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Coug students celebrate Campaign for Washington State University. Photo Robert Hubner

Winter 2015

A billion reasons to celebrate

WSU’s fundraising efforts reach a lofty goal

WSU student Selena Alvarado is heading to Costa Rica, but it isn’t for a vacation. As part of the Backpack Journalism program in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication, she will investigate issues that face Costa Ricans, then send back videos and print stories for Pacific Northwest media outlets. The hands-on program wouldn’t exist without scholarships and support from a number of donors.

At the WSU Tree Fruit Research Station in Wenatchee, apple breeder Kate Evans and her research team identify traits that can improve Washington’s signature fruit. Using genetic markers and research orchards, they seek an … » More …

Winter 2015

Class notes

1960s

Bruce Werner (’64 MS P.E., ’74 EDD Educ. Admin.) was inducted into the California Community College Sports Hall of Fame. He taught physical education and served as the men’s tennis coach and assistant football coach for 13 years at Chabot College. He then worked at Cosumnes River College as dean of athletics. In 1979 he moved to American River College, where he remained for 22 years. He served as vice president of instruction at Folsom Lake College from 2001 until his retirement in 2004. He also held numerous leadership roles in California community college athletics.

1970s

Thomas Meyer (’73 MS Zoo., ’78 DVM) … » More …

Winter 2015

Talkback for Winter 2015

Refreshing

Thank you for continuing to publish Washington State Magazine at such a high level. I read the Fall 2015 issue from cover to cover and rate it as outstanding in every respect. The redesign of the magazine with sustainability in mind is commendable. Mostly, however, the content was what gave me the feeling that I am still connected to WSU almost 50 years after I graduated.

As it happens, there were also multiple articles that connected with me personally. I took an ecology course from Rexford Daubenmire and continued to refer to his classic texts on autecology and synecology during my own 40-year … » More …

Winter 2015

Through the years with three lifelong Okanogan Cougs

Tom Monroe ’63, Richard Wagner ’61, and I started the first grade together in a small town in north central Washington, ninety miles north of Wenatchee and thirty miles south of the border with British Columbia, Canada: Okanogan. Perhaps even more remarkable is that we were all born at Elsie McDonald’s Maternity Home, probably because there was no hospital in Okanogan. Tom and I were playmates for a few years before beginning school—not very many, to be sure! —but we three boys began our life-long friendship together at Grainger Elementary School in Okanogan while America was still battling WWII.

We were never called “The Three … » More …

LIGO Observatory at Hanford. Courtesy National Science Foundation

Winter 2015

Eureka! on the horizon

The silence is unnerving. Not another car in sight as I drive through the desolate Hanford nuclear area. The road unfolds in an eerie lacework of tarred concrete until finally I see it gleaming in the distance—the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO.)

LIGO is home to Earth’s most sensitive optical instrument, uniquely designed to intercept gravity waves. These elusive cosmic waves—or ripples in space-time—are so miniscule that Einstein thought them impossible to view and measure. And so far, he’s been right. Yet if detected, gravitational waves could transform our fundamental understanding of the universe.

They also, incidentally, play a starring role in the hit … » More …

Carl Maxey (Courtesy Gonzaga University)

Winter 2015

Black Spokane

Dwayne Mack was, to say the least, skeptical when his faculty mentor at Washington State University, LeRoy Ashby, suggested he write his doctoral dissertation on Spokane’s black history.

“I thought to myself, ‘Wow, every time we pay a visit to Spokane, we rarely even see black people,’” recalls Mack, who was brought up in Brooklyn and received his master’s degree from a historically black college, North Carolina Central University. “There couldn’t be enough black people to do a study.”

Then he started researching Spokane’s African-American history and realized he had “struck gold.” Spokane’s African-American community was small—historically averaging between 1 and 2 percent of Spokane’s … » More …

Winter 2015

Three portraits of Foley Institute alumni

The Foley path to public service through internships

“In a cynical age, I still believe that we must summon people to a vision of public service. For, in the end, this ethic determines more than anything else whether we will have citizens and leaders of honor, judgment, wisdom, and heart. These are the qualities this institute will nurture and advance, helping this nation become what it has always been destined to be, the best hope of a free people to live in an open and just society.”

—The Honorable Thomas S. Foley

Former LeLoup Intern, John Culton ’11 remembers the day … » More …

Winter 2015

Duck recipes

Pan Roasted Duck Breast

The secret to this recipe is scoring the duck skin so the fat melts out during cooking, creating crispy skin—the perfect complement to the tender meat. Scoring also helps prevent the duck breast from curling up in the cooking process.

4 skin-on duck breasts, 5 ounces each
¼ cup orange juice
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper

Serve with Hazelnut Forbidden Rice, Julienne Minted Carrots, and Orange Balsamic Glaze.*

Score each duck breast by running the tip of a knife into the skin, but … » More …

Winter 2015

Liberty Ciderworks

What are trained architects doing making hard cider?

“It’s a great beverage with a great legacy,” says Austin Dickey ’00, who tasted his first cider while visiting Europe after graduating from high school. He and colleague Rick Hastings share a passion for traditional hard cider.

After experimenting with homemade batches for years, the two began comparing notes and decided in 2012 to transform their hobby into a commercial venture.

“For us it’s all about the apples and yeast,” says Dickey.

Liberty Ciderworks, located in downtown Spokane, became the state’s first urban craft cidery and was among the initial wave of artisanal cider producers to … » More …

Winter 2015

The drink that built a nation

Bubbling a revolution in Washington State

It’s canning day at Tieton Cider Works in Yakima. Tall, red cans of Rambling Route cider pass through a pasteurizing unit as they come off the conveyor belt of the mobile canning truck. Sold in four packs, the company’s first canned product is intended to reach the masses, perhaps even enticing craft beer drinkers with a moderately-priced, portable cider.

The label on a can of Rambling Route cider describes the journey apples made across the country to Washington: “When it reached the land that would be called Washington, the apple knew.” It knew it had found a home in … » More …