FIGHTING CRIME ANTHROPOLOGY COLD CASES
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Revitalizing Life Sciences
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Saying Goodbye
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Persistence: Sam Dowd
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Thank You, Bengal Nation! In our 12 years at Idaho State University, we have met some wonderful people. We’ve built relationships with business leaders, scientists, legislators and community members. Also, we have established long lasting friendships throughout Idaho and our alumni. Some of our most meaningful relationships, however, are those we have built with the students we have served. We’ll always remember working with students and staff to create Benny’s Pantry. Not only did the pantry help take some burden from our students to allow them to focus on studies, but we are able to see the generosity of our students and community as they fill the pantry every month. We’ve seen countless students graduate and find their place in the world. Many of them worked in the Career Path Internship program to gain work experience along with their studies. Others helped professors in laboratories, others met us through their work in student government. Many of them became a part of our lives as we saw them help their fellow students in programs such as Veterans Student Services. All students, from those who attended every student activity and immersed themselves in the college experience, to those who attended classes after working full-time jobs and taking care of families, will be in our hearts as we move on to the next stage in our journey. We want to express our appreciation to the Idaho State University community, the people of Idaho and everyone we have met here. Thank you for everything. We will always be proud to be Bengals. Go Bengals!
Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D. and Laura I. Vailas, Ph.D.
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Student wins bodybuilding championship.
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Researchers honor a late colleague by creating crime-solving technology.
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IN THIS ISSUE
helping police solve crimes.
Cover: Amy Michael’s research is
Photo by Eric Gordon
models the makeup work of cosmetology student Nathan Chandler at the annual ISU Hair Extravaganza this spring.
The Winter King: Russell Davies
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President’s Message Satterlee Named Next ISU President Grant Aims to Improve Health Services in Rural Communities Distinguished Faculty Two New Deans Named Bengal Pharmacy Opens in Kendrick Naming of the Health Science Center in Meridian New VP for Student Affairs Studying Folk Music in Sweden Chemist Creates Hair Product Graduate Student Studies Food History at WWII Internment Camp Arts and Letters Creates Recruitment Programs ISU Chemists Create Crime-Solving Technology Cover: Anthropologists Work on Cold Cases Revitalizing the Gale Life Sciences Building Future Educators Making an Impact 12 Years of Change Student Wins Bodybuilding Championship Basketball Player Recognized Nationally Family Honors Brother Through a Gift Susan Bistline and Her Harley Remembering Jon Huntsman, Sr. Alumni News
Kevin Satterlee Named 13th President of Idaho State University of Idaho (magna cum laude).
Incoming Idaho State University President Kevin Satterlee said during his first news conference that his administration will be one of passion, communication and transparency.
At the news conference, Satterlee spoke about his wife Margaret’s family’s first experience as a Bengal, when her mother came to Pocatello in 1948 to attend college. She was only able to attend for one semester as her father passed away. Satterlee said that today, at age 88, she still wishes she could have attended longer.
“To everyone here today, thank you. We’re going to do great things,” he said. “This University has known great times, but its greatest times are yet to come.” The Idaho State Board of Education named Satterlee as the 13th president of Idaho State University on April 5. State Board of Education Member Richard Westerberg said the Board was looking forward to working with Satterlee to bring Idaho State University to the next level. He described Satterlee as a man who was born, raised and educated in Idaho, and a man with great vision. “He’s an innovator, and he’s a great communicator,” Westerberg said. “He listens to understand, and to learn, which leads to his ability to be open and transparent.” Satterlee has been serving as Chief Operating Officer at Boise State University since 2015, and a vice president since 2010. He has served in a variety of positions at Boise State since 2001. Prior to that, Satterlee was a deputy attorney general in the Idaho Attorney General’s Office for six years. While there, he was lead counsel to
“She took from her one semester at this university, that she was going to make sure her children went to college. And they did. And they became first-generation college graduates,” he said. “I stand here today humbled that I am going to be working for the university that my mother-in-law spent her whole life wishing she could attend.” the State Board of Education, State Board of Pharmacy, State Board of Nursing, and the State Liquor Dispensary. Because of his unique relationships and historical knowledge, Satterlee also serves as special counsel to the president at Boise State on issues related to the State Board of Education, legislative and policy, athletic department, and institutional compliance. Satterlee received his bachelor’s degree in political science from Boise State University (magna cum laude) and was named a Top Ten Scholar of the University. He received his law degree from the University
Satterlee said he was going to continue the University’s focus on expanding and growing health care programs, and to help ISU see its great potential. He said he will work to improve student recruitment and retention, and work hand-in-hand with the community. He also said he plans to work with faculty to bring their research and innovations to the forefront. “When Margaret and I came for our campus visit, we both left with a clear sense of the passion all of you have for this University. I will honor that passion,” he said. “Margaret and I couldn’t be more proud to join the Bengal family.”
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AHEC Grant to Improve Primary Care Services in Rural Communities Idaho State University has been awarded a $386,250 grant to establish an area health education center or AHEC to improve access to primary care in southeast Idaho’s underserved and rural communities. The Southeast Idaho AHEC will be housed in the university’s Institute of Rural Health and provide interdisciplinary training for ISU health professions students, including those enrolled in nursing, pharmacy and physician assistant studies programs, said Elizabeth Fore, IRH interim director and an assistant professor of public health. The center, which will serve 24 counties in eastern Idaho, will also provide information about continuing education for working health practitioners and serve as a pipeline to recruit high school students to careers in the health professions. The ISU award, which began Sept. 1, will run through Aug. 31, 2022. Diana Campanella Schow took the helm as center director March 30. One of her priorities this year is to develop and implement the WAMI-AHEC Scholars Program, which will provide additional training in underserved and rural communities for up to 15 students a year. Other priorities include advancing interprofessional opportunities for students and health professionals, coordinating continuing education activities and establishing field sites for student rotations. The center’s interdisciplinary focus will encourage health professions students and practitioners to work as a team, sharing knowledge, expertise and resources unique to their disciplines—an approach designed to improve access to primary care in rural communities facing a shortage of health care providers, Schow said. “Our students are going to get a lot of hands-on education, especially in the rural areas. If we can get them used to working in rural communities, they are going to be more likely to work in those communities or similar ones after they graduate,” Fore said. The ISU award is part of a $3 million grant awarded to the University of Washington’s WWAMI program by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration. WWAMI is a regional medical education partnership established in the 1970s to train primary care physicians in Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. The Southeast Idaho AHEC is one of three in the state. Each serves a specific geographic region. Chris Gabettas
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Three Named as Distinguished Faculty
Three Idaho State University faculty were honored as Distinguished Faculty at ISU Commencement. The recipients are Glenda Carr, Andy Holland and Michele Brumley.
“These are the highest honors bestowed on faculty at Idaho State and it is a distinction to receive one of these three awards,” said Laura Woodworth-Ney, ISU executive vice president and provost for academic affairs. “These are among our accomplished faculty and we are proud to recognize them.”
Distinguished Service GLENDA CARR
Carr, a clinical assistant pharmacy professor, has taught at ISU-Meridian since 2002. She is co-founder and director of ISU’s Community Health Screening Program— six free screenings held annually in the Treasure Valley to connect underserved and underinsured adults to medical, dental and mental health services. Since the program’s inception in 2010, the screenings have served more than 1,000 adults, keeping many participants out of hospital emergency rooms and easing the financial burden on Ada County taxpayers. The screenings provide ISU student clinicians with an interdisciplinary educational experience unsurpassed in Idaho. Community partners include Ada County Indigent Services, Family Medicine Residency of Idaho, Terry Reilly Health Services, the Friendship Clinic, the Idaho Foodbank and the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. When Carr isn’t mentoring or teaching students, she is likely pulling a shift at Terry Reilly Health Services in Nampa, a community health center dedicated to providing affordable, comprehensive and quality care to Treasure Valley residents. Since 2007, Carr has co-advised the ISU chapter of the American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists. Her duties involve guiding students in community outreach projects such as Operation Immunization, Operation Diabetes and Meth Awareness. In 2017, the APhA named her Outstanding Chapter Advisor of the Year. Carr holds a pharmacy doctorate from University of Montana.
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Distinguished Teaching ANDY HOLLAND
Holland has taught in ISU’s Department of Chemistry since 2004, teaching more than a dozen different courses across all levels of the inorganic and organic chemistry curricula. In addition to his work in the classroom, he coordinates a department-wide summer research program for disadvantaged high school students, helps shape the general education program on both university and statewide committees and contributed to the acquisition and administration of a National Science Foundation scholarship program for future chemists at ISU. He has personally supervised more than 60 high school, undergraduate and graduate students studying transition metal compounds in his research lab. Even at the freshman and sophomore level, Holland’s lecture courses emphasize patient, critical problem solving both as a target skill and as a means by which to deepen students understanding of chemical concepts. This approach is supported by a program of in-class collaboration among students, long office hours and even longer tests. His lab sections aim to provide safe opportunities for students to indulge their own curiosity and ingenuity in addition to following directions. All of Holland’s classes are founded on his conviction that given a structured, supportive framework for learning, ISU students will far exceed their own academic expectations if they are encouraged to do so.
