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Spring 2024

WSM staff

Talk Back
Winter 2017

Talkback for Winter 2017

 

Olympics and art

The first letter in the [August] “Talkback” on the Olympics struck a special note for me. We live in San Gabriel, and prior to 1984, I’d submitted my name as a volunteer for the Olympics.

Imagine my surprise when I got an acceptance letter and was assigned to Santa Anita track…just 3 miles away! It was one of the most gratifying experiences of my life. I was an asker for the jumping and gated activities.

After I retired from the Pasadena city schools, I became a docent for the Huntington Library, Art Collection, and Botanical Gardens. I took kindergarten and … » More …

Class Notes
Fall 2017

Class notes

1940s

Charlotte Wirth (’48 Phys. Ed., ’55 MAT) and Marda McClenny (’74 Phys. Ed.) were inducted into the Washington State Girls Basketball Coaches’ Hall of Fame. McClenny coached the Walla Walla girls basketball team to three state tournaments and Wirth coached Walla Walla prior to Title IX. Wirth is also known for working to get equal practice time and equipment for the developing girls sports programs during the 1960s and 1970s.

1950s

Paul C. Anderson (’55, ’60 MA Poli. Sci.) taught political science at Yakima Valley College from 1961-94 and then retired to Port Townsend.  He was a Delta Chi and lettered in golf at … » More …

In Memoriam
Fall 2017

In memoriam

1930s

Catherine C. Hyslop (x’38 Ag., Alpha Gamma Delta), 100, May 4, 2017, Spokane.

1940s

Leila B. Kayler (x’40 Pharm.), 95, February 25, 2017, Odessa.

Elma Ryan-Bornander Anderson (’41 Speech and Hearing Sci.), 98, April 10, 2017, Seattle.

Robert Arleth Stier (’42 Gen. St.), 95, December 21, 2016, Olympia.

W. James Wride (’43 Phys. Sci., ’46 MS Chem. Eng.), 95, March 17, 2017, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Robert J. Beaubier (’46 Forest & Range Mgmt.), 99, September 17, 2016, Lewiston, Idaho.

Betty J. Sunofsky (’46 Home Econ.), 93, April 8, 2017, Long Beach, California.

Arthur R. MacKelvie (’47 Comm.), 94, April 10, 2017, Spokane Valley.

Eugene G. … » More …

Talk Back
Fall 2017

Talkback for Fall 2017

 

Even more Olympic connections

In “Cougs at the Olympics” in the Talkback section of our Fall ’16 issue, Don Brust asked the question regarding what other Cougs had the opportunity to go to the Olympic Games. Another response:

In 1978 the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) moved its headquarters from New York to Colorado Springs. At that time I was working there for CPAs Haskins & Sells. The USOC’s business manager/controller did not want to relocate, so I decided to apply and was lucky enough to be selected. The end result was that I was able to attend two Pan American Games (San Juan … » More …

Book - Briefly Noted
Fall 2017

Briefly noted

 

The Positive Leader: Five Leadership Strategies for Attaining Extraordinary Results

Howard Gauthier ’81

Sports Leadership Publishing Company: 2016

Through a series of parables, this book gives leadership strategies designed to build successful teams in the workplace, on the playing field, or in the boardroom. Gauthier is a former college basketball coach and athletic director, and is currently an associate professor of sports science at Idaho State University-Meridian.

 

Midwives and Mothers: Medicalization of Childbirth on a Guatemalan Plantation

Sheila Cosminsky ’64 MA

University of Texas Press: 2016

In this exploration of birth, illness, death, and survival on a Guatemalan sugar and coffee plantation, Cosminsky … » More …

Book - Briefly Noted
Summer 2017

Briefly noted

 

Atomic Geography: A Personal History of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation

Melvin R. Adams

WSU Press: 2016

One of the first environmental engineers at Hanford recalls his two decades of study of both the toxic soil and water at the nuclear site, and the wildlife and plants that thrive on the 586 square miles of central Washington desert. Adams helped determine the initial scope of the soil cleanup at Hanford, among other projects there. He shares his perspectives on leaking waste storage, the obsession with safety, and the paradoxical nature of a place that’s a sprawling wildlife refuge and one of the most complex environmental … » More …

Class Notes
Summer 2017

Class notes

1960s

Carol Lemon Allen (’61 English) and her husband Jim have both received Writers of the Year Award from the Arizona Game and Fish Department for their print and online publications Arizona Boating & Watersports/Western Outdoor Times.

Retired hotel developer and manager Larry Culver (’64 HBM) was honored with the WSU Alumni Achievement Award in recognition of his career as an innovative leader in the hospitality industry and his service to WSU. After managing hotels and restaurants throughout the United States, he helped found Innco, a developer and manager of hotels in the Midwest. He later founded InnVentures, a hotel development and management company with … » More …