WSM Spring 2005

Spring 2005

Those wasted five gallons

As Americans, we freely water large, green lawns and take showers daily, using on average 100 gallons of water a day. We pay a fraction of a cent per gallon for water out of the tap, while a gallon of gasoline costs $2. Yet life cannot exist without water.

”Water is undervalued,” says Jim Clark (’75 B.S. Civil Engr.; ’76 M.S., Civil Engr.). “Whether it’s water in a stream or water going down a sewer, it’s all a valuable resource. I’d like people to think about that and consider that it is.”

Clark lectured a group of civil and environmental engineering faculty and students while … » More …

Spring 2005

Thomas hits paydirt with composting advice

Tamara Thomas is not afraid to get down and dirty helping clients solve earthy problems. She owns Terre-Source, a one-woman consulting firm in Mt. Vernon that specializes in composting.

Her clients include North Mason Fiber Company in Belfair, area governments in King and Snohomish counties, and Washington State University.

Thomas’s interest in composting dates back to the 1980s, when a Master Composter friend gave her a home composting system for her birthday. “I’ve been a home composter ever since, ” she says.

While pursuing a master’s degree (’02 Soil Chem.) at WSU, she worked with professor of crop and soil sciences Dave Bezdicek, who remembers … » More …

Spring 2005

Channel Swimmer

Pushing back the age barrier

The young swimmers at the YMCA pool in Wilton, Connecticut, call him “Grandpa.”

They even ask their seasoned coach, “Are you the oldest person in the world?”

No. But lean and fit George Brunstad is the oldest person ever to swim the English Channel.

On August 28, 2004, three days after his 70th birthday, Brunstad swam from Dover, England to Sangatte, France, a feat no one older than 67 had ever tried. But just swimming the channel wasn’t enough for the retired pilot from Ridegefield, Connecticut. He also raised more than $11,000 for a project to benefit children … » More …

Spring 2005

Meeting the Challenge

I stand atop the steel pole and take a few deep breaths. There is nothing to hold onto, and balance is key.

Then I jump.

The ropes catch me before I can even recover my breath.

I’ve done it. I’ve completed the Cougar Perch, the hardest part of the Challenge Course at Washington State University.

I agreed to navigate the Challenge Course and convinced my roommate, Bryn, to come along. But when we showed up and saw the huge structure behind the Student Recreation Center, I almost changed my mind. After staring at the ropes and tall metal poles for a few minutes, we forced … » More …

Spring 2005

Student engineers learn by doing

In Mechanical Systems Design, a course required for graduation, mechanical engineering students at Washington State University complete real projects for real companies. Last fall, project sponsors included Sterling Technology and Siltronic Corporation. Previous sponsors have included British Petroleum, the Grand Coulee Dam, Bechtel Corporation, and the U.S. Army. In the past 10 years, about 90 projects have been completed in the design clinic.

When Associate Professor Charles Pezeshki created the clinic, he decided the students would complete tasks for companies free of charge. But he soon found that no one took the class seriously in the absence of fees for services. Neither students, professors, nor … » More …

Spring 2005

Jennifer Lynn: Barreling out of the Chute

A couple wanders in to Portland’s White Horse Grill & Bar on a late fall evening as Jennifer Lynn’s alto soars into “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” The two look at the packed house, look at each other, and reel into country swing in progress just inside the door.

Despite the lack of a dance floor, Lynn and her band’s barreling-out-of-the-chute style soon have four women line-dancing to the Bill Monroe tune. The crimson and gray baseball caps of onlookers nod smartly in time. Lynn flashes her husband-rhythm guitarist Tim Cowan-her Missouri-wide smile and sings on with an air of pure enjoyment.

Jennifer Lynn Bryant ’03, … » More …

Spring 2005

The End of an Era

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Spring 2005

A Nuclear Icon

If you’ve ever driven State Road 24 from Othello to Yakima, you may have glanced across the Columbia as you neared the Vernita Bridge and noticed the B Reactor. There it sits across the river, stark, intriguing, and mysterious against the shrub-steppe Hanford Reservation. But that’s probably as close as you’re going to get. Public access is limited, possible only through special arrangement with the Department of Energy.

Tim Cowan (’00 Architecture) wants to change that.

Cowan adopted the B Reactor as his architectural thesis project and has never let go of his idea. Now an architect with the Portland firm Yost Grube Hall, Cowan … » More …

Spring 2005

Conference Brings Plateau Tribes and WSU a Few Steps Closer

To get here, most elders at Washington State University’s conference honoring the Plateau Tribes had to pass by places defined now only by what they used to be.

From Oregon and Washington, they drove along the Columbia, past dams where once abundant fish runs sustained them as “salmon people.”

From Idaho and Montana, they passed land that belonged to no one, by root-digging prairies and camas fields now gated and signed, “no trespassing.”

“As I traveled up here, I pointed out things along the river to my son,” said Wilfred Jim, a 67-year-old enrolled Yakama who lives in Warm Springs, Oregon . . . this … » More …

Spring 2005

Getting a Feel for Archaeology, Uncovering Washington's History

Within musket range of the rebuilt Fort Vancouver, Patrice Hruska wields a common garden trowel to unearth an uncommon piece of Pacific Northwest history.

The chunk of brick that the Washington State University Vancouver anthropology student has found is a remnant of the old powder magazine at the Hudson’s Bay Company’s main supply depot in the region.

Though the building measured just 20 by 20 feet, the 14,000 pounds of gunpowder packed within its walls helped the fur-trading company wield great power in the early 1800s.

“It’s really kind of fun to dig something up that hasn’t been seen for 150 years or so,” says … » More …