Distinguished Research MICHELE BRUMLEY
Brumley is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Psychology. She joined ISU in 2007 after earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from DePaul University, a Ph.D. in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience from the University of Iowa, and completing postdoctoral research at the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Brumley’s long-term research goal is to increase understanding of neural and behavioral development by identifying important processes that contribute to the production of. developmental outcomes. She has published work on the effect of neural systems, sensory feedback and experience-expectant processes on early motor development. Results of that research have demonstrated that spontaneous limb activity and coordinated action patterns are responsive to sensory feedback, postnatal experience and stimulation from a caregiver during the newborn period in rats. These empirical findings have been important in reconsidering early neurobehavioral activity as open to experience rather than prescribed and innate, no matter how simplistic and rigid the behavior may appear. Current research efforts in the Brumley Developmental Behavioral Neuroscience Laboratory are focused on: 1) behavioral epigenetics in the developing spinal cord, 2) the relation between neurobehavioral function and the musculoskeletal system during development and 3) maternal-infant reciprocity influences on developing psychological domains in human infants. Brumley’s work has been funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), NIH IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence program, ISU and the Burroughs Welcome Fund. Brumley is currently the editor-in-chief for the journal Developmental Psychobiology. Brumley received ISU’s Distinguished Teaching award in 2016.
New Deans Named in Two ISU Colleges College of Science and Engineering Idaho State University has named Scott Snyder as the new dean for the College of Science and Engineering. Snyder, who is currently the associate vice chancellor for research and creative activity for the University of Nebraska Omaha, will begin his duties on June 29. “I couldn’t be more excited,” Snyder said. “The College of Science and Engineering is already doing great things and has unlimited potential. We need to set a course, and we will work together to set a course, to make these great things even better.” Snyder also serves as the interim executive director of the University of Nebraska’s Peter Kiewit Institute and is a professor in the University’s Department of Biology. An accomplished researcher, Snyder’s vitae lists 35 publications. He has been an assistant, associate or full professor since 1998 and was a National Science Foundation Alfred P. Sloan Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Molecular Evolution at the University of New Mexico from 1996 to1998. His administrative background is varied and includes former service as the president of both the Nebraska Applied Research Institute and the University of Nebraska’s
Peter Kiewit Institute Technology Development Corporation. He was also a program director at the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology. Snyder also has diverse international and philanthropic experience. Snyder earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in parasitology and a Bachelor of Science degree in biological sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and earned a Master of Science degree in parasitology from Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Snyder is familiar with Idaho and looks forward to working here. He has hiked in various places in Idaho, including three long backpack trips in different wilderness areas. “I absolutely fell in love with the place, which is why I keep coming back,” Snyder said. “So, when I saw that this position was available and I found out about the strengths of Idaho State University and the College of Science and Engineering, and the great beauty and outdoor opportunities all around it, it was an unbeatable combination.”
College of Education Dean Kathryn M. Hildebrand has been named Dean of the College of Education at Idaho State University.
Hildebrand, having served as the dean of the College of Education at Troy University, was chosen in part because of her unique background in both teacher education and sports science, two of the programs housed in the College of Education. Hildebrand said she is looking forward to continuing and strengthening the College of Education’s relationships with state and area schools and community organizations, and that she hopes to develop ways of increasing access to opportunities the College has to offer. Increasing the number of teacher education graduates is a high priority. “I’m looking forward to exploring new possibilities,” she said. Prior to her time at Troy University, Hildebrand was assistant vice provost at Northern Arizona University, where she also served as assistant dean for the College of Education and the assistant chair for the Department of Health Sciences. She previously served as a faculty member and department chair at Fresno Pacific College. Hildebrand earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and a masters degree in education from Stanford University, and competed in track and field. She earned a doctorate in physical education and curriculum and instruction from Florida State University.
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ISU Partners to Open Bengal Pharmacy in Kendrick After living without pharmacy services for three years, residents in the rural towns of Kendrick and Juliaetta now have reason to celebrate. A local pharmacy has now returned to the area, through a partnership with Idaho State University’s Bengal Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy and Gritman Medical Center in Moscow. After ISU representatives worked for several years to change the Pharmacy Practice Act in Idaho, allowing a pharmacist to dispense medications remotely via video conferencing and telecommunications, a fourth telepharmacy location operated by Bengal Pharmacy staff opened in Kendrick in January. Citizens will no longer have to make the nearly 30-mile drive to Lewiston or Moscow to pick up their prescription medication. The rural Idaho towns of Challis, Council and Arco celebrated similar openings of Bengal Telepharmacy locations in the last five years. Telepharmacy is the delivery of pharmaceutical care using telecommunications and other information technologies to patients in locations who do not have direct contact with a pharmacist. Misty Lynam, a pharmacy technician in Kendrick, works in conjunction with a pharmacist or student pharmacy intern at Bengal Pharmacy in Pocatello, using still and video cameras, telephone and email to verify a patient’s medication.
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The prescriptions, pill bottles, medication labels and even the tablets themselves, are placed below a camera by Lynam, and viewed by pharmacists in Pocatello for accuracy before being dispensed to the patient. Each time a new patient, or an existing patient taking a new medication, fills a prescription there, they are offered a consultation with that pharmacist. The consultation takes place in a private room, via video conferencing. Both Shanna O’Connor, director of clinical services and Brett Jacobson, pharmacist in charge at Bengal Pharmacy in Pocatello say patient counseling is not only a requirement under state law, but it’s something they love to do. O’Connor offers prescription counseling to nearly every patient she sees, just to ensure there aren’t going to be any unwanted side effects or complications. O’Connor said she enjoys providing the counseling because it helps make sure her patients are
getting the best regimen of medications for them. “Some of my highly complex patients who are dealing with chronic conditions such as heart disease are taking anywhere between seven and 30 medications at a time,” O’Connor said. “Many people think pharmacists are trying to push drugs to their patients, but that isn’t the case. I’m an advocate for controlling chronic disease with as few medications as possible, even zero if possible. Drugs are the answer for some things, but not everything.”
Health Science Center in Meridian Named The Idaho State University-Meridian Health Science Center is now the Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center at ISU– Meridian. ISU announced the name change during a celebration Jan. 23, honoring the late drugstore magnate, his wife Aline and The ALSAM Foundation, the charitable trust the couple established in 1984 in support of education, medical research and human services. “We are honored to have the names of Sam and Aline Skaggs on our building. Because of their generous financial support, we are able to provide the highest level of health professions education while improving access to quality health care for underserved Idahoans,” said ISU President Arthur C. Vailas.
Ada School District to construct the health science center and fund student pharmacy scholarships. A recent gift of $3.85 million will allow ISU to add a second floor to the complex for additional classroom and research space.
From left-ISU Provost Laura Woodworth-Ney, Lt. Gov. Brad Little, state Board of Education President Linda Clark, ISU President Arthur Vailas, ISU Vice President for Health Sciences Rex Force, Susie Balukoff, daughter of Sam and Aline Skaggs, with husband A.J. Balukoff, and Ronny Cutshall, president of The ALSAM Foundation.
“Educating health care professionals was always a priority for my father,” said Sam Skaggs’ daughter Susie Balukoff, a member of The ALSAM Foundation’s Grants Committee. “I can’t help but think how proud and grateful he would be to see the progress at ISU-Meridian.”
Citing a number of labor department statistics, Little told the audience Idaho has 20,000 jobs that have yet to be filled—with a significant number in the health professions. “This facility is absolutely the key to filling many of those jobs,” he said.
“This has been a dream that has mushroomed into a physical building. We have all had a part in this. This is your day to celebrate and be excited about the role of health care education in the state of Idaho,” Balukoff said.
Vailas thanked the foundation, state lawmakers, ISU administrators and the state Board of Education for sharing a vision that, within 11 years, transformed a shuttered electronics plant into a state-of-theart health science complex that graduates several hundred students a year.
ALSAM gifts have also funded anatomy, physiology, bioskills and research labs at ISU-Meridian—resources that strengthened Idaho’s bid for the state’s first medical school. The privately owned Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine will open this fall next to the Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center.
A LEGACY OF GIVING
Other speakers included Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little, ISU’s Vice President for Health Sciences Rex Force, Meridian Associate Vice President Patricia Marincic and students.
Since 2007, The ALSAM Foundation has donated more than $10 million to ISU. The university used an initial gift of $5.25 million to buy property from the West
Students—representing disciplines from counseling, physician assistant studies and audiology to nursing, pharmacy and sign-language studies—thanked The ALSAM Foundation for supporting ISU-Meridian programs. “Without this wonderful facility, the wonderful faculty, the top-notch education and my clinical experiences, I would not be who or where I am today, and for that I am forever grateful,” said Idaho native Kalley Ellis, who is pursuing a doctorate in audiology. ISU-Meridian offers more than 30 programs and online degrees in the health sciences and houses numerous clinics, including counseling, speech and language, and a full-service dental clinic.
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New VP for Student Affairs Named
Studying Folk Music in Sweden
Lyn Redington has been named Idaho State University’s vice president for student affairs.
Growing up, Caitlin Vitale-Sullivan always had an interest in music, as she was classically trained in violin for 12 years. It wasn’t until Vitale-Sullivan went to Norway as a Rotary Exchange student that she became interested in the varying types of folk music around the world.
Kulning is used in communicating over long distances to other animal tenders. It is also used to call animals in or ward off predators. Each call is specific to different herds.
Vitale-Sullivan, who was born and raised in Pocatello, will be graduating from ISU with a degree in biology with an emphasis in ecology and conservation. Though Vitale-Sullivan loves biology, she wanted to take a year to study music. Her desire to study folk music prompted her to apply for the Fulbright Grant, which is a U.S. student program that offers research, study and teaching opportunities in over 140 countries around the world.
Vitale-Sullivan will look at what sounds and pitches should be used to carry the sound the furthest distance, to better understand the development of this type of music.
