WSM Spring 2004

Spring 2004

Navajo reservation veterinarian aids scrapie test at WSU

As a veterinarian for the Navajo Nation, Dr. Scott Bender’s practice spans more than 18 million acres in the Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.

His enormous workload includes treating everything from sheep, horses, cattle, goats, dogs, and cats to elk and cougars. Periodically, he even gets to clean the teeth of a 19-year-old bear at the Navajo Nation Zoo and Botanical Park, Window Rock, Arizona, the only tribal-run zoo in the United States.

“There are 250,000 people who live on the reservation and only four vets to cover them,” he says. “It can be a little daunting at times.”

That’s … » More …

Spring 2004

Crossing the line

Snoqualmie singer-songwriter Garr Lange released a new CD last fall. Crossing the Line, recorded at Rainstorm Studios, Bellevue, and released by Sentry Records, includes a 12-song mix of the blues, country, and rock.

Lange (’79 English) tested his skills for writing music and plays in New York City after graduating from Washington State University. One play, The Water Table, was produced by the Renegade Theater Co., Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1989. On the music front, he formed The Big Rig band, Boston musicians with a bent for country-rock-rhythm and blues. He also had a short stay in Nashville during the mid-90s. In both cities, he … » More …

Spring 2004

Bridges, docks, and dams

Some of General Construction’s best work is under water

Ron Morford was only 19 when he built his first house. A quarter century later, he’s still in construction-only on a much larger scale. The president and district manager of General Construction Co. oversees projects in Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska. Annual contracts total between $150 million and $200 million, making it one of the largest construction companies in Washington. The payroll includes 130 salaried staff, plus 400 to 500 laborers and craftsmen.

According to Morford, marine and heavy civil construction accounts for the bulk of the business. He lives on Bainbridge Island, not far from … » More …

Spring 2004

Seeing the floor, making the plays: Basketball's Marcus Moore

Very little ever got in Marcus Moore’s way.

Faced with an obstacle, Washington State University’s senior point guard could usually flash that Crest-friendly smile or whip around it with an ankle-buckling crossover dribble.

But last summer nothing, not the movie star smile, not the Mach 3 quickness, could get Moore where he wanted to be-into the first round of the National Basketball Association draft.

So after taking trips to predraft camps in Chicago and Portsmouth, Virginia, and not being assured a spot in the first round–guaranteeing a contract–Moore thought it over. He talked to his family in Inglewood, California, and decided to return for his … » More …

Spring 2004

Long-Hitting Kim Welch Puts WSU on the Golf Map

Kim Welch has a surprising knack for hitting a golf ball long and straight. The rest of her game isn’t bad either. She finished fifth in the 2003 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, two strokes back of the winner in a field of 140 golfers. And she was only a sophomore in her first national tournament.

Welch’s ability to distance the ball from the tee seems to defy the law of physics. She carries 135 pounds on a lean five-foot-six frame. Not the imposing physical stature of a power hitter. Still she can drive a ball 300 yards on occasion. Her average is 290 yards, according … » More …

Spring 2004

Regents Scholars Reception: Young Scholars, Good Cheer

Seth Lake of Olympia mimicked the fetal position he reverted to the day his roommate’s family met him for the first time, shivering under a hat, coat, and blanket on the couch, sicker than a dog.

A hungry John Leraas, also of Olympia, overspent his dining plan the first half of the semester. Limited to eating on $6 a day, he bought a rice cooker and skillet to supplement his meals. Mariah Maki of Washington State University Admissions, seated next to Leraas, passed him her plate of hors d’oeuvres.

Amy Gordon of tiny Lacrosse radiated the bigheartedness and positive spirits of someone raised in a … » More …

Spring 2004

3 Degrees of Cool

Works from the Virginia and Bagley Wright Collection

A new exhibition from the collection of Virginia and Bagley Wright, curated by Chris Bruce, director of the Museum of Art at Washington State University, takes the definition of cool to new heights. Viewers “get into the groove” by moving through three conceptual spaces with a mix of hypnotic African and Oceanic masks, haunting minimalist paintings, and electric abstract acrylics.

Virginia and Bagley Wright, international art collectors who live in Seattle, lived in New York during the 1950s and bought works directly from artists such as Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg. The Wrights now have one of … » More …

Spring 2004

Grandfather Extraordinaire

Jordi Kimes had been a teacher before becoming a stay home mom. She dreamed of returning to Washington State University and earning a doctorate in pharmacy. But she didn’t want to put her daughters, ages 7, 3, and 1, in daycare. So she called her parents. Would they be willing to watch the girls while she went to school, and her husband, Ken, worked? Without hesitation, her parents said yes.

“I couldn’t believe it,” the WSU graduate (’94 Pharmacy) said.

In the summer of 2002, she and her family moved from Waterville, Washington, to Pullman, where she had been accepted in the College of Pharmacy. … » More …

Spring 2004

Solving Boeing's Problems

The Boeing Company has a problem.

Lindsey Caton, a Boeing vision sensors and optics specialist, has taken apart yet another $3,500 camera that he has been trying to use to document the company’s manufacturing processes. Out of it oozes Boelube, the fancy lubricant that Boeing uses for drilling airplane parts. It does not belong in the camera. In fact, the camera is ruined.

Later, Caton describes the problem via video conference to a small group of students at Washington State University. As part of the Boeing Scholars Program, the students are developing a new protective enclosure for the camera.

Started in 1999, the … » More …

Spring 2004

Author Sherman Alexie receives Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award

Sherman Alexie likes to remind people that attending Washington State University presented him with a real challenge. As a Spokane Indian, a liberal, and a writer, he did not fit the prevalent mold of students attending WSU in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Regardless, on October 10, 2003, WSU president V. Lane Rawlins presented Alexie with the University’s highest alumni honor, the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Since leaving WSU in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies, Alexie has published nine books of fiction and poetry and has written and directed two award-winning movies. Widely popular, his short stories appear in the nation’s … » More …