Fall 2012
Gene Callan ’76—A dream for today and tomorrow
The Maryhill Museum of Art received a major renovation that will showcase more of its amazing collection, thanks to Portland architect Gene Callan ’76.
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Fall 2012
Race, Class, and William Julius Wilson’s World of Opportunity
In the middle of the last century, a Tennessee preacher-turned-sociologist, Tolbert H. Kennedy, found a relatively untapped pool of doctoral students among the nation’s black college graduates. Between 1944 and 1965, when Washington State University barely had a few dozen black students, he and fellow ex-preacher Wallis Beasley helped produce more black doctors of sociology than all but two schools, the University of Chicago and Ohio State.
Among them was a young man who went from the hardscrabble coal country of western Pennsylvania to graduate first in his class at Wilberforce, the oldest black college in the country, and get a master’s degree at Bowling … » More …
Fall 2012
World vets
Quivering all over, a dirty yellow and white puppy with a large potbelly whimpers as a veterinarian injects it with saline fluids. The puppy is severely dehydrated and disoriented, unable to stand up on its own.
Chancho, as the veterinarians name him because of his pig-like round belly, initially had a grave prognosis. Found wandering along the street, and visibly weak with parasites and tremors, he did not have long to live.
The puppy spends the night on intravenous fluids and medication. When the veterinarians return the next morning, his condition has improved. By the following day, they are confident he will survive.
Chancho was … » More …
Fall 2012
Posts for Fall 2012
Not Saddle Mountains
On my second time through the very enjoyable edition I looked more closely at the central picture on page 45 which identified the view at “Columbia River, Facing Saddle Mountains.” This picture does not show the Saddle Mountains, which are north of the Columbia, but in fact looks west toward the sun setting over Umptanum west of Vernita Bridge where Hwy 24 crosses the Columbia. Just off the gravel bar in the center of the picture is a bluish-green spot which is part of the BPA’s Midway substation, which is tucked between the river and the ridge and handles power lines into … » More …
Summer 2012
Video: Plume, by Kathleen Flenniken
Kathleen Flenniken ’83 describes and reads from her second collection of poetry Plume, published by the University of Washington Press in 2012, in this video produced by her son Alexander Flenniken ’11.
Set off by images of the Atomic City, Flenniken’s hometown of Richland, Washington, she documents her coming of age and eventually her work at Hanford in the heart of the nuclear age.
Recently Flenniken was named Washington’s poet laureate for 2012-14. She teaches poetry and is a co-editor and president of Floating Bridge Press. She lives in Seattle, Washington.
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Summer 2012
Dog Days, Raven Nights
John and Colleen Marzluff, illustrated by Evon Zerbetz ’82
Yale University Press, 2011
Using field notes, personal diaries, and beautiful linocuts by Evon Zerbetz ’82, the Marzluffs chronicle their three-year endeavor to research the common raven, while raising and training sled dogs to help them with their work in Maine. Zerbetz is an artist in Ketchikan, Alaska, and illustrator of six books for children and young adults.
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Summer 2012
Coyote
—Pronunciation: kī–ō’–tē, chiefly Western kī’–ōt
After years away,
I met you again on the tongue
of an old friend from home. Kī’–ōt.
Trotting through sagebrush. Wild
by any name. I’d moved to a green isle city
that pronounced you kī–ō’–tē
and abandoned you by the side of the road.
I’d forgotten your silver, slope-shouldered form
and gaze.
You’re not a citizen of language or memory,
but I am. Changing your name
was a betrayal of home
born of living among outsiders,
born of looking back through outsiders’ eyes
at interchangeable houses landscaped
with … » More …
Summer 2012
10,000 More Members!
That’s right, there are now 10,000 more members in the WSUAA since 2004, when we started the push to build membership, alumni engagement, and fiscal stability. That’s enough to pack the stands in Beasley Coliseum.
We’re celebrating an astonishing increase of over 70 percent to a total of 23,500 dues-paying members. It might be worth noting that the number of Life Members in the Alumni Association has doubled during this same time frame.
By increasing our membership, the WSUAA can provide even more support to WSU and to make available scholarship support, alumni outreach, awards and recognition, Gold and Diamond Graduate reunions, and about … » More …
Summer 2012
Dan Newhouse ’77—Farm to director’s office
In 2009, Dan Newhouse ’77 was walking through the wings of the state House of Representatives when the governor’s chief of staff approached him with a surprising offer.
Newhouse was a four-term Republican representative from Sunnyside and floor leader for his caucus, so he didn’t expect to be asked to be director of the Washington State Department of Agriculture by a Democratic governor. “At the time, everyone knew there was a vacancy, but being from a different political party I didn’t think I would be considered for that position,” he says.
Soon after, Newhouse visited with Gov. Chris Gregoire about agriculture once. Then he … » More …
Summer 2012
John E. Olerud ’65—Science is a lot like baseball
Whether he’s studying how wounds heal or he’s tagging a runner out at home plate, John E. Olerud ’65 knows two techniques to succeed: work hard and stick with it.
Olerud credits those lessons to the man who recruited him to Washington State University’s baseball team, Chuck “Bobo” Brayton. “He was one of those guys who taught you a lot of lessons about life, not just baseball,” he says.
The lessons learned have led to achievements on the diamond—as catcher and captain of the 1965 Cougar baseball team that played in the College World Series, and as a professional player for seven years—and in academia, … » More …