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Spring 2024

Alumni

Fall 2005

I never said thank you.

May 2005

Inside the First Samoan Congregational Church in Oceanside, California, the Rev. Junior Tupuola is addressing his congregation, when he notices a figure in white moving across the back of the sanctuary. To Tupuola, it resembles an angel.

As the figure reaches the end of the aisle, Tupuola can see that it’s clad in jeans, the blue color of which stands out against the brightly colored clothing of the islanders sitting in the pews.

The figure stops and turns toward Tupuola. The white resolves into a Washington State University jersey. Crimson numerals take shape.

No. 19. Rod Retherford’s jersey number.

From the pulpit, Tupuola … » More …

Fall 2005

Thinking about Washington State

Adapted from a talk the author delivered April 2005, upon receiving the Washington State University Eminent Faculty Award.

I am honored, pleased, and humbled by the recognition that has been bestowed upon me. I’d like to take this time to share some thoughts with you.

First I want to tell you about the nature of science. Newton said it best: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” What is true for Sir Isaac Newton, one of the greatest physicists of all times, is certainly true for a physicist with significantly fewer accomplishments. The shock wave research effort at … » More …

Summer 2005

Alumni Achievement Awards

Last winter the Alumni Association honored sports greats James Donaldson (’79 Soc.) and Craig Ehlo (x ’86 Soc. Sci.) with Alumni Achievement Awards for their contributions to Washington State University and professional basketball, as well as service to their respective communities.

Donaldson, who was drafted by the Seattle Supersonics after graduating in 1979, enjoyed a 14-year National Basketball Association career and was a 1988 NBA All-Star. He now lives in Seattle and is owner of Donaldson Physical Therapy & Fitness and the Donaldson Clinic, which he first opened in 1990 with the idea that he would go into physical therapy work at the end of … » More …

Summer 2005

Ruth Bennett: A former 'Youth for Nixon' puts a crimp in Christine Gregoire's majority

The way Ruth Bennett figures it, if the Libertarian Party candidate hadn’t been on Washington’s ballot for governor, Christine Gregoire (D) would have waltzed to an uncontroversial victory.

As it turned out, Gregoire’s winning margin of 129 votes made her contest with Dino Rossi (R) the closest gubernatorial race in state history.

While Bennett (’75 Anthro.) finished a distant third with just more than 2 percent of nearly three million votes cast, her 63,465 total nevertheless was plenty to turn the race into a nail-biter. Her tally shrank Gregoire’s margin of victory nearly 500-fold. By Bennett’s estimate, her campaign nearly cost Gregoire the race.

Conventional … » More …

Summer 2005

The Hospital Doctor

When the elderly couple moved into the nursing home in Tonasket, one of their main concerns was who would take care of their chickens. Gordon C. McLean (’67 Ag. Econ. ’73 M.A. Speech), administrator of the North Valley Hospital and Nursing Home, volunteered.

Listening to people and finding solutions has been his forte during a 30-year career in hospital administration. Over the past two decades, he’s breathed new life into healthcare facilities in rural eastern Washington.

McLean’s hospital ties date to 1975, when he was director of public relations at St. Mary’s Medical Center, Evansville, Indiana. Since 2001, he’s the one who answers the phone … » More …

Summer 2005

Portland pharmacist uses chemistry to duplicate natural human hormones

Forget about over-the-counter pills and creams to reduce hot flashes, insomnia, and other symptoms of perimenopause. Don’t bother with prescriptions for mass-produced synthetic hormones, either.

Instead, why not use chemistry-or bio-identical hormone replacement-to duplicate natural human hormones, and then concoct the right dosage for each individual woman? Pharmacists call this individualized procedure “compounding.”

Alison Johnston (’84 Pharm.) started doing just that in January 2003 in Portland, Oregon. She reports it seems to be working.

Johnston is the only pharmacist in a compounding-only pharmacy, Marquis Compounding Pharmacy in Portland. She has her own patients and writes prescription recommendations for their doctors to sign. A few of … » More …

Summer 2005

This man might save your life–or teach your class

Clint Cole (’87 B.S. Comp. Sci., ’00 M.S. Elec. Engr.) vividly remembers the drama of trying to save lives as a paramedic in the 1980s.

He and his fellow paramedics typically responded to emergency calls by driving as fast as possible to their destination. If they arrived in fewer than seven minutes, they were doing well. Usually, though, they weren’t fast enough.

Only about 10 of the 250 people he tried to save survived.

But as one the developers of the world’s most popular portable defibrillator, Cole has since contributed to saving tens of thousands of lives.

More than six feet tall and a little … » More …

Summer 2005

What I've Learned Since College: an interview with King County Sheriff Sue Rahr

Sue Rahr graduated from Washington State University in 1979 with a degree in criminal justice. In January 2005 she was promoted from King County chief of field operations to sheriff. She is the first woman to be sheriff of King County. The following is excerpted from an interview with Washington State Magazine’s Hannelore Sudermann, February 22, 2005 at the King County Courthouse.

Take your opportunities.

I was engaged to be married right after I graduated from college. My husband and I set a wedding date, sent out invitations. Everything was ready to go, and I got a call early in July from the Sheriff’s office … » More …

Summer 2005

Jim McKean makes poetry of a powerful time

In his new book, Home Stand: Growing Up in Sports, Jim McKean weaves together a series of essays about growing up in the Pacific Northwest in the late ’50s and early ’60s.

Poetry in motion he wasn’t. At least not on the basketball court, even though 6’9″ Jim McKean, his fadeaway jump shot, and his rebounding (he still holds the single-game Far West Classic rebounding record of 27, set against Princeton in 1967) were anchors of the rebirth of Washington State University men’s hoops in the mid-’60s.

“He didn’t have real good feet and was not a great athlete,” Marv Harshman, WSU’s head coach at … » More …