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Winter 2001

Rucks consistently responsive to WSU needs

“We knew it would help students who were struggling.” —Jim Ruck

Last spring alumnus Jim Ruck of Everett made Washington State University an offer it couldn’t refuse. The chemistry graduate visited his old department and asked for a “wish list” of things the department could use. He made similar requests of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN), Intercollegiate Athletics, and the WSU Libraries.

“In each case they found something they needed,” he says. “Given some choices, you look at what appeals to you and what would have the best value in your mind.”

Jim and his wife, Lee (née Neff), have made donations to … » More …

Winter 2001

Boosters of the Desert plan March luncheon

History professor and former department chair David Stratton will be the featured speaker at the 15th annual WSU Cougar Boosters of the Desert luncheon March 2 at the Desert Island Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. His title will be “Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer.” Festivities will begin at 11 a.m. The golf classic will be played at the Rancho Mirage Country Club March 3.

Last March, more than 140 attended the luncheon in Rancho Mirage. Astronaut John Fabian (’62 Mech. Engr.) and President V. Lane Rawlins were speakers. Seventy participated in the golf tournament.

The boosters planning committee for the 2002 … » More …

Winter 2001

Mountain men

The father-and-son team of Ken and Jeff Christianson of Burlington climbed 19,340-foot Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last May. By coincidence rather than plan, Jeff says, “we summited on my dad’s 49th birthday— May 14.”

The pair spent six nights on the mountain getting acclimated, then completed the climb in six days.

“It was more like a high-altitude trek, nothing technical,” Jeff says. They also climbed the third-highest peak on Mount Kenya, 16,355-foot Point Lenana.

During two years of climbing, Jeff has topped Mount Rainier (14,411 feet) twice—in 2000, when he also scaled Mount Baker and Mount Adams, and again last summer.

“We live in the … » More …

Winter 2001

Regents authorize new indoor practice facility

At its August 31 meeting, the Washington State University Board of Regents approved plans to move ahead on construction of a new indoor practice facility for varsity sports on the Pullman campus. Phase I construction on the $9.7 million project began in early October, and completion is expected by summer 2002. Site preparation and infrastructure were completed last spring between Bailey-Brayton Field and Ferdinand’s Creamery.

The facility will consist of an air-inflated fabric structure over playing surfaces to support practice for 14 of the 17 Cougar varsity sports. The primary surface will be a Mondo Track for track and field practice. A roll-out Magic … » More …

Winter 2001

Basketball—Pac-10 tourney on their minds

GETTING TO THE INAUGURAL post-season Pac-10 women’s basketball tournament is not a problem. All conference teams are invited to the March 1-4 tourney in Eugene, Oregon. The challenge is to succeed.

Last year, the Cougars were 11-17 overall and ninth in the league. With eight letter-winners gone, just about every position is wide open. “Questions will be answered by how hard the players compete,” coach Jenny Przekwas says as she embarks on her third campaign in Pullman. “We have some good experience returning and a really high desire to win.”

Guard Jessica Collins, back for a fifth season after a medical hardship year, leads the … » More …

Winter 2001

Basketball—Heading in the right direction

THE WASHINGTON State men’s basketball program isn’t where Paul Graham wants it to be. But the third-year coach has it headed in the right direction.

Last year the Cougars doubled their win total to 12. Can the Cougars build on that momentum? Can they improve their sixthplace finish in the Pac-10, WSU’s best showing in six years?

WSU defeated Oregon, swept Arizona State, and won back-to-back league games— against Oregon and Oregon State— for the first time in four years. WSU’s 10 victories on Friel Court were the most since 1995.

Experience will be the team’s strength. Six-foot-10 senior center J Locklier started all 28 … » More …

Winter 2001

Beginning again

…attaining any worthwhile goal is really a matter of taking one small step at a time.

GEOFF GAMBLE, former interim provost at Washington State University and now president of Montana State University, once told me studies show that most people will have three different careers in their lifetimes. During that conversation, he revealed that he was on career number two, since he’d worked in insurance before becoming an academic.

According to a variety of sources, people may change careers as many as seven times during their working life. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports 67 percent of American workers don’t like their jobs, and … » More …

Winter 2001

In search of a tougher honey bee

WASHINGTON STATE apple growers have a problem. The honey bees that pollinate their trees can be a little wimpy when it comes to temperature.

Apple growers prefer to have the king, or primary, blooms pollinated, because they produce the biggest apples. But all too often, the trees bloom during cool weather. And the resident honey bees, being mostly of Italian descent and therefore partial to Mediterranean weather, hole up when the temperature dips below 55 degrees F.

Other bees do better in cool weather but often have quirks of their own that limit their usefulness as pollinators.

So Steve Sheppard—associate professor of entomology at Washington … » More …

Winter 2001

Arts for all

“WOULDN’T you like to write music for someone famous like NSYNC?” a Clarkston High School student asked Greg Yasinitsky.

Tough crowd.

But Yasinitsky, a Washington State University music professor and jazz studies coordinator and a nationally recognized composer, arranger, and saxophonist, can handle it.

“We’re in the only field where we have to compete with dead people for jobs. In jazz, everyone can buy a John Coltrane CD. Why buy yours?” he says.

Yasinitsky reflected on the first of his three years as composer-in-residence at Clarkston High (CHS), sponsored by the Commission Project of New York. He received the project’s inaugural Washington state residency in … » More …