WSM staff

Summer 2002

What does Pim-1 really do?

Although science has made much progress in understanding why cancer occurs—smoking, diet, environmental pollutants, viruses—the mechanisms of cancer are still elusive. Nancy Magnuson, of the School of Molecular Biosciences, has been studying an enigmatic gene called Pim-1 since 1988.

The questions I would most like to know the answers to are, “What is the normal function of the proto-oncogene called Pim-1, and how does Pim-1’s function contribute to the production of cancer?”

Although Pim-1 has long been known to be involved in cancer production, it has never been demonstrated how this occurs. Importantly, Pim-1 is only found in certain types of cells, and these are … » More …

Summer 2002

Future teachers of color

The gap between minority teachers—about 6 percent—and minority school children—about 24 percent—is widening in Washington. As part of a move to remedy this situation, 176 high school and community college students attended the College of Education’s Future Teachers of Color conference at Washington State University in mid-February.

The conference has become very popular statewide, says Johnny Jones, the college’s director of recruitment and retention and coordinator of the program. The program has a waiting list of 120 students.

Since the FTOC program was created at WSU in 1994, undergraduate enrollment in the college has increased from five to more than 100. Fifteen FTOC graduates are … » More …

Summer 2002

Olympic torchbearer

About 7 p.m. January 24, John Tarnai accepted the Olympic Torch and braved chilly winds along an eighth-mile leg of the Olympic Torch Relay in downtown Spokane. He said he was “honored and humbled” by the people who lined both sides of the street cheering and waving American flags. “A part of me said, ‘don’t trip.’ ”

More than 11,500 Torchbearers were selected to carry the Olympic flame from Atlanta to Salt Lake City, site of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The journey began December 4, 2001 and concluded with the February 8 lighting of the cauldron in Rice-Eccles Olympic Stadium. The torch passed through … » More …

Spring 2002

New graduates entering a different world

Washington State University’s newest graduates are entering “a world vastly different and more dangerous than it was before September 11,” a world that cries out for their leadership in government, in science, in business, in education, in the military.

This was the message U.S. Congressman and WSU alumnus George R. Nethercutt, Jr. delivered as commencement speaker December 15 at the University’s first fall graduation exercise.

“Your generation is now called on to face a fearsome worldwide threat of terrorism similar to that serious threat which faced your grandparents, as they were stunned by Pearl Harbor and World War II.”

Nethercutt (’67 English), a Spokane native, … » More …

Spring 2002

Maloney honored for contributions to wood materials engineering

Growing up in the mill town of Raymond, Washington, alumnus Thomas M. Maloney may have been destined to wind up in the wood products industry. In fact, he spent his entire professional career at Washington State University working with wood.

Now professor emeritus, Maloney was director of the Wood Materials Engineering Laboratory in the College of Engineering and Architecture from 1972 until 1996. Last summer, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the International Society of Wood Science and Technology for his “extraordinary career contributions to the wood science and technology profession.”

Earning a degree in industrial arts at Washington State in 1956, Maloney led … » More …

Spring 2002

Coe earns Gibson Award for volunteer service

Longtime Seattle veterinarian Stan Coe received the 2001 Weldon B. Gibson Distinguished Volunteer Award last fall at the Washington State University Foundation Recognition Dinner Gala in Pullman.

The annual award, established in 1981, recognizes sustained exemplary service and achievement on behalf of the WSU Foundation and the University.

“Stan has always been willing to go the extra mile in supporting anything required to promote WSU,” said James C. Kraft, Seattle veterinarian and 1996 recipient of the award. “Stan is an inspirational person, and his leadership in volunteerism is a great example for others.”

Coe was president of the Washington State University Alumni Association in 1984-85 … » More …

Spring 2002

Play-by-play announcer calls 500th football game

Alumnus Bob Curtis (’47 Speech Comm.) broadcast his 500th consecutive University of Idaho football game as “Voice of the Vandals” last October, when the UI entertained Louisiana-Lafayette in Martin Stadium. He also has been play-by-play announcer for Idaho basketball for more than 30 years.

Curtis got his start in sports broadcasting in his senior year at Washington State University, when he was employed to announce games in the Spokane region. Initially, he called a number of WSU and UI games before joining Idaho permanently.

His string of Vandal football broadcasts dates back to the fall of 1958. He has been named “Idaho Sportscaster of the … » More …

Spring 2002

Shanthi delivers 350-pound calf

The wait is over.

Shanthi, a 25-year old Asian elephant (Washington State Magazine, Nov. 2001), delivered a 325-pound male calf November 25, 2001 at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.

Janine Brown (’80 M.S., ’84 Ph.D. Animal Sci.) coordinated the artificial insemination of Shanthi 21 months earlier. A former graduate student of Jerry Reeves, professor of animal science at Washington State University, she is the senior endocrinologist at the Smithsonian Institution National Zoological Park.

Shanthi was given to the zoo in 1976 by the people of Sri Lanka, where she was orphaned as a baby. She delivered her first calf, Kumari, at the zoo in … » More …

Spring 2002

The Cougars win their place in the sun

Forget the adage, “Nice guys finish last.” Coach Mike Price and his Washington State football team are proof to the contrary. The Cougars overcame a 20-17 halftime deficit to defeat Purdue 33-27 December 31 in the Sun Bowl at El Paso. The crowd of 47,812 included more than 5,000 diehard Cougar fans.

WSU surprised nearly everyone, except possibly the Cougar players themselves and their coaches, after the media picked WSU to finish in the Pac-10 cellar. The Sun Bowl win improved the Cougars’ record to 10-2. Only the 1929 and 1997 teams have fared as well since football became a fall pastime in Pullman in … » More …

Spring 2002

Mendez named dad of the year

Washington State University sophomore Jennifer Mendez remembers a time when her father worked 12-hour days, five days a week providing for his family. Still, he found time over the past 20 years to serve as a volunteer coach of youth sports teams his daughters and others played on in Othello. In fact, he is still coaching.

As the result of Jennifer’s successful letter of nomination, Daniel G. Mendez was named 2001 WSU Dad of the Year during the Dad’s Weekend breakfast on the Pullman campus last November. A total of 24 dads were nominated for the honor. Other finalists included Bill Hyndman, Spokane, and Bill … » More …