Redington currently serves as assistant vice president and dean of students at The University of Iowa. Redington spent more than 20 years at University of Northern Iowa, primarily as director of residence life, as well as interim dean of students, associate director of residence life and an adjunct faculty member. She holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies, a Master of Science degree in professional studies in higher education and a bachelor’s degree in sociology, all from Iowa State University. Redington said she is planning to spend her first few months getting to know the student affairs team and listening to the needs of students. Redington said ISU is a good fit for her, personally and professionally. Redington and her husband, Mike, have two collegeaged daughters, Amme and Emma. “From the first interactions I had with members of Idaho State University, I felt like I had come home,” she said. “ISU is an institution with excellent faculty, staff and students. I am very excited about being part of the Bengal family.” Redington will begin her duties at ISU on July 1.
“The Fulbright Program aims to foster global connection between countries,” Vitale-Sullivan said. “Global communication and friendship are emphasized, as well as a high education level.” The application process was rigorous and required a unique project that can only be done in a specific country. “For my project, I will be studying a music called Kulning,” Vitale-Sullivan said. “In very broad terms, it is Swedish cow calling music.”
“This music is really integrated into the landscape,” Vitale-Sullivan said.
“My project will really look at the interaction between folk music and landscape in Sweden,” Vitale-Sullivan said. “I am excited to see how these things are integrated into the folk music there.” Vitale-Sullivan will start school in Sweden in September and will be conducting research for two semesters. After Vitale-Sullivan returns from Sweden, she plans to work for a year, and then apply for a graduate program in agroecology in Norway. She hopes to use the research she gathers in Sweden to help her graduate studies in the interaction of sound with architecture and design. “I want to be able to have the greatest impact that I can in the communities that need it most,” said Vitale-Sullivan.
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Chemistry and Cosmetology Camie Parsons, a current, nontraditional Idaho State University chemistry master’s student, never imagined that being a cosmetologist would prompt her to go back to college to study chemistry. She’s now a single mother to four kids, completing graduate school and starting a business based off her cosmetology and chemistry background. As a cosmetologist, Parsons frequently dealt with clients who had damaged and broken hair due to over coloring and perming. But, Parsons didn’t get her idea to color and wave hair in a better way until she was visited by a client who came in who had tried to perm her own hair and had severely damaged it. Parsons tried to fix the client’s hair, but it was beyond repair. This experience was traumatic for Parsons and the client, and Parsons started thinking about better ways to color hair that were less damaging. “I was originally a stylist,” said Parsons, who was born and raised in Pocatello. “I went to school to be a chemist because I thought there had to be a better and healthier way to color and perm hair.” Chemistry students are required to design and present a senior project that demonstrates the skills and research done over the course of the program. “For my senior project, I decided to see if I could create a way to wave and color hair that causes no damage,” Parsons said. After weeks spent in the lab under the supervision of Caryn Evilia, an associate professor of chemistry and biology, Parsons finally accomplished her goal. She found a way to wave and color hair that not only prevents previously-unavoidable damage, but actually helps repair hair. “Parsons wants to help others by designing better cosmetics,” Evilia said. “She uses improved, safer chemistry to do this.” Parsons has done extensive testing to ensure that her product truly is safer and healthier than others. “I’ve done the process on hair samples 15 times before you start to see damage,” Parsons said.
After presenting her findings at her senior seminar, Parsons was advised to turn her project into a business, which was a daunting task for a cosmetologist turned chemistry major. “The teachers in the chemistry department are amazing and incredibly supportive,” Parsons said. “The support of the faculty in the chemistry department has been essential to the growth of this project.” Upon the advice of her professors, Parsons entered the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge where she pitched her idea to a panel of judges. She received second place in the competition. After the presentation, multiple judges wanted to invest in her company, which was the win she wanted. Parsons has now created a company IUVENI, which means youth in Latin, and is marketing a product called Duality that can be used to wave and color hair. IUVENI Duality hopes to recapture the beautiful and resilient hair that youth have. IUVENI Duality is safe and sustainable to use compared to traditional products, because the primary source for a significant ingredient is a natural product derived from sunflowers. Testing has been done at salons in Pocatello with “mind-blowing” results,
Parsons said. Duality works with any existing color brand to color and wave hair with no damage. The whole process takes about an hour and a half. Parsons has received calls from salons all over the United States asking about Duality. She hopes to take IUVENI and Duality international as soon as she can “Asia spends the most money annually on hair coloring and perming,” Parsons said. “We hope to get Duality over there soon.” Parsons is still shocked at the success of IUVENI, and she hopes that her product Duality, along with other products she is developing, can continue to help people keep their hair healthy and repair damaged hair. “People are never going to stop coloring their hair,” Parsons said. “Finding ways to make it a healthier process is crucial.” Parsons is looking forward to the launch of Duality later this year. She is currently working on other hair care products as part of her graduate research. For more information on IUVENI, visit www.iuveni.com. Tori Parks, Marketing Career Path Intern SPRING 2018
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ISU Graduate Student Studies Food History at World War II Internment Camp Located 121 Miles from ISU From 1942 to 1945, more than 110,000 Japanese-Americans were removed from their homes in the Pacific Northwest and sent to live in internment camps after Pearl Harbor. The government saw them as a threat to the military and thought they were too dangerous to live on the west coast. The internment camps were placed on undeveloped federal lands throughout the Midwest so refugees could help develop the land.
to Twin Falls. One of his professors at CSI published a book on Minidoka, and Dunn wanted to learn more and find out ways to get involved.
The Minidoka Internment Camp was located on 33,000 acres in Jerome County, Idaho, and housed 13,000 people. At first, surrounding communities didn’t want the Japanese-Americans there because they thought that if they were too dangerous to be on the west coast then they were too dangerous for their local communities. Although the local residents initially said no, they realized they needed to utilize the free labor.
Dunn has now interned with the National Park Service at the Minidoka Internment Camp for four years helping with site management, tours and planning events. He also helps at the annual Minidoka Pilgrimage, where former incarcerees, their families and friends travel to Minidoka to learn, share memories and ask questions about their experiences. Dunn also serves on the “Friends of Minidoka” board of directors, the agency which oversees interpretation and projects at Minidoka.
Andrew Dunn, an ISU history graduate student, has spent his collegiate career studying the ins and outs of the Minidoka Internment Camp, narrowing his research down to the history of food inside the internment camp. “There has been research on military and race relations, but nothing with food has been done,” Dunn said. “I wanted to look at Minidoka through a different lens.” Dunn received his associate’s degree in history from College of Southern Idaho, and chose ISU to continue studying history close
“I called the National Parks and found out that they had a lot of opportunities to intern,” Dunn said. “They were short staffed, so I got to take a lot more responsibility and play a larger role in projects.”
One of the key reasons Dunn chose to study the history of food at Minidoka was learning that government records give Japanese-American refugees credit for helping the United States persevere during the war. “The Japanese-Americans helped save sugar and the food supply in the country,” Dunn said. “Without them, there would be no food to go overseas, and not enough sugar to be used for bombs or ammunition.”
WE WERE BORN TO
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Department of Theatre and Dance
Eden, Idaho. Newly arrived evacuees from the assembly center at Puyallup, Washington, are registered and assigned barrack apartments at this War Relocation Authority center. Photo by Francis Stewart, War Relocation Authority photographer, Department of the Interior
There were limited rations given at the internment camp, and residents had to make their own food. They became completely self-sustainable and had crops, and hog and poultry farms. They would also trade with camps in Utah for beef. Some records show they created their own tofu plant in Minidoka, which was one of the most popular foods they ate at home. “They needed enough food to eat and also be able to hold onto their culture,” Dunn said. “Food history can be a means of cultural and social history, and helps us better understand how relationships evolved.” Dunn is also looking into how being in the camp demolished the family structure. Families never sat down to eat together while
at camp, because children ran to sit with their friends in the dining hall. Dunn said that this didn’t change once families left the camp. As part of his research, Dunn had the opportunity to sit down with a woman who moved to the Minidoka Internment Camp when she was 10 years old. Dunn said he was able to learn about her experiences living in the camp as a child, and cross referenced other things he has discovered in his research. Dunn defended his thesis in May on foodways at the WWII Japanese internment camp in Minidoka. He has also been accepted into the history Ph.D. program at the University of Utah, and he will start in August. Melissa Lee, ‘14
TWO-YEAR ONLINE DEGREE PROGRAM
MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING (MAT) Are you interested in an online Masters degree? Are you interested in gaining teacher certification? Are you looking for an alternate route to certification that can lead to a Masters degree? If you said, “Yes” to any of these questions, then one of the three options in the ISU MAT is for you!
Contact: Raylene Houck, houcrayl@isu.edu, (208) 282-2783
Pocatello | Idaho Falls | Meridian | Twin Falls
SPRING 2018
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College of Arts and Letters Increasing Recruitment Through Three New Programs In Spring 2016, College of Arts and Letters Dean Kandi Turley-Ames recognized an immediate need for recruiting local Southeast Idaho high school students and decided to start three recruiting initiatives to establish stronger relationships between the College, local high school teachers and most importantly, local high school students. The first program was the Liberal Arts High program, designed to send professors to area high schools to give presentations on their areas of expertise and to share information about ISU. The goal for these visits is for high school students to establish a personal connection with a college faculty member and, in turn, to become excited about the idea of attending ISU where they could take classes with their Liberal Arts High professor. During the 2017-2018 school year, the College reached more than 6,600 students and visited 37 schools in 25 Idaho cities. This was an increase from the 2016-2017 school year, where the College reached more than 5,500 students in 28 schools in 17 Idaho cities. The three counties most visited by Liberal Arts High saw substantial increases in enrollment: Bannock County, 44.3 percent; Bingham County, 90 percent; Bonneville County, 122.6 percent, resulting in an overall increase of 64.8 percent. The College also recognized a need for scholarships for rural Idaho students, and the Road Scholarship program was started to provide additional funding and establish relationships with more area students. Principals and teachers at Southeast Idaho high schools nominated deserving students with need, who then submitted a short essay outlining their goals and dreams.
