WSM Fall 2009

Fall 2009

Puff Volcanic Ash Tracking Model

Click on an initial eruption height below to watch a predictive ash dispersion animation based on atmospheric conditions.

The Puff model is a volcanic ash tracking model developed at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It has been supported by University of Alaska Fairbanks and its Geophysical Institute, the Alaska Volcano Observatory, and the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center.

Click on the Initial eruption height:

(A new browser window will launch.)

Please note that these models are archival and, therefore, representational onlysince the … » More …

Fall 2009

An interview with WSU men’s basketball coach Ken Bone

May 27, 2009

Q: Now that you’ve been here for a few weeks, what are your impressions of the team and the guys who are here and are coming?

KB: I like the culture of the program right now. It’s a good group of kids. I’m very impressed how they did academically this spring. I was also excited with the enthusiasm they brought to the court during our workouts. There were 6 workouts from the time I came until they had to leave for summer break. I thought they did a nice job. They were coachable, they worked hard on … » More …

Fall 2009

WSU Presidents—An evening of honors

In late June nearly 200 people gathered to recognize Washington State University’s presidents emeriti Glenn Terrell (1967–1985), Sam Smith (1985–2000), and V. Lane Rawlins (2000–2007). The event kicked off a fundraising effort for need-based scholarships for students who might have to drop out of school because of tuition hikes and the poor economy.

Welcoming the crowd to the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, WSU President Elson S. Floyd said he seized the opportunity to get all the presidents together, “so that we could say hello, share stories, and have some photos taken together.”

“These were dedicated men,” said Rawlins of his fellow presidents. “During their tenure … » More …

Fall 2009

S.R. Martin Jr.—A life in the West

“Rudy” Martin started out with a plan to collect the history of his family from its Texas roots to his home in Washington. It was at first a project for himself and his children. But the American studies scholar yearned for context, color, and regional history. He had to build a more complete story. He sought out distant family members, dove into ancient county records, and culled through population research in his quest to understand how he and his family have been shaped by race, religion, and, most importantly, place.

His book, On the Move: A Black Family’s Western Saga, is not simply a memoir, … » More …

Fall 2009

Kary Lamb Lee—Telling stories

Husky purple isn’t normally in Kary Lamb Lee’s palette. The Pullman-based illustrator was born in Pullman, and her family’s ties to Washington State University go back 80 years.

Still, she was happy to pull out the purple to create the souvenir poster for the 2009 Windermere Cup, a premiere boating event in the Pacific Northwest and a signature event for the University of Washington.

In fact, Lee’s poster says UW crew like no other. While previous Windermere Cup posters have highlighted the grace of rowing, or the beauty of Montlake Cut, or even the storied history of the UW rowing program, Lee’s captures all of … » More …

Fall 2009

What I’ve Learned Since College: An interview with Maurice (Sandy) Pearson

Maurice Pearson was born in Chicago in 1904. When he was just a year old, his family moved west and settled in Ferndale on 40 acres near the Lummi Indian reservation. Everyone called him Sandy because of his red hair.

After high school, Pearson worked for three years on bridge projects in Ferndale and Everett until he felt he had enough money to pay for his first year at Washington State College. He was the only one of his six siblings to go on to college.

While in Pullman, Pearson first “bached” with friends in an apartment downtown over Johnny Gannon’s Pool Hall. Later, … » More …

Fall 2009

“Photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing…”

—Henri Cartier-Bresson

In 1948 20-year-old photographer Don Normark walked up a hill in Los Angeles looking for a good view. Instead he found Chávez Ravine, site of three ramshackle Mexican-American neighborhoods tucked into Elysian Park “like a poor man’s Shangri-La,” he thought. He spent much of the next year photographing this uniquely intact rural community. Accepted by the residents, he returned often with his camera to witness a life that, though limited by poverty, was lived fully, openly, and joyfully.

In 1950 the people received letters telling them that they must sell their homes to … » More …

Fall 2009

Washington potatoes

Judging by his occasional ribald references to the potato, Shakespeare considered the exotic tuber primarily as an aphrodisiac. Although the time of the potato’s introduction to Europe from the New World is not clear, recent scholarship has determined that the potato was grown in Spain as early as 1570. But the potato is an odd vegetable. Potatoes of that era were not uniformly oblong and smooth, but came in many colors and shapes, with odd protuberances that reminded some of, well, body parts. Although Indians had eaten them for thousands of years, Europeans were mystified, if not titillated.

But they got more adventurous. And the … » More …

Fall 2009

A new coach and a new game

Ken Bone knows his team is young, but the new Washington State University men’s basketball coach foresees a bright future and a different game.

Bone landed at WSU after four seasons as head coach of Portland State University, where he racked up two Big Sky Conference titles and back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances. Before PSU, Bone spent 12 seasons coaching at his alma mater Seattle Pacific University and three years as an assistant coach at the University of Washington.

Bone expresses confidence in his young team.

“I like the culture of the program right now. I’m very impressed with how the team did academically this … » More …

Fall 2009

A player to be reckoned with

On October 2, 1954, a day shy of his 21st birthday, fullback Carl Talmadge “Duke” Washington ’59 and his fellow Cougars played the University of Texas on a sweltering day at Memorial Stadium.

The result was a 40-14 Texas victory, a forgettable day in the annals of Cougar football; however, the day reaches far beyond the athletics history of Washington State and Texas.

Washington, the starting fullback for the Cougars, became the first African-American to play at Memorial Stadium. To the Texas players, however, Washington was not a player making history, but a player to be reckoned with.

“I’m sure it did make a difference … » More …