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Alumni

Slow Regard cover
Spring 2015

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Slow Regard

 

Patrick Rothfuss ’02 MA

DAW Books, 2014

 

A darling of the sci-fi/fantasy set, Pat Rothfuss has diverted from the long-awaited third part of his bestselling Kingkiller trilogy and, instead, taken the time to explore the story of lovely, lonely Auri, one of the secondary Kingkiller characters.

Warning his readers that this book may not be for them, not even for the most serious fans of his first two meaty novels The Name of the Wind and Wise Man’s Fear, Rothfuss nonetheless draws them in to this bittersweet tale of the fair-haired mysterious woman who … » More …

On this borrowed bike cover
Spring 2015

On This Borrowed Bike

On This Borrowed Bike

 

Lisa Panepinto ’05

Three Rooms Press, 2014

 

Rivers flow through the poems in Panepinto’s slim volume. They whisper of the Northwest, of young people who have jumped in, of silvery fish and poison in the water. In her first collection, the Spokane native writes with a deft lyricism and of a sense of place in poems like “river metallic as veins of saints”:

“the land creates
its inhabitants
here I am low
down bog like”

Her other poems speak of Spokane and rural roads, and music festivals and blues … » More …

Hunting for Dirtbags cover
Spring 2015

Hunting for “Dirtbags”: Why Cops Over-police the Poor and Racial Minorities

Hunting for “Dirtbags”: Why Cops Over-police the Poor and Racial Minorities

 

Lori Beth Way and Ryan Patten ’03 PhD

Northeastern University Press, 2013

 

In this day of increased scrutiny of police, many people wonder about policing styles and how officers use their unassigned time. The high rate of minority arrests and stops as well as the higher level of surveillance in poor communities have also come into question.

With these things in mind, two political science colleagues at California State University, Chico explored what factors influence police officers’ decisions on their policing strategies. Patten and … » More …

Winter 2014

Celebrating a half century, and more

Some traditions are worth breaking.

After 65 years of springtime reunions, the Washington State University Alumni Association has moved the events for Golden (50 years) and Diamond (60 years) graduates to the fall.

In September, students from the classes of 1954 and 1964 (and one student from 1944) returned to campus for three days filled with memories, conversation, and exploration. Between luncheons, dinners, and “classes without quizzes,” the alumni toured the new Football Operations Building and the Student Rec Center, attended a memorial service for veterans, stopped by Ferdinand’s Creamery, and visited with students.

The Alumni Association has rescheduled the reunions to build on campus … » More …

Ted Tremper
Winter 2014

Ted Tremper ’04—The art of improv

Ted Tremper ’04 discovered his dream as a Washington State University student joining Nuthouse, WSU’s then fledgling improv group.

Now, more than a decade later, he’s an actor, a web television filmmaker, veteran of the improvisational comedy troupe The Second City, editor, director, and, in his words, “God knows how many other things.” Tremper finds that reality can be every bit as fun and funny as his dream.

Four years ago his web program Break-ups: The Series won critical acclaim for its originality. His five-minute scenes of break-up vignettes filmed around Chicago has drawn hundreds of thousands of views. He followed that up with Shrink, … » More …

Seely mint
Winter 2014

Mike Seely ’84, ’09—A passion for peppermint

During the August harvest, the smell of peppermint freshens the air over Clatskanie, Oregon, where third-generation farmer Mike Seely ’84, ’09 MBA is finding sweet success in a crop that once nearly bankrupted him.

“We’ve been raising mint forever,” says Seely, who paid his WSU tuition farming the fast-growing perennial. He first farmed near Vancouver before buying his home farm along the lower Columbia River where the moderate climate and rich soils are ideal for growing the flavorful crop. He earned his first degree in electrical engineering, but unlike his siblings he never strayed far from farming.

This year, the Seely’s … » More …

Gettysburg
Winter 2014

Joanne Hanley ’80—Preserving public treasures

Joanne Hanley ’80 never expected that a master’s degree in environmental science would lead her to Gettysburg—one of the most significant sites in American history—or to supporting and creating several other memorials along the way.

During a 32-year career with the National Park Service, Hanley worked at more than a dozen historically and environmentally significant locations throughout the country. She oversaw the fundraising, design, and construction of the Flight 93 memorial to commemorate the September 11, 2001, crash. And, after serving as superintendent of the National Parks of Western Pennsylvania for a decade, she turned her energies to the field where a pivotal battle … » More …

Jason Gesser
Winter 2014

The right color back on

Ask Jason Gesser ’02 about the finest decision he’s made and his answer is as pinpoint as each of the 70 career touchdown passes he threw at Washington State.

“Coming to Washington State was the perfect and best decision I made in my life,” he says. “Besides marrying my wife,” Gesser is quick to add, with a laugh. He married his college girlfriend Kali Surplus ’02, a former WSU volleyball player, and the couple has three children.

In his new role as the assistant director of development with the Cougar Athletic Fund, the fundraising arm of the Washington State University Athletic Department, his … » More …

Winter 2014

Posts for Winter 2014

 

Red Brick Roads 

Thank you for the wonderful article on the Red Brick Roads in the latest issue of Washington State Magazine. I want to thank Bailey Badger [WSM’s summer intern and 2014 alum], of course, too. Please do pass along my gratitude for an article well composed, well researched, and well written.

I really appreciate the time and effort you took just to identify this as a possible article of interest to your readership, and of course your general interest in the goings on over here in the School of Design and Construction.

J. Philip Gruen
WSU associate professor and interim director, … » More …