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Turley-Ames traveled to each high school and awarded the student scholarships during an assembly, class session or small student meeting.
enrolled. In Spring 2018, the program nearly tripled with 29 students and nearly doubled from four participating high schools to eight.
In the program’s first year, 14 Southeast Idaho students received scholarships totaling $28,000, and the yield rate for these scholarship recipients was 87 percent. Many of the students who received scholarships had no plans to attend college, let alone ISU. In 2018, the second year of the program, 28 students received Road Scholarships, and that number is still growing. The program also expanded to include students interested in different disciplines, and other ISU colleges have awarded student Road Scholarships.
“Our goal is for our programs is to continue to grow in size so we can create more opportunities for our local high school students,” said Holly Kartchner, Director of Outreach and Retention. “We want to be able to help as many students in Southeast Idaho be prepared for College, and we believe these programs are the best ways to do so.”
“Coming from a farming family, a degree didn’t always seem possible,” said Jacob Harris, the College’s first Road Scholarship recipient. “I am grateful for the opportunity to receive scholarships because without them I wouldn’t be at ISU today.” The last program started by the College to help with recruitment and enrollment was the On-Campus Dual-Enrollment Pilot Program. The program offers local high school students an opportunity to take college courses not always available at their local high schools. The courses are taught by ISU professors, and credits are transferrable across the country. During its first semester, the program had 10 students from four Southeast Idaho high schools
All three programs have proved successful as the overall College of Arts and Letters enrollment continues to increase. For the Fall 2017, semester enrollment was up 11.7 percent. Also, new in-state student enrollment for those declaring in the Arts and Letters increased from 215 in Fall 2016 to 378 in Fall 2017, a 75.8 percent increase. There was also a notable 171 percent increase in undecided Arts and Letters majors, students not yet ready to decide on a specific major but who decided to declare interest in the College. Melissa Lee, ’14
ISU Chemists Develop Crime-Solving Technology When criminals file off serial numbers from a stolen vehicle or firearm, why couldn’t you use thermal images to recover them? That idea was hatched by late Dennis Strommen, Idaho State University chemistry professor emeritus and former chemistry department chair, who died in 2014. ISU researchers have now taken that idea and made it work, using thermal imaging to recover serial numbers scraped or filed off of stolen items. Strommen and current ISU Department of Chemistry Chair Rene Rodriguez were driving back from a meeting in Portland when Strommen shared his idea. “He said there was something he had always wanted to do, to try this forensic work where you try to thermally image a surface by passing heat through it and he thought you should able to recover the serial numbers,” Rodriguez said. “And so I said that sounds reasonable to me.” The pair wrote a grant proposal to explore idea. Their first proposal was rejected, but their second one with John Kalivas was accepted by the Office of Justice Programs of the National Institute of Justice, which initially provided about $316,000 in 2013 and then has provided an additional $200,000 this year for two more years of exploration. Sadly, Strommen, at age 75, passed away before he could work on the grant. However, his idea has worked out, but not quite like he imagined. “Dennis and I thought you use the thermal imaging and you should pretty much just be able to see the numbers with your naked eye,” Rodriguez said. “For the most part you have to use mathematical imaging methods to see the image and pull the numbers out. That was surprising to me and I think it would have been to Dr. Strommen, too.” Rodriguez, a physical chemist, brought in John Kalivas, an ISU chemistry professor and analytic chemist, who specializes in multivariate data analysis. “We couldn’t have done this without John,” Rodriguez said.
Inside a lab in the ISU Physical Sciences Building, ISU researchers shoot laser beams through an array of mirrors and lenses that shine on a sample and a high-speed, infrared camera takes multiple images of this process. This data is then collected and analyzed so the researchers can “read” the mathematically produced images that have been scratched away. When a number is stamped in metal it “strains the atomic crystalline structure and deforms it.”
to help fill Strommen’s role. They’ve also received help from undergraduate chemistry students, Ben Poulter, Kenji Brock and now Kali Castle.
“So when you file off the number and you can’t see it anymore, a residual strain remains in the atomic crystalline structure so we run a heat wave through the metal and the thermal propagation is still altered due to the residual strain,” Kalivas said. “In a homogenous crystalline structure it is going to propagate in certain way, but as soon as you strain it, the thermal propagation changes in the area of the strain and we’re going to see that in infrared camera imaging but it is a very, very small signal.”
“The next two years is verification of the process and fine-tuning it and comparing our results to chemical etching,” Kalivas said.
“With the human eye you can’t see the number,” Kalivas continued, “so we have to do the mathematical data analysis to tear the data apart to find that residual strain because it is buried in the measured thermal image.” The ISU research team includes Lisa Lau, a research associate, and Ikwulono David Unobe, a doctoral chemistry student who have competed most of the lab measurements and analysis. Andrew Sorensen, now civil engineering faculty at Utah State University, was brought in
The researchers have successfully used this method to retrieve numbers from test samples and from one real sample, a stolen motorcycle. With the new grant funding, the ISU researchers will work with law enforcement agencies in Idaho and Utah to get more real samples to work on.
Chemical etching is the destructive form of recovering serial numbers that is currently in use. Perhaps the greatest value of this new method is that it is non-destructive. Other chemical methods destroy the surface and are a “one-anddone” process. ISU’s new process could be employed first, and then if it was unsuccessful, other methods could be used. The researchers are excited about their work’s potential. “It is satisfying to work on a project like this because you think, ‘wow, it really could help people, by helping law enforcement officials track down criminals or restore stolen items to owners,’” Lau said. “It is a useful technique that might become commonplace in labs sometime. It is really satisfying for me to work on a project that might have immediate use.” Andrew Taylor SPRING 2018
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I KNOW A GUY 18
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One man in particular has been an intregal part of Anthropology Professor Christian Peterson’s career for more than 20 years, but he still does not know his name. Over the decades, Peterson and his students have learned that the man was middle-aged, quite large, a hard-worker, and that his job required repetitive manual labor. He also knows that sometime before 1979, the man was murdered, dismembered and left in a cave near Dubois, Idaho. His torso was found in a burlap bag in 1979— in 1991, his limbs were discovered in the same cave. His head has never been found, making it very difficult for him to be identified. Researchers have studied his clothing searching for clues based on the types of snaps used on the shirt, for example, but have come up with very little information. Using an extensive database of bones from around the world, graduate student Hannah Dawson was able to discern a likely ancestry, age, stature and sex using measurements of his femur, pelvis, tibia, ulna and scapula. For many years, Peterson, his colleague Amy Michael, and countless students have tried to learn more information about the man, in hopes of providing closure to his family.
Amy Michael and Christian Peterson study remains with a group of graduate students. “He’s been helping us teach generations of students,” Peterson said, “but he didn’t sign up for this.” Since arriving at Idaho State University, Michael has worked with law enforcement and the clues found through decades of research, trying to end the case. She hopes that, through anonymous reporting, someone will someday come forward with information. “Somebody knows what happened to him,” she said. “Our first duty is to the deceased individual.” The bones are only some of many that have graced Peterson and Michael’s teaching and research laboratory. Another set of bones came to the University in 1998, when Peterson assisted law enforcement in identifying a deceased man whose body was not claimed by his family. Peterson said cases like that one are sad, but that through the bones, his students have been able to learn not only the basics of forensic anthropology and osteology, but about how lifestyle issues, like alcohol and opiod abuse, can affect bone structure and change the way the body ages. “He has done a lot of good,” Peterson said.
During her career, Michael has worked with law enforcement many times, helping to solve cases, or working as an expert witness. Forensic anthropologists are different than law enforcement officials in that they can look at cases from an academic perspective. Locally, the researchers have trainings planned with law enforcement to share what kind of knowledge they can bring to cases, and so law enforcement and the University can work together to provide more opportunities for students. Forensic anthropologists can study the soil or bug life surrounding a crime scene, for example, and determine Forensic anthropologists can be especially helpful in cold cases, like the man found near Dubois. “We care about culture and people,” she said. “We have the ability to sit here and think, and to try new methods.” Michael didn’t plan on becoming a forensic anthropologist. Originally, she was a women’s studies major. It only took one osteology course for her to change her career path. “It blew me away that you could know so much with just looking at bones,” she said. “It is incredibly satisfying.”
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Revitalizing
LABORATORY REMODELS REJUVENATE GALE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING AND GIVES A TASTE OF WHAT’S TO COME
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Michael Thomas, Idaho State University biological sciences chair, is excited, to put it mildly, about the $1.8-million remodel of five laboratory spaces in the Gale Life Sciences Building “They are gorgeous, just awesome,” Thomas said. “They’re beautiful. They are really, really sweet.” The remodels were done last summer and the students began using them fall 2017. The remodeled labs, including anatomy and physiology, general ecology, cell biology and neurobiology facilities, serve more than 1,200 students per year. The labs serve at least 13 different ISU programs,
“
The remodels were from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, with pretty much everything ripped out and replaced. “In the basement, that included digging up the concrete floor and moving around plumbing,” Thomas said. “In all spaces, ceilings came down and HVAC was
The project was an absolute success. The spaces were beautifully designed by the architects and make a big visual improvement to the interior of the building.
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– Jason Adams,
director of design and construction ISU Facilities Services including a variety of biological sciences programs and Kasiska Division of Health Sciences programs including the nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy/ occupational therapy, pharmacy, medical laboratory science and the Idaho Dental Education Program “Top to bottom, the remodels have made the facilities so much nicer,” Thomas said. “It helps teaching because it is much more of a cleaner, organized space designed for a specific use. The new facilities have also been huge for recruiting.”
replaced. It was four rooms totally rebuilt.” The laboratory remodels also serve as a preview of the $12 million remodel of the Gale Life Sciences Building that will occur over the next five or six years. “These laboratories will be used as a design template for the remodel of the rest of the building,” Thomas said. “Most of what will be remodeled is research space, not so much teaching space, but these remodels will be a template for what is to come.”
