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Summer 2024

WSM Winter 2004

Winter 2004

No longer a pipe dream

Dave Van Curen graduated from Kelso High School and followed his father to Longview Fibre Co. in 1965.

“In Kelso, during that time, everybody’s father worked in a mill,” says Van Curen, who spent most of his years at the paper plant as a pipe fitter. “When you grow up in a community where everybody works in a mill, you don’t become aware of the other possibilities.”

Now, at an age when many coworkers are gliding toward retirement, he is keenly aware of other possibilities. This year, he earned his bachelor’s degree in public affairs at Washington State University Vancouver, quit his job before earning … » More …

Winter 2004

Prisons offer few economic benefits to small towns

Over the past three decades, many of the nation’s most depressed rural communities have vied to host new prisons, hoping that economic benefits would follow.

The trend grew in the early 1990s when an average of three 500-bed prisons opened around the country each week. Small towns courted new correctional facilities, sometimes offering free land or discounted municipal services to tempt them, believing they would get returns in new jobs and money.

But now they may be thinking differently about prisons, thanks to research led by Washington State University sociologist Gregory Hooks.

“We found no evidence that prison expansion has stimulated economic growth,” Hooks says … » More …

Winter 2004

Livestock Advisors Celebrate 20 Years

While the nationally recognized Master Gardener Program celebrated its 30th anniversary last summer, another Washington State University Extension volunteer program observed its 20th year of lending good advice.

The early 1980s saw a growing a back-to-the-land movement in western Washington, says Mike Hackett (’76 M.S. An. Sci.), who at the time was a limited-resources farming agent in Snohomish County.

“But nobody was getting help,” he says. “So from 1980 to about 1982, it seemed like all I was doing was answering the phone or making farm visits. I was overwhelmed with questions.”

As it turned out, the answer to his problem sat in the office … » More …

Winter 2004

Guiding Student-Athletes to Academic Success

Balancing academic and athletic commitments in college can be a tough. On top of classes, labs, assignments, studying, and tests, student-athletes devote an enormous amount of time to conditioning and practice, plus travel and competing. Some 450 Washington State University athletes face the challenge every year.

“If you don’t establish priorities, you may be staring at the top of the mountain and wondering how to get there,” says Adam Hawkins, captain of the 2001 Cougar football team.

Hawkins cherishes his five years on the team and his degrees in management information systems and in marketing. “I couldn’t be happier with the toolbox and the personal … » More …

Winter 2004

Unwelcome Hitchhikers

More than 30 feet above the ground, Brent Olson steers a mechanical lift across the outstretched limbs of a bigleaf maple tree. He aims his binoculars toward the trunks of two towering cottonwoods beyond, scanning for the enemy.

“They could be anywhere in there,” Olson says.

Across the street in this Tukwila neighborhood just south of Seattle, a resident swishes jump shots into a driveway hoop, while another loads children into a minivan, perhaps for a quick trip to the Wendy’s restaurant a few blocks away.

The suburban scene hardly resembles a battlefield, but Olson (’03 Entomology, ’04 M.S. Environmental  Science) is on the front … » More …

Winter 2004

The Circle of Life and the Farmer's Daughters

Determined that, contrary to popular assumption, bread flour could indeed be grown in the Inland Northwest, a few years ago Fred Fleming ’73 and Karl Kupers ’71 started growing Terra, a new variety of hard red spring wheat developed by Washington State University wheat breeder Kim Kidwell. They named their business Columbia Plateau Producers and their flour Shepherd’s Grain.

Visualize how a small operation under the big skies of eastern Washington moves into the full-court press of deep-pocketed global business activity. Farmers talking to millers, bakers, and consumers. Convivial conversations that put loaves of bread on the table and spread the message about soil health … » More …

Winter 2004

The Cougars take Seattle

It’s one of those quintessential late-summer days in Seattle. Clear in the morning, warm, gathering clouds by late afternoon, the air heavy and muggy. The tourists are tired, making their way back to the hotel for an early dinner. It is Friday, rush hour, and the Cougar Marching Band, full 250 strong, is playing the fight song on the terrace in front of Westlake Center.

Who knows how many of the hundreds of people gathered for this late-afternoon pep rally are alums. But everyone’s a Cougar for now. Everyone’s smiling. The band is giving it everything, the cheerleaders are pumping the crowd and defying gravity, … » More …