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WSM Winter 2011

Winter 2011

Celebrating Washington State Magazine’s 10th anniversary

A reception on October 14, 2011 recognized the many alumni, faculty, and staff who have made the magazine possible.

In the Terrell Library atrium, those gathered heard a canjo performance from John Elwood ’01, drank wine donated by Cougars, ate excellent cheeses from the WSU Creamery, and heard from editor Tim Steury, the creamery’s Russ Salvadalena, former Hilltopics editor Pat Caraher, and former PowWow (WSU’s past alumni magazine) editor Dick Fry. Guests also sampled WA 5 apples, a new cultivar developed by WSU researchers and graciously donated by the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission.

Special kudos go to wineries and the Washington Tree Fruit Research … » More …

Winter 2011

Sabermetrics as told by The Simpsons

Between the book Moneyball and the movie “Moneyball,” there was the 2010 Simpsons episode “MoneyBART,” which introduced 6 million or so people to the artist Banksy, who wrote the opening sequence. Less celebrated is the fact that the show introduced many people to the concept of sabermetrics.

A viewer’s guide to the episode can go a long way in explaining some of the fundamental notions of baseball’s most exuberantly rational side.

First, the quick plot summary:

Lisa Simpson needs an extracurricular … » More …

Winter 2011

Five ways to focus your attention

If attention were a coin, it would be slipping through our fingers countless times a day. Here are a few simple tips to help you keep a grip.

Do one thing at a time. Such advice is easy to ignore when you just want to check your phone while someone is talking to you. But it’s nearly impossible to pay attention to two things at once. “Even with pretty easy tasks” says Lisa Fournier, an associate professor of psychology at Washington State University whose research focuses on selective attention, it can still be hard to successfully divide your mental faculties. And before you brag about … » More …

Winter 2011

Video: Smart Apartment Research

On-going research at Washington State University is exploring how homes can be built or retrofitted to make living a little bit easier. With the work of AI Lab Manager James Kusznir, doctoral student Aaron Crandall and other faculty and students, WSU’s Smart Apartment is exploring the practical applications of how to help elderly people stay in their homes, and to create more efficient living spaces.

From WSU News; video by Matt Haugen

 

Read more

When Memory Fades  (Winter 2011)

Using technology to address the challenges of aging … » More …

Winter 2011

Bread books and videos

More than four decades ago, The Tassajara Bread Book opened up with the following epigram:

“We need more cooks, not more cookbooks.”

Now we have a lot more of both, plus video. Here are few of the latest gems of the genre:

 

My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method,Jim Lahey (W.W. Norton & Company)

A bread one doesn’t knead calls to mind a cake mix with a slew of mystery ingredients and food science. But Lahey’s bread has only four ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast, and the yeast is a fraction of … » More …

Winter 2011

Timeline: John Olerud’s Baseball Career

“When I made up the lineup, I always put Ole [John Olerud] in the third spot—where you want your best all-around player—and filled in around him,” says WSU baseball coach Bobo Brayton. “He led the world in everything.”

On the rare occasion when Ole faltered a little on the mound, Bobo would visit the big lefthander with words of advice: “Remember you are John Olerud. There’s no one better.” He was named national College Player of the Year in 1988.

—from Washington State Magazine, Summer 2002

WSU

1987

Hit .414 with 5 HR and 20 RBIs. As a pitcher, he went 8-2 … » More …

Alumni News
Winter 2011

Awards and Recognition

Each year, the WSU Alumni Association acknowledges alumni and volunteers who have made significant contributions to their professions, their communities, the world, and the University. The WSUAA Alumni Achievement Award was created in 1970 and of the nearly quarter of a million people who have attended WSC/WSU since 1890, only 495 have received it.

We salute the following Cougars who received the Alumni Achievement Award over the past year and thank them for the prestige they bring to their alma mater:

Robert Berry, ’50, Political Sciences

Drew Bledsoe, Former Student

Gordon W. Davis, ’68 & ’69, Agriculture

Holly Whitcomb Henry, ’78, BPH-Pharmacy

Tom Pounds, ’81, … » More …

Chance (Chad) McKinney ’94, ’96
Winter 2011

Chance McKinney ’94, ’96—Country music working man

It’s vacation season, mid-August. A light breeze off Lake Chelan wafts over Manson, where Chance McKinney and his band Crosswire prepare to open for country music star Dierks Bentley at the Mill Bay Casino.

For McKinney ’94, ’96—an all-American javelin thrower at Washington State University, former high school math teacher, songwriter, and country music artist—it’s a working day. “We don’t have a full team like these artists that are coming out of Nashville. It’s running a small business,” he says.

McKinney wears a baseball cap, t-shirt and jeans, and his rich voice and country-boy good looks have an edge of exhaustion from days, weeks, … » More …

Winter 2011

LaToya Harris ’03—Standing out

When coach LaToya Harris stands with her team on the volleyball court at Lewis-Clark State College, here’s the remarkable thing: She doesn’t stand out.

Sure, she is the only one wearing black crop pants instead of blue shorts and a white tee, but, suddenly it hits you—this is the woman who tallied 1,459 kills during her WSU career and still holds the record for service aces.

Her Cougar teammates voted her the team’s most valuable player in 2000, 2001, and 2002, and she remains the only WSU player to ever earn that award three times. In 1999, as a freshman, she was an honorable … » More …