irish in the
1930s and later survived World War II's Bataan Death March and
slave labor camps in Japan. Among those in attendance was friend
John Lukacs '99, who profiled him last year in
USA Today and again on an ESPN College Gameday
show that aired the day of last season's Notre Dame-USC game.
. . . According to a report in The New York Times, the
U.S. Justice Department was investigating Michael L. Dini
'89Ph.D., associate professor of biology at Texas Tech
University, to determine if he was discriminating against students
on the basis of religion. The charge stemmed from a message he
posted on his website requiring students to accept human evolution.
The message said students wanting a letter of recommendation from
him for postgraduate studies must "truthfully and forthrightly
affirm a scientific answer" to the question of how the human species
originated. The investigation was prompted by a complaint from
the Liberty Legal Institute, described as a group of Christian
lawyers. . . . Alfred J. "Jim" Lechner Jr. '72J.D. was
named to the Infractions Committee of the NCAA. He is one of two
public members of the committee. . . . Edmund J. Adams
'63J.D. of Cincinnati is the new vice chairman of the
Ohio Board of Regents, coordinating body for higher education
in the state. . . . Judson R. Shaver '79M.A., '84Ph.D.
was inaugurated as the first male president of Marymount Manhattan
College in New York City. . . . Stephen J. Brogan '77J.D.
was elected managing partner of the 1,800-lawyer firm
Jones Day. He becomes the seventh managing partner in the firm's
110-year history. . . . Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma promoted
Aloysius Hogan '87, '91J.D. to legislative counsel. .
. . Former All-American tight end Ken MacAfee '78,
now an oral surgeon, won the NCAA's Silver Anniversary Award,
which recognizes former student-athletes who have distinguished
themselves since their college athletics careers 25 years ago.
. . . Los Angeles Superior Court Judge R. Gary Klausner
'63, '64 was appointed judge of the U.S. District Court
for the Central District of California. . . . James F.
Flaherty III '79 was elected president, chief operating
officer and board member of Health Care Property Investors Inc.,
the nation's largest health-care real estate investment trust.
. . . Sears Roebuck named Paul Liska '77 to the
positions of executive vice president and president, Credit and
Financial Products. . . . Kevin J. O'Connor '89 was
sworn in as U.S. attorney for the district of Connecticut. . .
. Stephen P. Connelly '73 was named president
and chief operating officer of VIASYS Healthcare Inc., a global,
research-based medical technology company.