Jason Adams, ISU director of design and construction for ISU Facilities Services, said he was also pleased with the remodels. “The project was an absolute success,” Adams said. “The spaces were beautifully designed by the architects and make a big visual improvement to the interior of the building.” Planners were concerned with the project’s construction timeframe because all the work need to be completed over the summer of 2017, before the fall 2017 semester was supposed to begin. “The contractor, Starr Corporation, did a great job streamlining their work and coordinating with the University to make this happen,” Adams said. “In fact, they were able to have the spaces ready for occupancy several weeks early.” Gale Life Sciences Building laboratory remodels included a complete gut and remodel of the labs located in rooms 153, 243, 247 and 261 and asbestos abatement of the floors and within the ceiling space. The labs also were upgraded with new flooring, tables and lab benches, ceilings with LED lighting, new plumbing fixtures, fume hoods and cabinets along the walls. New heating, ventilation and cooling equipment was installed to serve additional rooms. SPRING 2018
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OTHER GALE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING LABORATORY REMODELING HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: • ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY LABORATORIES, INCLUDING ROOMS 247, 250 AND 271 Room 247 is used to teach an anatomy physiology lab covering the musculoskeletal and nervous systems for more than 400 students per semester and an A&P lab covering cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and digestive systems for more than 350 students per semester. “This is an excellent facility,” Thomas said. “Our new lecturer Shannon Curran, and another lecturer Katrina Rhett, who have been gross anatomy teachers at other universities, say this really is a world-class facility. We’re lucky to have it.” The remodel included knocking out a wall and increasing the number of cadaver or donor stations from eight to 10, adding a new lighting setup and air diffuser, for better ventilation, at each station. Large screens in the room allow teachers in the Pocatello A&P labs to talk to 30 students in Pocatello and at the Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center at Idaho
State University-Meridian simultaneously, and images can be broadcast the opposite direction, too. Eventually, a camera system will be set up in this lab to allow instructors to broadcast images on screen from a donor, so students don’t have to crowd around one station to have the instructor point something out. Room 250, which houses the existing cadaver lab was expanded by 250 square feet to provide two additional teaching stations. Room 271, which houses an Anatomage Table and is across the hall from the anatomy suite, can be used for virtual dissections and has had high-resolution, “4k” screens installed so images from the Anatomage Table or from other sources can be displayed to students. “Students go back and forth from the anatomy donor suite and may be working on an actual donor (cadaver) and then they can look on the screen to find out what they’re supposed to be looking for,” Thomas said. “It provides a nice resource for the students.” The Anatomage Table has proved helpful in recruiting students.
• GALE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, ROOM 261, ECOLOGY, PHYSIOLOGY AND COMPARATIVE ANATOMY LABORATORY. This laboratory was outfitted with new tables that are tall and broad and new cabinetry. It also has new LED lighting and a new hidden screen for a projector. The lab is used for general ecology, human physiology, exercise physiology and comparative anatomy classes. “This is kind of a catch-all room were a lot of different things can happen,” Thomas said.
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Its cabinets are “filled with bones from different critters” and a variety of exercise machines can be wheeled out from side rooms that students use to get readings from.
• GALE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, ROOM 243, NEUROBIOLOGY LABORATORY Human neurobiology and foundations in neuroscience classes are taught in this laboratory that allows students to look at slides under microscopes at pieces of the neurosystem such as a cross-section of a spinal cord or pieces of the human brain. This laboratory was updated with new air diffusers for ventilation, lighting and desk/table space, among other improvements. “We have a human brain collection, but they don’t get to dissect and of that collection because the brains are so valuable,” Thomas said. “But the can look at human brains, either whole or in pieces or slices, and then they get sheep brains they can dissect themselves.” This space may also be used in the future to teach another anatomy and physiology class section. “There could be another couple of hundred students taking classes in this building,” Thomas said. “We fill these classes.”
• GALE LIFE SCIENCES BUILDING, ROOM 153 This laboratory is used by a wide number of classes, including cell biology, microbial diversity, experimental biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, food microbiology and fermentation fundamentals. This lab was redone and includes fume hoods, new refrigerators, LED lighting and other improvements.
FUTURE BENGALS
STUDENT REFERRAL PROGRAM
Do you know a high school student who would make a great future Bengal? They could be a relative, neighbor or colleagueĘźs child. Refer them today! After receiving your referral, your future Bengal will be contacted personally by an ISU Ambassador.
Tell us who you know that will make a great Bengal at isu.edu/alumni SPRING 2018
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School Work A visit to an elementary school earlier this year is what solidified Burley High School Senior Emma Gibbons’s decision to become a teacher. Through the Future Educators of Idaho, a group of clubs designed to help high school students interested in teaching, Gibbons had the opportunity to go to a local elementary school and observe and interact with the teachers and students for a day. “It was interesting to see how the teacher taught, how the students reacted and what things were really like in a classroom setting,” Gibbons said. “The teacher was so kind and compassionate towards the children. I realized while helping that teaching is what I really want to do.”
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classroom responsibilities that are needed as a teacher,” Gibbons said. “I’m excited to start my training for this wonderful profession at ISU this summer.” The students in various chapters around southern Idaho are able to contribute to teacher growth, despite the stigma associated with teaching. Hammond says students are “bombarded” with negative responses about pursuing a career in education, but this negativity doesn’t stop the students from chasing their dreams. “What they are trying to do is flip this narrative and raise awareness to their peers about the importance of teaching and why a career in this field is so important,” Hammond said.
High school students experience college courses at Future Educators Day. Although important, the career path Gibbons has chosen has become increasingly unusual. Schools across the nation are experiencing a teacher shortage, and Idaho is no exception, said College of Education Student Support Coordinator Camron Hammond. The Future Educator Association (FEA) was started by the College of Education three years ago. The goal of the association is to gain experienced educators and mentors who are willing to help students become accomplished educators. Camron Hammond, the student support coordinator, was asked to start implementing the new program in surrounding schools. “Currently, we have 12 FEA-related chapters established, and last year we had around 200 high school students participate in FEA activities” Hammond said. “We hope to have an additional eight chapters established in the next one to two years.”
The College of Education has representatives who attend meetings and provide mentorship and advice to aspiring educators. They also provide financial assistance to ensure that students interested in teaching have vast learning opportunities. “The culminating event each year for FEA students is the opportunity to visit Idaho State University for Future Educators Day. The objective of Future Educators Day is to provide students with opportunities to explore a career in teaching,” Hammond said. “Sixty percent of high school seniors who participated matriculated into ISU and are currently education majors.” Emma Gibbons, president of the Future Educators Association club at Burley High School, has gained motivation to further her education from taking part in the FEA club. “Being in the FEA club has taught me some of the professional requirements and
The Future Educators Association is determined to help students become interested in teaching and to facilitate those who already have a desire to pursue a career in the educational field. The FEA hopes to propel students towards teaching professions and gaining a higher education as well. The Future Educators Day at ISU gives insight on teaching, and allows students to feel what it’s like to be on a college campus. Future Education Association clubs participate in a variety of activities, ranging from service projects, fundraisers, case studies and teacher appreciation activities. However, Hammond said, “The most meaningful activities occur when our chapters have the opportunity to visit local elementary schools and work directly with students.” Club members are given the opportunity to gain hands on experience tutoring children and giving small group instruction. The College of Education has plans to create a dual-enrollment program to help more students realize their teaching aspirations. “We want our FEA students to have the opportunity to jump-start their education and help them get out into the field quicker so they can start making a difference in the lives of their students,” Hammond said. Tori Parks
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12 YEARS OF CHANGE Eleven years ago at his investiture ceremony, Idaho State University President Arthur Vailas told a large crowd of faculty, staff, students and community members that he understood that they were facing challenges, and he knew there would be more ahead. “Education is about challenge. It is about how we overcome challenge. In that process we uncover new challenges. It is an amazing cycle and it drives the engine of progress for humankind,” he said. He also stressed the importance of health care and energy research, two of the main focuses of his 12-year presidency. Vailas saw a need for many changes, from improving ISU’s facilities and financial situation to continuing to build relationships with the community. Most importantly, however, he wanted to make sure that the needs of the students were at the forefront. It was his work to improve the lives of students that makes him the most proud. “Everything we’ve done has been for the students,” he said. “If you aren’t focused on the students, then you have forgotten your mission — your focus.” Vailas retired from the University in June, and is looking forward to spending time with his family in Sedona, Arizona. Here’s a look back at just a few highlights of his time at ISU.
STUDENT SUPPORT
RESEARCH
Seeing a need for students to gain real-world experience in their fields before graduation, Vailas created the Career Path Internship program in 2010. The program offers students paid experience in their field of study. Along with internships on campus, students are also placed in positions throughout the community — employers are not only able to offer experience and knowledge, but gain a knowledgeable workforce paid for by the University. Students gain meaningful experience in their field and a paycheck. The program began with 232 students. Today, more than 800 students take advantage of the program. The CPI program has been a great tool for both recruitment and retention.
ISU is home to 11 centers and institutes for research, focusing on areas across disciplines, from GIS to archeology and ecology, and our researchers are studying issues that have a global impact. In recent years, the Office of Research has put an added focus on transferring the knowledge and research of our faculty to outside agencies and companies, where they can have a greater effect.
