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Spring 2003

Solid footing

Ah, for the safety and comfort of computer modeling in a cozy office.

Instead, Thanos Papanicolaou, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Washington State University, found himself in a small boat in the churning waters of the Tacoma Narrows during a “peak tidal event” taking water velocity measurements, soundings, and underwater pictures of the bottom of the channel.

“I was a little nervous,” he admits, recalling his guide’s efforts to avoid vortices in the current.

Papanicolaou and graduate student Kyle Strom have been working to determine exactly how much of a scour hole tides make around the pilings that hold … » More …

Winter 2001

A better system of braces

“Imagine if you are a patient, the significant difference that decreased pressure is going to make to your comfort level.”

As a child, Dr. Dwight Damon (’62 Zoology) had more than his share of curiosity.

Damon’s father, who taught math and science at Spokane’s West Valley High School, always encouraged him to question and explore everything. “He instilled in me that desire to always find the better solution.”

At Washington State University, encouragement came from zoology professor Herbert Eastlick.

“Herb was my advisor, my mentor, and my friend,” says Damon. “He was constantly challenging us, encouraging everyone to reach their full potential.”

That desire … » More …

Winter 2001

South African experience important to WSU alumna

“It is hoped that in Africa, as in the U.S., the process will speed the move from poverty and unemployment to steady jobs.” —Liz Peterson

May and early June 2001 found alumna Elizabeth C. “Liz” Peterson teaching “dependable strengths articulation” skills (DSA) in Johannesburg, South Africa. No, she wasn’t conducting workshops for physical therapists eager to accumulate continuing education units. Rather, she and her five-member team were teaching individuals to identify and help each other explore the things they feel they have done well, are proud of, and also enjoy doing.

Their reasons for doing so go to the heart of South Africa’s recent … » More …

Winter 2001

State Economy: Across the new divide

Sooner than you think, you’re going to connect those dots and discover the whole state lit up.

THE VARIOUS PEOPLES OF Washington have successfully prevailed over many divides— mountain passes, raging rivers, ocean straits, even cultural differences— that separated comfort and prosperity from isolation and hard times. There were grim consequences to encounters with those divides, and sometimes stuff and people were jettisoned so a few could make it across. We wouldn’t be here at all if we had seriously miscalculated who had the right to survive.

Now, in a techno-economic system constantly challenged to be robust and resilient enough to meet the fiercest global … » More …

Winter 2001

Firstenburg family fountain dedicated at WSU Vancouver

Intermittent spurts of water play on native basalt slabs and columns in the new Firstenburg Family Fountain at Washington State University Vancouver. Local residents Ed and Mary Firstenburg, owners of First Independent Bank, donated $500,000 to create the fountain and plaza as a focal point for the 351-acre campus. The Firstenburg family was recognized at an August 16 dedication. Ed is a graduate of the University of Washington and fondly remembers students gathering on the campus plaza in Seattle during his college days. WSU Vancouver executive officer and dean Hal Dengerink said the fountain is “a permanent legacy for the Firstenburg family and for WSU … » More …

Winter 2001

Hot shot

“Nothing beats a hot shot crew. You are like the green berets, the special forces of fire. It’s a camaraderie like no other.”

WHEN CHRIS BOLZ came looking for summer work nine years ago, the fire boss took one look at the athletic 19-year-old and said, “Son, this is your lucky day.”

Bored out of his wits in Tonasket, Washington, Bolz had walked into the nearest Forest Service office at his father’s insistence. They said they could use him right away on a blaze in Wenatchee, so Bolz agreed to go. Then the fire boss reached into his pocket for a book of matches, and … » More …

Winter 2002

Hyslop, Damon earn WSU Alumni Achievement Award

Longtime Spokane residents William D. Hyslop and Dwight Damon received Washington State University’s Alumni Achievement Award at a July 16 WSU wine tasting event at Wyvern Cellars in Spokane.

Hyslop, an attorney with the law firm of Lukins & Annis, served as president of the alumni association in 1991-92. Damon, a former two-sport athlete at WSU, maintains a practice in orthodontics.

During Hyslop’s tenure as alumni president, the association drafted and then adopted a “role and mission” statement and a list of 10 goals and objectives. Previously, Hyslop served as a volunteer alumni director in Spokane for eight years, and co-chaired WSU’s Legislative Network, which … » More …

Winter 2002

Living and gardening in the Pacific Northwest

In Washington State, it has been over 200 years since indigenous peoples described where they lived as “the place where camas blooms” or “the place where wild onions nod.” In other parts of the country, it has been even longer.

Where Native Americans lived-and the plants and animals that lived there-determined if they lived. Survival required intimate contact with the natural world. Without guidebooks, maps or Internet access, they knew weather patterns, ocean tides, hydrology, topography, and the life cycles and habits of plant and animals in the places they lived. They had a very strong “sense of place.”

Now, most Americans are able to … » 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 …