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Alumni

Summer 2005

Gig Harbor: Laureen Lund markets the town she loves

Laureen Lund (’82 Comm.) recently celebrated her fifth anniversary as the person who sells Gig Harbor to the world. She seems to do her job well. At least, that’s why I’m sitting in her office in Gig Harbor’s city building in mid-August.

“The best use of our dollars is public relations,” she tells me, without a trace of irony or triumph. “If I can get somebody to do an article, it costs me nothing.”

I let that sink in for a minute. So-do I feel exploited?

Nah, not a bit. I’m having a fine time.

As for Lund, she just seems very pleased that she’s … » More …

Spring 2005

Anna Grant—A life of firsts

Anna Harvin Grant, the first woman to earn a doctorate in sociology from Washington State University, died November 6, 2004, of heart failure. She was 81.

A nationally recognized expert in Black family life and former chair of the Department of Sociology at Morehouse College, Grant led a life of firsts.

She came to Pullman with a wave of top African American scholars who in the early 1950s were recruited to WSU’s new doctoral program in sociology. At the time the Ph.D. program was starting, several administrators with connections to predominantly Black colleges in the south put out a call to “send us your best … » More …

Spring 2005

Just Buy It! Ty Bennett capitalizes on your impulse

A shopper in the ice cream aisle pulls out a tub of mint chocolate chip and hesitates as she notices ice cream scoops hanging from a display on the freezer door. Ah ha, she thinks, it would be nice to have a real scoop instead of always using a spoon. Into the cart goes a scoop, along with the ice cream.

Shoppers don’t mind spending a few extra dollars on items that aren’t on the list, and that’s what Ty Bennett, 1995 Washington State University alumnus and pioneer in the impulse buying business, counts on.

“We didn’t invent [impulse buying]. We just reinvented it,” says … » More …

Spring 2005

Erik Falter strives to keep alumni connected

Erik Falter was in his element at the Washington State University Alumni Achievement Award presentation event for Merle Sande last September (see WSM, winter 2004-05, p. 49). Keeping alumni connected with WSU and each other tops Falter’s priorities as president of the WSU Alumni Association. He wants his presidency to reflect the association’s goals of building membership, developing ways to engage alumni, and enhancing the financial strength of the association.

“We have a system set up with dedicated alumni working with a passion for WSU. The Alumni Association is the easiest and most recognizable way for alumni to stay connected with WSU,” he says.

Falter … » More …

Spring 2005

Woodley collects, identifies, and preserves flies

From his office in the Smithsonian Institution’s Systematic Entomology Laboratory, Norm Woodley helps care for the world’s largest bug collection and identifies threatening pests before they get into the country.

A fly specialist and taxonomist, Woodley (’76 Entom.) is also a curator of the 40 million specimens housed primarily at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. He and his colleagues use the collection and their expertise to identify insects that have hitchhiked into the country on overseas cargo shipments. Federal Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service agents collect the bugs and larvae they find on goods that come in on ships and planes. … » More …

Spring 2005

The Best of All Worlds

“Never judge a person by the way they are dressed,” says Erianne Pearson. “People are people. We treat them with respect.”

That philosophy has kept Pearson in business since 1983, when The Best of All Worlds, her upscale gift and decorative accessories store, opened. One of four original partners, she’s been the sole owner for nearly 13 years. The store is on the corner of Sixth and Union streets in the heart of Seattle’s busy retail business district.

“Eriann’s a bit of a pioneer . . . certainly a survivor by independent small-business-owner standards,” says friend and client Marcia Garrett of Washington State University West.

» More …

Spring 2005

Those wasted five gallons

As Americans, we freely water large, green lawns and take showers daily, using on average 100 gallons of water a day. We pay a fraction of a cent per gallon for water out of the tap, while a gallon of gasoline costs $2. Yet life cannot exist without water.

 ”Water is undervalued,” says Jim Clark (’75 B.S. Civil Engr.; ’76 M.S., Civil Engr.). “Whether it’s water in a stream or water going down a sewer, it’s all a valuable resource. I’d like people to think about that and consider that it is.”

Clark lectured a group of civil and environmental engineering faculty and students while … » More …

Spring 2005

Thomas hits paydirt with composting advice

Tamara Thomas is not afraid to get down and dirty helping clients solve earthy problems. She owns Terre-Source, a one-woman consulting firm in Mt. Vernon that specializes in composting.

Her clients include North Mason Fiber Company in Belfair, area governments in King and Snohomish counties, and Washington State University.

Thomas’s interest in composting dates back to the 1980s, when a Master Composter friend gave her a home composting system for her birthday. “I’ve been a home composter ever since, ” she says.

While pursuing a master’s degree (’02 Soil Chem.) at WSU, she worked with professor of crop and soil sciences Dave Bezdicek, who remembers … » More …

Spring 2005

Channel Swimmer

Pushing back the age barrier

The young swimmers at the YMCA pool in Wilton, Connecticut, call him “Grandpa.”

They even ask their seasoned coach, “Are you the oldest person in the world?”

No. But lean and fit George Brunstad is the oldest person ever to swim the English Channel.

On August 28, 2004, three days after his 70th birthday, Brunstad swam from Dover, England to Sangatte, France, a feat no one older than 67 had ever tried. But just swimming the channel wasn’t enough for the retired pilot from Ridegefield, Connecticut. He also raised more than $11,000 for a project to benefit children … » More …

Spring 2005

Jennifer Lynn: Barreling out of the Chute

A couple wanders in to Portland’s White Horse Grill & Bar on a late fall evening as Jennifer Lynn’s alto soars into “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” The two look at the packed house, look at each other, and reel into country swing in progress just inside the door.

Despite the lack of a dance floor, Lynn and her band’s barreling-out-of-the-chute style soon have four women line-dancing to the Bill Monroe tune. The crimson and gray baseball caps of onlookers nod smartly in time. Lynn flashes her husband-rhythm guitarist Tim Cowan-her Missouri-wide smile and sings on with an air of pure enjoyment.

Jennifer Lynn Bryant ’03, … » More …