In March 2016, Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter and Vailas unveiled a pilot program that would lock in base tuition rates for degree-seeking Idaho freshmen enrolled at ISU for four continuous academic years. The goal is to make higher education more affordable and encourage students to complete their degrees in a timely manner. The program, the only one in the state, began in fall 2016 and continuous to benefit students. Since 2009, Idaho State University has been considered a “Military-Friendly School” by GI Jobs Magazine, in large part due to the Veteran Student Services Center, where student veterans can find specialized assistance with registration, veterans benefits both at ISU and in the community, family support, tutoring and more. First Lady Laura Vailas has been an ardent supporter of the program since its opening in 2009, and has served on the center’s advisory board. Seeing a community need, Laura Vailas, also a registered dietitian nutritionist, led efforts to found Benny’s Pantry in 2014, a food pantry for students and others in the ISU community who otherwise might have to choose between feeding themselves and feeding their families. She has served on the advisory board since its inception.
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HEALTH CARE
FACILITIES
INTERNAL NEEDS
Vailas’s role in bringing the Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine to the state was only one of the many ways ISU’s health care mission has expanded in the last decade.
During the past decade, Idaho State University has grown at our locations across the state. Since 2006, $121.1 million has been spent on projects to enhance and improve University campuses and facilities.
When Vailas arrived at ISU, he faced a number of monumental tasks. Financial resources were limited and the University had incredibly small financial reserves. The University was also without an Enterprise Resource Planning system to integrate budgets, planning, finances and other operations. Vailas and his team worked to rectify these issues, and today, the University has more than $19.4 million in unrestricted reserves. The University also boasts an A+ Stable rating from Standard & Poors, showing a sound financial standing and a strong capacity to meet financial commitments.
The Meridian campus opened in August 2009, consolidating multiple clinical sites located throughout the Boise area, and serves more than 1,000 students and working professionals in the Treasure Valley. The campus houses a full-service dental clinic, a speech/ language clinic and a counseling clinic as well as patient simulation and medical science laboratories. In 2015, the L.S. and Aline W. Skaggs Treasure Valley Anatomy and Physiology Laboratories opened, giving students and the community access to state-of-the art technology for learning. Vailas’s commitment to growing the health sciences at ISU paved the way for a $10 million upgrade to the Gale Life Science Building. Improvements included a new ventilation system, surgical lighting and a 3-D virtual anatomy table to enhance the student experience. Across the state, communities are now benefitting from Bengal Pharmacy, a cooperation between local partners and Idaho State University that allows rural communities to operate telepharmacies. Bengal Pharmacy now has locations in Arco, Kendrick, Challis and Council, Idaho. These pharmacies not only provide care to communities who would otherwise not have it, but they also provide rural health care training for future pharmacists.
In 2011, ISU purchased the former Ballard Medical building for research and learning endeavors. Today, the facility is known as William M. and Karin A. Eames Advanced Technical Education and Innovations Complex, and it is home to many College of Technology programs and research opportunities for students. The campus in Pocatello has seen a major renovation of the Pond Student Union. ISU students supported efforts to enhance the Student Recreation Center, a state-of-the-art fitness center that will continue to serve Bengals for generations to come. In Idaho Falls, a 10,153 square-foot space was renovated to create 20 offices for resident faculty, four new classrooms, two conference areas, distance learning capabilities and five study areas. Currently, 30 undergraduate and graduate programs are offered in Idaho Falls.
Vailas also worked with his team to improve benefits for employees, instituting a tuition benefit for employee dependents and working to ensure the employees’ wages were raised to the median pay according to the College and University Professional Association. In 2017, Forbes Magazine named Idaho State University in its list of “America’s Best Mid-Size Employers” after an independent study.
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ISU Student Wins Idaho Bodybuilding Championship Bobby Serna is an Aberdeen farm kid who is used to getting things done. Eight years ago when he tore ligaments in his left knee while playing soccer, he handled the physical therapy on his own. When he worked for Verizon Wireless, he was in the top 10 nationally in sales. And when he competed in the 2017 NPC Idaho Cup bodybuilding championships in November, he came home the overall winner. “I couldn’t believe it. I was so happy,” says the 26-year-old Idaho State University student who has been aggressively training since 2013. The NPC or National Physique Committee is the country’s amateur extension of the IFBB Professional League, the world’s premier organization for professional bodybuilders.
Bobby Serna at 2017 NPC Idaho Cup on Nov. 4 in Garden City. Photo by Mark Mason and provided by Bobby Serna.
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The November win in Garden City was a remarkable accomplishment for the 6-foot Serna, who competed in the light-heavyweight class. Overall titles often go to athletes in the heavyweight and super-heavyweight divisions. But Serna is a Bengal who loves a good challenge. When he graduated from Aberdeen High School in 2009, he weighed about 130 pounds. When he competed in the 2017 NPC Idaho Cup, he tipped the scales at 196 pounds. The years in between were spent sculpting his body and adapting the lifestyle of a competitive bodybuilder.
“More than pumping iron” Serna trains a minimum of two hours a day, six or seven days a week. When he’s preparing for a competition, he bumps his regimen to 30 hours a week, including weight training, cardio exercise and posing routines to showcase his muscularity, symmetry and conditioning.
“It’s not just about the gym. It’s about building a daily lifestyle,” says Serna, who follows a disciplined diet of lean meats, nutrient-dense foods and watches his sodium and sugar intake. Serna is creating a buzz in the amateur bodybuilding world— he’s already landed a sponsorship with the Utah-based company Feast Mode which manufactures and sells low-sodium food seasonings. Sponsorships are important because they help cover training costs, entrance fees and help build an athlete’s fan base. Serna has set up social media accounts and created his own You Tube channel called Serna Physique where fans can follow his workouts and keep tabs on his competitions. Building the body is good for the mind, says Serna. “It’s
about bringing good energy to your body. It relieves my stress. It makes me happy to do what I love. I am in control,” he adds. But his journey hasn’t been without physical pain. Remember the knee he blew out eight years ago? He injured three major ligaments in that same knee in 2013 while teaching tumbling moves to ISU cheerleaders. “I landed incorrectly and tore my ACL, MCL and LCL and had to get a meniscus transplant,” says Serna. Knee surgery to repair the damage came just four days after the first bodybuilding contest of his career in which he took first place in his weight class.
“Striving to be better”
Serna is the first child in his family to attend college, thanks to a scholarship from the Hispanic Youth Symposium which helped cover his first year’s tuition. In December, he’ll complete his ISU bachelor’s degree in general studies, a credential he hopes will advance his career at Pocatello’s Advantage Plus credit union where he works full time as a loan officer. As for bodybuilding, Serna has barely scratched the surface of his potential. He’s currently working on increasing his strength and size and plans to compete in a powerlifting competition this year. In 2019, he hopes to compete in the heavyweight division of a national bodybuilding contest sanctioned by the IFBB or International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness. “I’m trying to be the best I can be. That’s true in all aspects of my life. My goal is to build the best future I can for me and my family,” Serna said. He and his wife, Deena, are parents of an 8-month-old son named Beckham.
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Positive Persistence Sam Dowd remembers the feeling he used to get when he watched the better-off eat steak on the other sides of street-side windows. He remembers the homeless nights he slept outside, too. Dowd grew up longing for what most kids his age never have to go without: a loving family, a home, a bed, three square meals each day — a normal life by most standards. Dowd’s standard was packing garbage bags around western Washington as he sought out each night’s shelter. Most of the time, he found it at a friend’s house, sometimes at a coach’s. Some nights, he slept outside his middle school and awoke to the sounds of his classmates being dropped off and hurrying inside the next morning. Dowd would grab his backpack, head into the school and try to blend into the normalcy around him. “It was just like, damn,” Dowd said. “I don’t know where else to go.” Even when he had a home, he was fighting for a place to sleep. “Some nights, you sleep on the floor,” Dowd said. “Some nights, you have a bed.” Though Dowd’s past is mired in misfortune, you’d never know at first glance. At 5-foot-7 with boundless energy and a smile that never fades, Dowd always provided a spark for the Idaho State men’s basketball team this season. Whether he was zipping around the court in a blur or proudly cheering on his teammates from his toes on the sidelines, Dowd’s persistent positivity glowed. “People feed off of it,” Dowd said. “I just go with it, live life, smile. … That’s all you can do.”
