WSM staff

Winter 2002

Down Along the Sunset

In this slender volume of 29 poems Benner Cummings (’51 Speech & Hearing Sci.) pays homage to the romance of surfing. Based upon Cummings’s years as surfing and swimming coach at San Clemente High School, the poems celebrate the beauty, grace, daring, and freedom inherent in the pursuit of surfing—often in terms that equate surfers with mythological figures:

Like the playful sea god Triton,He arose from out of the sea.

While these verses might lack the polish of a Robinson Jeffers, they nevertheless ring with the authority of Cummings’s deeply felt response to the magic of riding the waves. Perhaps no other lines exemplify that … » More …

Summer 2002

The Restless Northwest

In The Restless Northwest, former Seattle Times science writer Hill Williams provides a fascinating overview of the geological processes that shaped the Northwest.

An attraction of the region is its varied terrain, from the volcanic Cascade mountain range to the flood-scoured scablands of eastern Washington and the eroded peaks of the northern Rockies. The vast differences, Williams notes, are the results of the collision of the old and the new. The western edge of Idaho was once the edge of ancient North America. As eons passed, a jumble of islands, minicontinents, and sediment piled up against the old continental edge, gradually extending it west to … » More …

Fall 2008

CUB’s new, too!

This fall, visitors and alumni returning to Pullman will see that campus has changed all around the stadium renovation. In fact, a far bigger project, the $86 million renovation of the Compton Union Building, is wrapping up. The ’60s and ’70s décor is gone, but the 1951 architectural shell remains. Now it holds a brighter, more open student union and a very large bookstore to boot.

The CUB was closed in 2006, and for two years students had to go elsewhere for food, entertainment, and to just hang out. With six floors and 235,000 square feet to renovate, the project involved rebuilding stairways, removing walls, … » More …

Summer 2002

The Dynamics of Change: A History of the Washington State Library

Who better to write about the Washington State Library than Maryan Reynolds, state librarian from 1951 to 1974? She also played an important role in procuring the State Library building constructed in 1959 on the Capitol grounds in Olympia. The library moved to Tumwater and was opened to the public January 2, 2002 in its new location.

The Dynamics of Change is an original and valuable history of the Washington State Library from its territorial beginnings in 1853 to the late 1990s. Reynolds provides a personal account of the library’s expansion since the 1940s, when she joined the staff.

The author chronicles the development of … » More …

Summer 2002

The Cayton Legacy: An African American Family

Set in Seattle, San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, The Cayton Legacy chronicles the evolution of a remarkable African American family. From the Civil War to the present, generations of the Horace and Susie Cayton family helped illuminate the black and white experience and the troubled course of race relations in the United States.

The Caytons sought to define themselves in relation to their family traditions and to society as a whole. In the process, the distinguished family attained financial success and influence, both regionally and nationally. Family members published newspapers, wrote books, and were elected to public office. They worked for civil and human … » More …

Fall 2002

Killing the messenger

Christiane Amanpour, chief international correspondent for CNN, received the 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award for Distinguished Achievements in Broadcasting May 23 from the Murrow School of Communication. Amanpour, who has been covering the Israel-Palestine conflict, flew in from London to present her talk, “Killing the Messenger.” Earlier in the day, Washington State University broke ground for a 24,000 square-foot addition to the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication. The facility is scheduled to be completed by fall 2003.

A few excerpts from Amanpour’s talk:

“In my opinion, what we say and how we report the truth defines not only the moment but us as people.”

… » More …

Fall 2002

Guardian angel comes to the rescue

When his home and family life was in turmoil, Kathy Cochran came to her nephew’s rescue. At the time Robert Cochran was 15, living in Kansas, and the court was about to place him in a foster home again. Kathy gave the court another option. She agreed to take him in, and the judge awarded her custody.

“Aunt Kathy … has been my best friend, my mom, and my guardian angel all at the same time,” Robert wrote in a letter nominating her for Washington State University 2002 Mom of the Year. She was selected from 24 candidates and recognized at the April 13 Mom’s … » More …

Fall 2002

Alex Kuo wins American Book Award

Alex Kuo’s Lipstick and Other Stories has won him the honor of the American Book Award. Kuo is Washington State University’s first writer-in-residence and chair of the Comparative American Cultures Program (CAC) and an English department faculty member. “The Peking Cowboy,” a story from the collection, appeared in the Spring 2002 Washington State Magazine.

Kuo teaches Asian American and Native American literatures in the CAC, cultures of the American West in American Studies, and creative writing in English. He has received a National Endowment for the Arts Fiction Fellowship and grants from the United Nations and the Idaho Commission for the Arts for background … » More …

Summer 2002

Frances Penrose Owen dies March 9 at 102

Former Washington State University regent Frances Penrose Owen died March 9, 2002 in Seattle. She was 102.

Governor Albert Rosellini appointed WSU’s first woman regent to the board in 1957. She served for 18 years and was twice elected president. In 1979, WSU’s new science and engineering library was named in her honor.

Eleven years later, when Mrs. Owen was presented with the Medal of Merit, the state’s highest award, WSU president emeritus Glenn Terrell said, “Frances is a rare combination of strength, gentleness, intelligence, and forcefulness.”

Mrs. Owen’s life was filled with service. She was elected to the Seattle School Board in 1945 and … » More …