Article

Spring 2006

Cell phones help students and parents stay close—Sometimes too close

Michael Johnston (’08 Bus. Admin.) switched his cell-phone plan in October. And the incentive wasn’t just the free, high-tech phone or the low text-messaging fees.

“I can get those mobile-to-mobile minutes with my family now,” says Johnston. “Now I don’t have to worry as much about the minutes I use with them.”

Johnston says he talks to either his mom or dad each day, for at least 15 to 20 minutes.

He’s not the only one. He’s part of the millennial generation for whom there is no typical, mandatory Sunday evening phone call home.

Now parents are getting the 9 a.m. Saturday call, the … » More …

Spring 2006

Cool, Soothing, Lucrative Mint

If you drive through Central Washington’s mint-growing country in mid-summer, you’re likely to be overwhelmed by the scent of mint rising like an exhalation—at once delightful and inescapable—from the surrounding fields. In fact, your senses might deceive you into believing that not much has changed in the last 30 years or so. But during that time Rod Croteau, professor at the Institute for Biological Chemistry at Washington State University, has been doing research that has helped make Washington mint plants produce more and better peppermint.

Peppermint plants produce menthol, which is a terpene, as are all the other compounds Croteau researches. Terpenes are chemicals put … » More …

Spring 2006

Bridging two cultures

A small school district radically retools to serve its Hispanic students. » More ...

Spring 2006

Ghost Towns of the Anasazi

For the past three decades, WSU archaeologists and their students have been searching the Southwest with tools ranging from trowels to computers to uncover the story of a vanished people. » More ...

Spring 2006

The Secrets of Sweet Oblivion

What happens in our brains when we go to sleep—and what happens to us if we don't sleep enough—are questions that keep this research team up at night. » More ...

Winter 2003

Boeing's Mike Bair & the 7E7: Dreamliner or paper airplane?

Wherever Boeing ends up building it, the 7E7 will be lighter, more fuel efficient, and more comfortable. It's up to Mike Bair '78 to get this new airplane off the ground. » More ...

Winter 2003

On call

Student firefighters at Washington State University have a long tradition of protecting their campus. » More ...

Winter 2003

Washington's marine highway

Washington state ferries appear in a million tourists' photos. But they are also a vital link in the state's transportation system. Mike Thorne '62 aims to keep them that way--in spite of budgetary woes. » More ...

Fall 2003

A search through space and time

In 1916, Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational waves in his general theory of relativity. However, due to technological limitations, the existence of gravitational waves has been inferred only through indirect observations. Scientists hope to change that with the LIGO facility at Hanford, Washington. » More ...

Fall 2003

Is growth anti-democratic?

"Growth is a costly and dangerous process," says John H. Bodley, professor of anthropology at Washington State University. » More ...