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Dowd calls his life in western Washington the “dark days.” In search for stability, Dowd turned to another teammate, Reed Hopkins. Hopkins and his family lived in Spokane — nearly 300 miles across the state from Seattle — and offered Dowd a fresh start. Dowd moved to Spokane, enrolled at Gonzaga Preparatory School and lived with the Hopkins family for the duration of his freshman year. Once the Hopkins could no longer comfortably care for Dowd, which Dowd said was because of family health issues, Dowd found his home sweet home. Rather, it found him. One of Dowd’s teammates on the Gonzaga Prep football team was Matt Miller. Miller was a senior, about to graduate, when he heard Dowd needed a place to live. Miller’s parents, Jill and Ron Miller, knew Dowd. Jill Miller remembered Dowd as “vivacious” and “friendly” and that he “always seemed so happy.” So when Matt told his parents Dowd needed a home, they weren’t sure what to do. Had he gotten in trouble? Was he shopping for shelter until he graduated? “Matthew said, ‘He wants a family,’” Jill Miller said. “It did not take long to tell that’s what he was looking for. He was missing someone to care, someone to be there after a game to wait for him. That was really what he was longing for.” Dowd embraced the Millers as family right away. He’d look for them in the stands at his football games, and wave and smile once he spotted them. The Millers waited outside Dowd’s locker room after basketball games. “He just worked his way into our hearts,” Jill Miller said. After about five months, the Mill-
ers took legal guardianship over Dowd following a lengthy legal process. The once homeless, desperate kid who windowshopped for the perfect life finally had it. “Every situation he’d been in for the last several years had just been temporary,” Jill Miller said. “We decided that we wanted to send the message to him that this is not temporary. This is forever. We will be your family if you so desire, and he did.” Dowd’s basketball career has had its own share of challenges. From Gonzaga Prep, Dowd went to Carroll College in Helena, Montana, but did not play in his lone season. Next was North Idaho College in Coeur d’Alene. His second and final season at NIC, Dowd led the Northwest Athletic Conference with 7.1 assists per game, adding 17.8 points per game as the Cardinals went 25-5. Still, he had trouble finding a spot on a Division I roster. Being 5-foot-7 didn’t help. Idaho State was the only Division-I program to offer Dowd a full scholarship. He took it. “My goal was just to earn a scholarship,” Dowd said. “(The Millers) gave me this house and love and support and comfort, and so that was my gift to them and my gift to myself — just to work hard so I can get that scholarship so they don’t have to pay anything.” Dowd’s playing time wavered during the 2017-18 season, but he started eight games, including seven against Big Sky Conference opponents. He also logged 13 minutes in the Bengals’ end-of-season conference tournament game. His final stats: 9.3 minutes per game, 1.9 ppg in 29 appearances. Dowd’s story made its way around various media outlets, ultimately reaching the Associated Press, which pushed it to national publications. The U.S. Basketball
Writers Association picked Dowd to receive the annual Most Courageous Award, which recognizes a player, coach, official or administrator who has demonstrated extraordinary courage reflecting honor on the sport of amateur basketball, according to the award’s info page on the USBWA web site. Dowd will receive the award and $1,000 to the charity or scholarship fund of his choice at this year’s NCAA Tournament Final Four in San Antonio. “He is one of the most positive people I’ve ever met,” Idaho State coach Bill Evans told the Associated Press. “It’s amazing that he still is so positive after everything he’s been through.” Dowd has reconnected with his biological parents, but calls the Millers mom and dad. He’s at peace with his past and excited for his future. He’s in the process of applying for dual citizenship in the Philippines, where his birth mother is from. He hopes his story inspires others in similar predicaments, encouraging them to lean on a lifeline. Basketball was his. Then the Millers came along. “We have not looked back since,” Jill Miller said. “I think it was the best thing we ever did, for all of us.” Now, Dowd doesn’t have to worry about what used to be everyday obstacles. No more playing make-believe with a juicy steak. “I’m worried about being picky and not letting my food touch,” Dowd said. “They hate when I do.” Madison Guernsey Idaho State Journal
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GIVING BACK
An iconic Idaho family donates $100,000 in brother’s honor to educate next generation of health professionals Bill Smylie discovered life by facing death too early, according to his family. Diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer in 2009, Bill was a fighter. Despite a grim prognosis, the U.S. Army veteran lived eight years before his death Feb. 17, 2017 at age 68. “A fighting attitude is a darn good thing to have and he had one,” said his brother Steve Smylie, a former Idaho lawmaker and longtime Treasure Valley educator. What’s remarkable about Bill’s battle is
that he lived some of the best years of his life as time was running out, says Steve. Bill was able to experience new adventures and spend quality time with friends and family. He took a cruise to Alaska to see Mount Denali, sailed through the Panama Canal, flew over the Grand Canyon and touched the waters of the Colorado River. “Bill got such compassionate and amazing health care. I’m absolutely certain that’s why we got six bonus years that he may not have had otherwise,” said Steve, who served seven years in the Idaho
Legislature and sits on the West Ada School District Board of Trustees. Bill and Steve are the sons of Lucille and Robert E. Smylie, Idaho’s 24th governor who, in 1965, created the state’s park system and pushed for the adoption of a state sales tax to fund education. The parents also taught the boys the value of community service and the importance of giving back, said Steve, who administers the Smylie Family Legacy Fund, the family’s charitable trust.
CO L L A B O R AT I O N I N S P I R I N G I N N O VAT I O N The Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) is a consortium of five partners – Idaho National Laboratory, Boise State University, Idaho State University, University of Idaho, and University of Wyoming. 32
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Our goal is to be a regional resource for solving critical technical challenges, educating the next generation of scientific researchers, and providing industry assistance to fuel economic growth.
WHAT ENERGIZES YOU? Come find out at caesenergy.org
Steve and Bill Smylie (right) in a helicopter cockpit on one of their adventures in recent years. Photo courtesy of Steve Smylie.
Many of the health care professionals who treated Bill graduated from ISU-Meridian programs.
As Bill underwent chemotherapy treatment at the Boise Veterans Affairs Medical Center, he was grateful to the medical team—the doctors, nurses, physician assistants and lab technicians—who not only “brought the healing arts to life,” but bought him the luxury of time, said Steve. To thank them and support the next generation of health care professionals, Bill
and the Smylie family donated $100,000 to Idaho State University last summer to advance health science education at the Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center at ISU-Meridian. ISU’s Kasiska Division of Health Sciences will purchase equipment and supplies to enhance training and education opportunities on the Meridian campus.
“We are so incredibly indebted to the Smylie family for their generosity and thoughtfulness. Gifts like theirs will allow the Sam and Aline Skaggs Health Science Center the flexibility and timeliness to continue the excellent teaching, learning and community-building that happen there,” said Collette Wixom-Call, the Division’s development director. ISU-Meridian offers more than 30 graduate and undergraduate programs, including online degrees, and serves approximately 1,000 students and working professionals in the Treasure Valley.
WORKING WITH THE WORLD MATH & SCIENCE
Biology Chemistry Computer Science Geosciences Health Physics Mathematics and Statistics Physics
ENGINEERING
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(208) 282-3099 cose@isu.edu • isu.edu/cse
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SEPTEMBER 24-29, 2018 34
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Adrenaline Rush: Susan Bistline and Her Harley When late spring comes to the Treasure Valley, Susan Bistline packs her custommade leathers, loads her Harley-Davidson Sportster into a 16-foot trailer and hits the road with husband Bruce. They head to racetracks throughout the west in their 40-foot motor home—places like Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Woodburn, Oregon—where Bistline races her 1993 Sportster at speeds of 120 per hour down a quarter-mile course. “I’ve always loved speed. It’s exhilarating,” says Bistline who graduated from Idaho State University in 1980 with a degree in dental hygiene. A dental hygienist for 25 years before retiring, Bistline was the first hygienist to serve on the Idaho Board of Dentistry and is a 2016 recipient of an ISU Professional Achievement Award for her contributions to the state’s dental hygiene community. Bistline, who lives in Boise, is in her eighteenth year of motorcycle drag racing, a sport that requires nerve, skill and an understanding of the physics that move
the two-wheeled machines down the strip. Competitors don’t merely line up and floor their bikes; they learn to appreciate the nuances of riding, such as how to manage the clutch and throttle to guarantee a perfect launch at the starting line. Bistline admits folks raise an eyebrow when she tells them she races motorcycles for fun. She recalls her husband’s reaction years ago when she told him she wanted a Harley. “I thought he was going to pass out. The color went from his face and his jaw dropped,” she recalls with a laugh. He soon warmed to the idea and even bought a street bike for himself. The couple road together until Bistline’s passion took her to the race track. “You never forget your very first face. It was early in the season at the (the former) Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix. I still fill the excitement when I talk about it now,” she says. Drag races are a quarter-mile long. Riders line up next to each other, two at a time in designated lanes. For Bistline,
operating her Sportster is the easy part; the challenge is maintaining a laser-like focus on the so-called Christmas tree, a column of multicolored staging lights and beams that bring riders to the starting line. Jump the green light and you’re disqualified. React too slowly and you’re left in the dust. “You can win or lose a race on the lights,” says Bistline. Milliseconds can separate one racer’s time from another. Bistline, who races in white, pink and black leathers with “Sue” emblazoned on the front left side, is seldom nervous before she races. “I’m never scared, but I do get an adrenaline rush,” she says. There have been a few close calls over the years, including the time she flipped her bike at the conclusion of a race in Las Vegas and injured her shoulder. But that’s the risk of doing something you love, and Bistline, who turned 63 in April, has no plans to hang up her leathers. “I am going to do this as long as I can,” she says.
Susan Bistline at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Photo courtesy of Susan Bistline by Eagle Star Photography/Edited by Joey Gifford SPRING 2018
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Remembering Jon Huntsman, Sr. Jon Huntsman, Sr., philanthropist and founder of Huntsman Corporation, passed away Feb. 2, leaving behind a legacy of generosity to Idaho State University and countless other institutions, charities and communities. Huntsman, whose experience being hospitalized with cancer himself, was inspired to create the Huntsman Cancer Institute in hopes of providing an improved experience for patients and their families. He dedicated his life and resources to finding a cure for this monstrous disease. Jon and his wife, Karen, have provided countless opportunities to students at ISU in their extraordinarily generous support of student scholarships. In an appreciation letter to the Huntsmans, one woman said, “I see this as a gateway opening to my future. I hope to do great things as a woman, to give aid to those in need, such as you have done for me. It amazes me to see how much good is in this world, where some other person is willing to pay for another’s doorway into a better life. I promise you, I will do my best to become like you.”
The Utah billionaire and Blackfoot native has donated or pledged more than $580 million to cancer research through the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and donated more than $1.8 billion to charities throughout his lifetime, including many substantial gifts to Idaho State University student scholarships. In 2002, ISU honored Huntsman with an honorary doctorate in Science and Humane Letters. Huntsman spoke at ISU’s commencement and shared many personal experiences along with his love for Southeast Idaho. “In a world of challenge and sometimes great despair, Jon Huntsman has always been a beacon of light. His goodness and perseverance has provided hope to millions around the world. There is no greater gift that one can give than the gift of hope,” said ISU Vice President for Advancement Kent Tingey. “Our world is a better place because of him and his wife, Karen. Jon will be profoundly missed and, undoubtedly, his family will carry on his great legacy of providing hope. Idaho State University is deeply grateful for the kindness of Jon and Karen.”
