Review

Winter 2010

Vol. XIII: "White Bed"

super-xx-man

White Bed
Super XX Man, 2010

Mining Neil Young’s “Harvest,” Eels’ “Electroshock Blues,” and a wealth of indie rockers, Super XX Man creates an alloy of fine instrumentation and catchy pop melodies to memorialize lead singer Scott Garred’s father on “White Bed.”

Garred ’95 sings lead vocals and plays several instruments, with drummer Adam Mack and bassist Daren Claymon, on deeply personal songs recounting Garred’s dad’s life and eventual battle with cancer. Reflecting on … » More …

Winter 2010

How to Implement Lean Manufacturing

lean-man

Lonnie Wilson ’69
McGraw -Hill Professional, 2009

The rise of Toyota in the 1980s showed manufacturers a fundamental change in methods, called “Lean Manufacturing.” After 20 years in management, Lonnie Wilson (’69, Chemical Engineering) now consults with companies on Lean Manufacturing methods.

Wilson’s How to Implement Lean Manufacturing offers manufacturers an engineer’s perspective on reducing waste and inefficiency through quantity control. He outlines the tools of Lean Manufacturing—particularly 100 percent efficiency and “Just In Time” … » More …

Winter 2010

An Election for the Ages: Rossi vs. Gregoire, 2004

election

Trova Heffernan
WSU Press, 2010

Every couple of years, we engage in the most basic of democratic activities: voting. Elections typically run smoothly and uneventfully. Sometimes they whip up a tornado of controversy, such as Washington’s whisker-thin gubernatorial election in 2004, following on the heels of Bush vs. Gore in 2000, with Florida’s hanging chads and legal wrangling.

Dino Rossi and Chris Gregoire faced off to be Washington’s next governor in 2004. After the ballot-counting … » More …

Fall 2010

Live & Kickin’

wanderers

The Wanderers

Live & Kickin’, 2010

Bill Murlin ‘63 and Carl Allen ’60 created The Wanderers soon after they met in September, 1959, on the cusp of the Great Folk Scare of the 1960s. With Al Hansen on bass, the singer-guitarists performed regularly around Pullman for three years. Murlin and Allen continued after graduation with warm, unadorned harmonies and an unflinching folk repertoire of tunes by the Kingston Trio, Bill Staines, Pete Seeger, and … » More …

Fall 2010

Jump Into Life

eclectic

Eclectic Approach

Jump into Life, 2008

Eclectic Approach, a funk-rock Seattle band that includes Jowed Hadeed ’06, Ryan Jander ‘06 and Tony Poston ’07, released its third studio album, “Jump Into Life,” in June.

Feel-good messages dominate the album. One track, “Change,” encourages love over drama, while another track pushes focusing on the ups rather than the downs, smiles over frowns. Eclectic Approach works hard but plays harder. Themes of living life more fully and … » More …

Fall 2010

Legacy of Angels

9781434383334_cover.indd

B.J. Scott ’68

Authorhouse.com, 2008

The issue of whether to review self-published books resurfaces here at WSM periodically, as it does in many other review venues. The argument against reviewing such books assumes that publication by a commercial publisher promises some standard of quality, whereas self-publication is relegated to the “vanity” press. However, a half hour of browsing in any bookstore should at least shed doubt on that assumption.

Of course there are many presses … » More …

Fall 2010

Getting Even: The Truth About Workplace Revenge and How to Stop It

getting-even-book-cover

Thomas A. Tripp and Robert J. Bies

Jossey-Bass, 2009

Most people who have worked in a group have probably faced a “getting even” situation. I remember a woman who asked colleagues in our shared office space not to wear perfume. A co-worker who felt personally affronted didn’t respond directly, but she soon began applying her fragrance at her desk.

For managers, or anyone working in an organization, the consequences of a workplace conflict can quickly … » More …

Fall 2010

We Are Not Alone

not-alone-cover

Dirk Schulze-Makuch and David Darling

Oneworld Publications, 2010

From Percival Lowell’s maps of Mars to 1938’s ill-fated “War of the Worlds” broadcast, claims of life in outer space have been tinged with whimsy and sensationalism. But in recent decades, more rigorous thinking and evidence-based science have been able to elbow their way into the discussion. As WSU astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch and author David Darling note, we now “have real data to work with.”

Using the … » More …

Spring 2010

Aimee Semple McPherson and the Resurrection of Christian America

semple

Matthew Avery Sutton

Harvard University Press, 2007

No figure in early twentieth-century Christianity gained as much fame, notoriety, and acclaim as Aimee Semple McPherson. “Sister” McPherson oversaw the rise of an expansive empire—church services, radio, stagecraft, community service, politics, and print media—devoted to spreading her brand of fundamentalism and Pentecostal Protestantism. McPherson herself inspired a massive following, due in part to her charisma and ability to use modern techniques to further her cause of “old-time … » More …

Spring 2010

Women’s Voices: The Campaign for Equal Rights in Washington

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Shanna Stevenson

WSU Press, 2009

This year marks the 100-year anniversary of women’s suffrage in Washington state. As the fifth state in the Union to allow women to vote, Washington’s landmark was more than a half-century in the making. In fact, in 1883, when Washington was a territory, woman did win the right to vote. Then, just five years later, the right was revoked and they had to campaign all over again.

In her latest … » More …