Charity

Summer 2024

Best years

Taras Ogiychuk traveled from Ukraine to WSU for college, and now he is helping his homeland. » More ...

Dean Janikowski wearing cowboy hat at high school football game with his mom Heather.

Fall 2023

Dean Janikowski is the kicker for Washington State University’s football team, a 2022 graduate and currently an MBA student at WSU. He also has a great time on Instagram and other social media with photos and videos playing football for the Cougs, riding dirt bikes, and kicking spicy Chicken McNuggets.

In this episode, Dean talks with Washington State Magazine writer Becky Kramer about raising money for the Heather Janikowski Foundation, a charity named for his mom, who died of cancer.

Dean also talks about how he started his sports career in soccer, NIL (name, image, and likeness), and his … » More …

Dash Dog with a hot dog at a Mariners game

Summer 2021

The story of Dash Dog

The pup did the pose a couple of times before the one that Ande Edlund (’94 Hotel & Rest. Admin.) now refers to as The Hot Dog Incident.

The first, on August 9, 2016, garnered 113 likes on his dash.dog Instagram account, started not quite a year and half earlier. The second, on July 6, 2017, got 674.

The third went viral.

The close-up of the golden retriever wearing a bandana and ball cap while patiently holding a hot dog in his mouth at a Mariners game fetched 16,337 likes and thousands of new followers. Edlund posted the photo, snapped with his phone, on September … » More …

Fall 2020

A viral response

In the face of tough circumstances, Washington State University alumni and faculty did not merely endure, but adapted and engaged. » More ...

Spring 2014

The calculus of caring and cooperation

Shortly after the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, the American Red Cross had to wrestle with an odd sort of philanthropic success. So many people donated blood, there was far more than what was needed for the entire nation, let alone the attacks’ survivors. Many people donated money, more than $500 million. And, after covering its immediate costs, the charity diverted most of it to other Red Cross needs.

Feeling they were misled, donors and families of the 9/11 victims were not happy. The head of the Red Cross resigned, but not before being called to account to Congress.

And … » More …

Summer 2012

Doing good through blending

About three years ago, Monte Regier returned to Seattle from a year working on the hospital ship Anastasis off the coast of Liberia. Suffering from culture shock, remembering friends who go to bed hungry every night, he sat with his friend Martin Barrett over a glass of wine and mused on what a dollar would buy.

And then came the Idea.

“You know, Monte,” said Barrett, “I think this glass of wine could feed a kid for a day.”

One can imagine Regier’s skeptical smile.

“Give me 90 days,” said Barrett.

So Barrett started researching this idea of selling wine to feed kids and convinced … » More …

Summer 2010

Time Out in the World

Today's graduates aren't just dropping into the rat race. They're going to Africa, South America, Seattle and Spokane. They're out to see the world and make a difference. » More ...

Winter 2006

Jeff Clark: Elegant antiques

The object of Jeff Clark’s desire once belonged to the Shah of Iran. The shiny black 1939 Bugatti Type 57C was originally commissioned by the French government and given to the Shah as a present on the occasion of his first marriage. Today the roadster is part of the Petersen Automotive Museum collection in Los Angeles, and in September spent a night in a covered concrete parking garage in Kirkland.

Clark is there when a driver brings it in and parks it next to Fred Astaire’s Rolls-Royce, just up the ramp from the Porsche 917 Steve McQueen drove in Le Mans.

“It’s my favorite,” says … » More …

Winter 2001

Firstenburg family fountain dedicated at WSU Vancouver

Intermittent spurts of water play on native basalt slabs and columns in the new Firstenburg Family Fountain at Washington State University Vancouver. Local residents Ed and Mary Firstenburg, owners of First Independent Bank, donated $500,000 to create the fountain and plaza as a focal point for the 351-acre campus. The Firstenburg family was recognized at an August 16 dedication. Ed is a graduate of the University of Washington and fondly remembers students gathering on the campus plaza in Seattle during his college days. WSU Vancouver executive officer and dean Hal Dengerink said the fountain is “a permanent legacy for the Firstenburg family and for WSU … » More …