WSM staff

Fall 2005

A life of science and beauty: 1953–2005

We were all stunned and saddened by the death, from an aneurysm, of Vincent Franceschi. The director of both the School of Biological Sciences and the Electron Microscopy Center, Franceschi built a rich and diverse career in his 52 years. As a plant cell biologist, he worked on structure-function relationships in plants. Microscopy was a major tool in his work, and the beauty that he recorded of the microscopic plant world will remind us of his skill and perception.

Click here for more on Franceschi.

Click here for an article by Franceschi about plant microscopyin … » More …

Summer 2005

Alumni Achievement Awards

Last winter the Alumni Association honored sports greats James Donaldson (’79 Soc.) and Craig Ehlo (x ’86 Soc. Sci.) with Alumni Achievement Awards for their contributions to Washington State University and professional basketball, as well as service to their respective communities.

Donaldson, who was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics after graduating in 1979, enjoyed a 14-year National Basketball Association career and was a 1988 NBA All-Star. He now lives in Seattle and is owner of Donaldson Physical Therapy & Fitness and the Donaldson Clinic, which he first opened in 1990 with the idea that he would go into physical therapy work at the end of … » More …

Summer 2005

Savor the Flavor

They started with soups and creative napkin folding, and spread out into a weekend of cooking and wine at the Savor the Flavor culinary show in Kennewick this March. The two-day fundraiser for the small, privately-run nonprofit Oasis School has become a major draw for eastern Washington, attracting several thousand attendees.

This year the event at the Three Rivers Convention Center featured well-known northwest chefs Mike Davis of 26 Brix in Walla Walla, who demonstrated how to make beignets, and Tom Douglas of Seattle’s Dahlia Lounge, who made barbeque pork butt tacos and goat cheese fondue.

A third of the Oasis students have parents or … » More …

Summer 2005

A Nobel laureate promotes a “new Africa”

Wole Soyinka, a playwright, poet, novelist, and political activist who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, spent a couple of days in February on the Pullman campus.

His visit was in conjunction with the Theater Arts Program’s presentation of his play Death and the King’s Horseman, which examines differences between Western and African cultures. At the core of Soyinka’s work is the idea of a “new Africa,” wherein native myth is joined with contemporary reality and ancient tradition melds with current technology, leading Africa out of its colonial past.

Spring 2005

Alumni Achievement Awards

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Fall 2009

Letters in the Fall 2009 issue

Living large

I very much enjoyed the article “Living Large” in your Summer 2009 edition. I am always impressed by the dedication of the large animal veterinarians. My hope is that WSU continues to turn out excellent large animal vets and continues to be able to recruit students into the field.

I do have one nitpicky point about the story. The story indicates that Tom Kammerzell’s property was built in the 1930s by his grandparents. The barn shown on page 25 was built in 1912 or 1913 by my great-grandfather Mike Kroll. Tom’s grandparents Delbert and Miriam Kammerzell purchased the property in the late … » More …

Fall 2007

Home-court advantage: Shelley Patterson

When Shelley Patterson graduated from Washington State University in 1984, she thought her basketball career was over. A guard for the Cougar women’s basketball team, she was among the state’s all-time leaders in assists and steals. But in 1984 there wasn’t much work for a woman in basketball. So she started a career in computers. That didn’t last long. In her free time she volunteered with a team at a local community college. That, and her persistence in applying for open positions with college teams, led to her first professional job in NCAA basketball in the mid-1980s. Since then, her coaching career has taken her … » More …

Winter 2007

What I've Learned Since College: An interview with community leader Mary Alyce Burleigh

Two years ago Mary Alyce Burleigh bought herself a bright yellow scooter. The former Kirkland mayor and current city council member uses it to zip around town to meetings and local fundraisers. She finds she is as busy in her retirement as she was during her 29 years as a teacher for Redmond High School. Recently she parked her scooter and perched on a city park bench in downtown Kirkland to talk with Hannelore Sudermann about life, civic involvement, and getting 80 miles to the gallon.

My goal was always to be a high school history teacher. I really took a broad range of courses … » More …

Summer 2009

Letters in the Summer 2009 issue

Celebrated lentils

We at the Pullman Chamber of Commerce were so delighted to see your article in the most recent issue, titled “Local, Delicious, Neglected,” about our lovable legume: the lentil. We sincerely agree that lentils are local and delicious and having worked at the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council before starting at the Chamber, I can indeed verify that all information you printed about the agronomic qualities is accurate and the recipes you printed are indeed delicious.

However, as the National Lentil Festival Director, I was disappointed to see the word “neglected” applied to lentils which have an entire festival devoted to … » More …

Spring 2009

Letters in the Spring 2009 issue

A time machine

My hat is off to your staff for what should be an award-winning issue. It was like a time machine for me. I spent many hours in the Conner Museum as an undergrad, marveling at the enormous moose and large black wolf. My high school friends and I explored Point Defiance Park in Tacoma every time our basketball team made it to the state tournament. Your article, “Rethinking the fundamentals,” is a classic. I can’t agree more that we need to rethink the way we farm. I’m glad you had as much fun with Shepherd’s Grains’ co-owner Fred Fleming as I … » More …