USD Magazine, Fall 1996

ALUMNI ~

UNDERGRADUATE ALUMNI Linn Bekins is pursuing a Ph.D. in composi– tion and rhetoric at the University of Utah while she works as a scientific consultant for pharmaceutical firms seeking FDA drug approval. Linn and her husband, Scott H arris, live in Salt Lake City, Utah. ... Thomas Clougherty graduated from the Massachusetts School of Law on May 31. He is a clerk in the law offices of Shyavitz & Shyavitz in H averhill, Mass.... Heather (Hackett) Hill and her husband, Brian, live near Seattle. They have a son, Max. ... After a brief stint in Washington state, Mary (Stullenwerk) Matlhesen and her husband, a lieutenant commander in the N avy, transferred to Virginia Beach, Va. Mary is a business analyst for American Management Systems. She writes: "Adapting to the East Coast weather has been difficult for me, especially when it kept snowing and snowing and snowing last February. I really miss San D iego's weather. Hopefully, we can both arrange transfers back to San Diego soon! " ... James McNichul has been self-employed as a certified public accountant in N ew Jersey for three years. H e and his wife, Judy, were married in October 1994. H e says he is looking forward to the next N ew York area alumni reunion.... Lally (Ruman) Sangster is an agent with the N ew York Life Insurance Co. She and her hus– band, Christopher Sangster '90, live in Fort Mill, S.C. Christopher is coordinator of psy– chiatric social work at Charter Pines H ospital.... Tadd Van Buxtel is a sales execu– tive in San Diego.... Wade Walker is an information scientist in Palo A lto, Calif. H e and his wife, Lara (Coak) Walker '90, live in San Jose. GRADUATE AND LAW SCHOOL ALUMNI Julia Fung Caudill (M.A.) and her husband, Michael, are the general managers of Concordia Resort on St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands.... N avy Lt. Cmdr. Brad Kyker (M.A.) returned to San Diego from a six– month deployment to the Persian Gulf aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Callaghan.

THE WRITE STUFF

any people come up with ideas for books, but few actually put pen to paper. Dawn Lighter '90

tion from research, her experiences as a family counselor and her classes at USD in the marriage, family and child counseling program. She admits the process of publishing the book was grueling. It took four years to research and write the book, find a publish– er and finish the editing process.Then, when the book hit the shelves in July 1995 - just when she naively thought her job was done - Lighter began six months of promotion, which included book signings throughout Southern California and interviews with radio stations across the country. During these interviews, Lighter says she had to field some surprisingly hostile calls from people who thought she was promot– ing permissiveness and others who were strong advocates of corporal punishment. "I thought if I had something that is more effective than corporal punishment," Lighter says, "then parents would gladly give up their wooden spoons." Now off the book circuit, Lighter relishes her job as a social worker with an Orange County, Calif., foster care agency. And in the back of her mind, she is turning around some ideas for her next book.

- (M.A.) Is one of the few. She was inspired to write her book on gende discipline during an Internship at a counseling center and battered women's shelter in Escondido, Calif. Ughter was working at the counseling center with frustrated parents who had exhausted all their Ideas concerning disci– pline. At the same time, she saw women at the shelter using alternative methods of dis– cipline because they were not allowed to hit their children. Lighter saw a need and a solution, so she decided to put together a short book about discipline alternatives. "If all you have Is a hammer, then all you see are nails," Lighter says. "If you are just using spanking as a way to cope, it can be hard on the kids and it teaches them aggressive behavior. When these children grow up, they are more likely to hit their spouses and their own kids." Ughter's book, Gentle Discipline, offers 50 altemative techniques to teach children good behavior. Lighter gleaned the informa-

1990 CLASS CHAIR: Estela Lopez

CLASS CORRESPONDENT: April (Flores) Goodjohn 926 Agate Street San Diego, CA 92 109

U S D

N E

M A G A Z

2&