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Spring 2024

Alumni

Spring 2004

Happy in Hollywood, actor Larkin Campbell loves what he's doing

It’s a dark drama, set in a desert. The lead character, Zack, runs into some bad guys, and he’s in real trouble. The name of the movie, an independent production, is short and catchy: Nowhere.

But the actor playing Zack, Larkin Campbell, hopes the movie goes somewhere. He not only played the lead, he also produced the flick.

“We’ve sent it out, but it hasn’t been accepted in any of the festivals yet,” he says. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Among other projects he’s working on is Squatch, an adventure film about two guys chasing the mythical Bigfoot.

Last year he was a co-star … » More …

Spring 2004

In search of the perfect stringed instrument

Bill McCaw was always interested in music. But he waited until he was about 50 before he began thinking about playing the guitar. When a search of music stores failed to turn up a guitar that could accommodate his broad fingers, he decided to make his own instrument. Since then he’s made 17 acoustic guitars, and now is taking on a new challenge-building a cello.

“You’re not going to make a perfect instrument the first time,” he says. “You just go ahead, and when you string it up, you’ll be enthralled with the sound.”

Some guitar makers work with an apprentice to master the craft. … » More …

Spring 2004

Navajo reservation veterinarian aids scrapie test at WSU

As a veterinarian for the Navajo Nation, Dr. Scott Bender’s practice spans more than 18 million acres in the Four Corners region of Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah.

His enormous workload includes treating everything from sheep, horses, cattle, goats, dogs, and cats to elk and cougars. Periodically, he even gets to clean the teeth of a 19-year-old bear at the Navajo Nation Zoo and Botanical Park, Window Rock, Arizona, the only tribal-run zoo in the United States.

“There are 250,000 people who live on the reservation and only four vets to cover them,” he says. “It can be a little daunting at times.”

That’s … » More …

Spring 2004

Crossing the line

Snoqualmie singer-songwriter Garr Lange released a new CD last fall. Crossing the Line, recorded at Rainstorm Studios, Bellevue, and released by Sentry Records, includes a 12-song mix of the blues, country, and rock.

Lange (’79 English) tested his skills for writing music and plays in New York City after graduating from Washington State University. One play, The Water Table, was produced by the Renegade Theater Co., Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1989. On the music front, he formed The Big Rig band, Boston musicians with a bent for country-rock-rhythm and blues. He also had a short stay in Nashville during the mid-90s. In both cities, he … » More …

Spring 2004

Bridges, docks, and dams

Some of General Construction’s best work is under water

Ron Morford was only 19 when he built his first house. A quarter century later, he’s still in construction-only on a much larger scale. The president and district manager of General Construction Co. oversees projects in Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska. Annual contracts total between $150 million and $200 million, making it one of the largest construction companies in Washington. The payroll includes 130 salaried staff, plus 400 to 500 laborers and craftsmen.

According to Morford, marine and heavy civil construction accounts for the bulk of the business. He lives on Bainbridge Island, not far from … » More …

Spring 2004

Author Sherman Alexie receives Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award

Sherman Alexie likes to remind people that attending Washington State University presented him with a real challenge. As a Spokane Indian, a liberal, and a writer, he did not fit the prevalent mold of students attending WSU in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Regardless, on October 10, 2003, WSU president V. Lane Rawlins presented Alexie with the University’s highest alumni honor, the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Since leaving WSU in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in American studies, Alexie has published nine books of fiction and poetry and has written and directed two award-winning movies. Widely popular, his short stories appear in the nation’s … » More …

Winter 2005

Carolyn Schactler: Inspired by many sources

While at Washington State College, Carolyn Campbell Schactler of Yakima was a violinist and swimmer in the synchronized group, Fish Fans. She later taught both of these skills, but it was her designing and sewing that launched her career and led to international recognition. Although she graduated with a B.A. in music in 1949, she says, “That wasn’t really my thing. I had been designing and making clothes in my spare moments ever since I can remember. That was really my forte.”

Schactler studied at home and abroad, earning an M.A. from Central Washington University and doing postgraduate work at the University of Texas and … » More …

Winter 2005

The Fixer

A new hotel in an old Seattle landmark

At Fourth and Virginia in Seattle, where Belltown meets downtown a few blocks from Pike Place Market, a trendy restaurant and residential district meets up with the city’s retail center. It’s here that hotelier Craig Schafer ’76 has made his mark.

His upscale Hotel Andra is nestled in the 1926 brick corner building once beloved as the low-cost Claremont Hotel. Built as an efficiency apartment building and retaining the same spacious rooms, the boutique hotel is touted by the likes of Fortune and Condé Nast Traveler magazines and the design industry for its appealing modern look and … » More …

Winter 2005

Being Sacagawea

For the past two years historian Jeanne Eder has been traveling in Sacagawea’s footsteps. Donning a traditional dress as well as another woman’s persona, Eder has toured the West performing her interpretation of an older and wiser Sacagawea who, years after the Journey of Discovery expedition, has time to reflect.

Eder (’00 Ph.D. Hist.) teaches at the University of Alaska, Anchorage. A Dakota Sioux who grew up on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeast Montana, she researches the lives of historic Native American women and portrays them in Chautauqua-style performances.

Playing the most famous woman of the 1800s has its challenges, says Eder. “People … » More …