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ALUMNI NEWS 1970s
2000s
Evan Frasure, ’77, is Idaho’s new Farm Service Agency director. Frasure is a Republican who served a two-year term in Idaho’s House of Representatives beginning in 1990 and spent a decade as a state senator starting in 1992. Recently, he served one year as a Bannock County Commissioner.
Joan Agee, ‘00, has been selected as the president-elect for the Nurse Leaders of Idaho. Agee’s two-year term as president-elect of the statewide organization starts in January, followed by a two-year term as president. Agee is the chief nursing officer at St. Luke’s Nampa. Previously, she served as the vice president of patient care services/chief nursing officer of St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston, and director of perioperative services at St. Joseph Medical Center and Alaska Regional Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska.
Idaho State University alumnus and 2017 Professional Achievement Award winner Chris Carlson, ‘70, has written a new book “Hells Heroes: How an unlikely alliance saved Idaho’s Hells Canyon.” Carlson has penned three other acclaimed books – “Cecil Andrus: Idaho’s Greatest Governor,” “Medimont Reflections” and “Eye on the Caribou.”
1980s Dan Hammon, ‘80, has been promoted to senior vice president and regional credit officer for eastern Idaho at D. L. Evans Bank. Hammon has 37 years of banking experience in eastern Idaho. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in finance from Idaho State University, an associate degree in business administration from Ricks College, and is also a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School and Northwest Agricultural School.
1990s Kevin Keenan, ’93, has joined Hogan Lovells law firm’s Houston office as a partner in the Infrastructure, Energy, Resources, and Projects practice. United Federal Credit Union has named Michael Ruchti, ’97, Chief Financial Officer. He will be responsible for directing financial operations and developing strategic direction regarding asset and liability management. His primary goals will be to reinforce consistent earnings, liquidity, and financial safety. He holds an MBA in finance from Michigan State University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration/finance from Idaho State University.
The Pocatello/Chubbuck School District #25 has selected Courtney Fisher, ‘00, as Communications and Community Relations Specialist. She has owned and operated FishTale Creative, an award-wining brand communications agency, since 2004. She is also a Founding Director of Kind Community, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with a mission to uplift, inspire and empower youth through positive community engagement. Jared Johnson, ’00, was recently named Pocatello City Attorney. Steven Hernandez, ’01, ’05, ‘07, is one of three of the National Science Foundation’s CyberCorps: SFS’s inaugural class of Hall of Fame recipients, who are being recognized for making outstanding contributions to cybersecurity. The Hall of Fame received nominations from more than 60 universities. Hernandez has held information assurance positions at the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and an NSA National Security Administration Center of Academic Excellence Research Institute in Idaho. Tim Downs, ’03, was promoted to sergeant with the Idaho Falls Police Department. He has served as a patrol officer, warrants team member, a Police Training Officer, a member of the SWAT team, a School Resource Officer, and most recently as a Detective in the Investigations Bureau. Downs is a Veteran of the United States Air Force and was activated by the USAF in 2001 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He retired in 2009 after 21 years as a non-commissioned officer. Stan McEntire, ’03, was recently inducted into the World Armwrestling Hall of Fame. McEntire has won many championships, including
first place World Championship in Petaluma, California, in 1992 and again in 1994; as well as second place Golden Bear, Moscow, Russia, 1992 and again in 1993. Rebecca Vincen-Brown, ‘03, has been appointed manager of the Touchmark Health & Fitness Club. Vincen-Brown is a certified functional aging specialist and personal trainer. She is earning her master’s degree in athletic administration from Idaho State University, where she earned her undergraduate degree. Previously, she worked at Touchmark as a life enrichment and wellness assistant and as a graduate teaching assistant at Idaho State. Jeff Watson, ’04, has been promoted to Turbo Prop Service Manager at Western Aircraft. He is a veteran of the U.S. Navy serving for four years as an F-18 aircraft hydraulic mechanic. Watson is a licensed airframe and powerplant mechanic who has served in various roles within Western Aircraft’s maintenance department for more than 11 years, most recently as the company’s Jet Team Lead. Pocatello Regional Transit Director Dave Hunt, ’05, is retiring. Hunt has been working for Pocatello Regional Transit since 1993. Shaun Pohlman, ’05, was recently named head volleyball coach and Lewis-Clark State College. Pohlman’s teams at Northwest College won four Region IX titles and advanced to the NJCAA national tournament four of the past five seasons with final four appearances twice. He was the District I/C Coach of the Year four times, and was a two-time recipient of the AVCA West Region Coach of the Year Award and National Coach of the Year nominee. His teams also achieved in the classroom with nine successive NJCAA National Academic Team Awards and five AVCA2 National Academic Team awards. He also coached numerous all-region and all-American players, as well as national and regional individual academic award winners. Andrew R. Smart, ’07, was recently named a partner at Jordan and Company Chartered. In addition to being a licensed Certified Public Account, Smart has earned his Personal Financial Specialist, credential and is a registered investment adviser with Naarden Wealth Management.
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Security Service Federal Credit Union has promoted Greg Reed, 07, to Senior Vice President of Member Service where he will be responsible for branch operations, member experience and employee development in Texas, Colorado and Utah. Reed has served the credit union since 2011 in the roles of Vice President of Member Service for the Mountain West Region, and most recently as Senior Vice President of Member Service for the Mountain West Region.
2010s Lori Barber, ’12, ’14, has been named the dean of general education for College of Eastern Idaho. Barber previously served as the director of general education at the new community college. Prior to that, she worked at Idaho State University as an assistant lecturer in history. Barber was also appointed to the State General Education Committee of Idaho. Bruce C. Kusch, ’12, was inaugurated president of the LDS Business College. Kusch holds a B.S. in business administration from
the University of Phoenix, an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management and a Ph.D. in instructional design from Idaho State University. In May 2012, he was awarded the Kole-McGuffey Prize from the College of Education at Idaho State University, recognizing him as the outstanding doctoral candidate for his research in creating significant online learning environments. The Idaho Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has recognized Chelsea Schoenfelder, ’12, as Idaho’s Young Dietitian of the Year. Schoenfelder is a registered dietitian with Dairy West, which manages the marketing and promotion work for Idaho and Utah dairy farm families, according to a press release from Dairy West. Physician Assistant Zach Stringham, ’12, has taken a position at East Morgan County Hospital in Colorado. Prior to that move, he worked in Kodiak, Alaska, where he cared for the residents of a 200 person bush town community. The community was on a small island, 30 miles by boat or plane to any hospital. Stringham utilized telemedicine to collaborate with doctors and specialists remotely.
A DESTINATION SITE FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONS EDUCATION
The students in ISU’s health professions programs make up nearly half of the student body, a testament to our mission of meeting the health workforce needs in Idaho. Contact the Kasiska Division of Health Sciences to discover opportunities as we prepare the future leaders of health care in Idaho. (208) 282-4899 | isu.edu/healthsciences |
Pocatello | Idaho Falls
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Keelan McCaffrey, ’14, has been named the new head coach of the Minico football program. McCaffrey, was a walk-on to the Idaho State University football team, and eventually earned himself a scholarship spot. In addition to coaching football, he teaches biology and physical science. Community Memorial Hospital in Cloquet, Minnesota announces that physician assistant Lisa Leedham, ’16, has joined their orthopedic department. Leedham graduated with a biology degree from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a focus on pre-med. She received her physician assistant degree from Idaho State University in Pocatello. Prior to this, she was employed in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at an urgent care facility. Gavin Lewis, ’17, is the new economic development director for the Ida-Lew Economic Development Council. Lewis will work with every incorporated city in Idaho and Lewis counties, including Cottonwood, Grangeville, Kooskia, Riggins, Stites and White Bird in Idaho County, and Craigmont, Kamiah, Nezperce and Winchester in Lewis County.
• Audiology, AuD • Counseling, MCoun, PhD, EdS • Dental Hygiene, BS, MS • Dentistry Residency • Dietetics, BS and Internship • Emergency Management, AS, BS • Family Medicine Residency • Fire Services Administration, AS, BS • Health Education, BA, BS, MHE • Health Sciences, BS • Medical Laboratory Science, BS, MS • Nursing, BS, MS, PhD, DNP • Occupational Therapy, MOT • Paramedic Science, AS
Meridian | Twin Falls
• Pharmacy, MS, PhD, PharmD • Physical Therapy, DPT • Physician Assistant Studies, MPAS • Community and Public Health, MPH • Radiographic Science, BS • Sign Language, AS, BS • Speech Language Pathology, BS, MS Partnering with other colleges: Clinical Psychology, PhD Social Work, BA Health Care Administration, BS, MS Health Informatics, BBA, MS Spanish for the Health Professions, BA College of Technology, various
ETCH YOUR NAME IN ISU HISTORY In 2017, Marilyn Kent Byrne and Bill Byrne donated the “Valentine� sculpture to ISU in celebration of the role that ISU had in their lives. ISU is honored to build a patio of pavers around the sculpture at the new ISU Alumni and Visitor Center. Join us in celebrating the special people and organizations that made ISU so memorable to you. Commemorative pavers are ideal for alumni, donors, former student-athletes, teams, families and friends to leave a lasting impression, or even a wonderful gift for the special Bengals in your life! Your donation of $1,000 is tax deductible and all gifts will support the building of the new ISU Alumni and Visitor Center. idahostateu.com/paver
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CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED 921 S. 8th Ave., Stop 8033 Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8033
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