Here We Have Idaho | Winter 2004 by The University of Idaho

Salud! Vandal Vintners Crush a Mean Grape

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WINTER 2004 • VOLUME 21, NUMBER 1

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IDAHO HERE WE HAVE

Here We Have Idaho The University of Idaho Magazine

U N I V E R S I T Y

University Interim President Gary Michael Vice President for University Advancement Joanne Carr Director of University Communications and Marketing Bob Hieronymus Alumni Association President Scott Green University of Idaho Foundation President J. Patrick McMurray Editor Jeff Olson

Illustrations Nathan Nielson Julene Ewert Class Notes Editor Tim Helmke Writers and Contributors Kathy Barnard Leslie Einhaus Donna Emert Ray Doering Blake Hall Nancy Hilliard Jeff Jones Bill Loftus Becky Paull Photographs as credited

Magazine Design Julene Ewert

Cover Story 8

Salud!

Vandal vintners crush a mean grape

Features 12 Streams of Consciousness Environmental learning ripples from UI’s McCall Outdoor Science School

The Relevance of the Ancients Does the wisdom of the Ancients still touch our lives?

20 Mastermind in Tech Problems

Letter Policy We welcome letters to the editor. Correspondence should include the writer’s full name, address and daytime phone number. We reserve the right to edit letters for purposes of clarity or space.

22 Do the Math One professor meets up with three generations of students

28 Sun Valley Vandals Living under a high blue sky

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Calendar of Events Campus News Quest Class Notes Vandal Sports To Be Considered

32 Leonard Perry Puts his spin on Vandal basketball

ON THE COVER: Viticulturist Stacie Woodall ’02 photographed by Pam Benham

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Here We Have Idaho magazine is published three times a year, in January, April and August. The magazine is free to alumni and friends of the university. ❚ Send address changes to: PO Box 443147, Moscow, ID 838443147. ❚ Send information, Class Notes and correspondence regarding alumni activities to: Tim Helmke, Alumni Office, PO Box 443232, Moscow, ID 83844-3232. ❚ Send editorial correspondence to: University Communications and Marketing, PO Box 443221, Moscow, ID 83844-3221; phone (208) 885-6291; fax (208) 885-5841; e-mail uinews@uidaho.edu .

Bring on the toughest

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Departments

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The Doors of Idaho Let us know where these doors lead. The first correct answer will win a free UI T-shirt. E-mail jolson@uidaho.edu or write to University Communications and Marketing, PO Box 443221, Moscow, ID 83844-3221

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COMING EVENTS

he primary question I am asked as I travel around the state is about the status of the search for a new University of Idaho president. I’m happy to report that we are on track. Working with a professional search firm, the search committee should be able to recommend finalists for the position by the end of January. The candidates could interview as early as February, and the Idaho Board of Education could select a new president by March. We have made progress the past six months. The administrative team here has worked hard to put our house in order for new leadership. We have left a clear footprint for the next administration. I am proud of what we have accomplished and have thoroughly enjoyed my time as interim president. The best part of this job is working with people who think and learn and explore for a living. I still marvel at the depth and variety of programs at the university. Who knew that the merlot my wife, Mert, and I enjoy at dinner was the result of extensive research at the University of Idaho? The scientists and growers of Idaho’s wine industry are featured in this issue of Here We Have Idaho. Also featured is the UI’s new science camp for the state’s fifth and sixth graders. Sponsored by private and grant dollars and conducted on the shores of Payette Lake at our McCall Field Campus, the camp is the perfect way to engage our youngest citizens in the excitement of science. It will be interesting to see how many of these aspiring scientists end up pursuing their dreams at the UI. Thank you for your support over the past months. My hope is that in the spring issue of Here We Have Idaho, I’ll be able to introduce the new leader of our great institution.

Gary Michael Interim President

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14 Spring semester classes begin 28 University of Idaho Day at the Idaho Legislature 30 Silver and Gold Day celebration at the PGA Phoenix Open, Phoenix, Ariz.

6 Vandal Scholarship Fund Winterfest ’04, Twin Falls Turf Club 11-12 UI visits Anchorage, Alaska New student and alumni gathering 25-28 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival 27 Weiser-Payette Alumni Chapter Silver and Gold Dinner 7 10-13 15-19 26

Vandal Night at the Sonics, Seattle, Wash. Big West Basketball Tournament Spring Break Vandal Friday

2 UI Alumni Golf Tournament at the Coeur d’Alene Resort 2-4 Alpha Gamma Delta International 100th anniversary celebration 5 United Nations dinner with UI students sponsored by New York Alumni Chapter 7 Silver and Gold Day tree planting 23-25 Moms’ Weekend Delta Delta Delta chapter 75th anniversary celebration 30 Engineering Design Expo Mars Rover Challenge 30-2 8 10 12 13-14 15 20

Class of 1944, 1954 and Golden I Reunion UI Idaho Falls Commencement UI Boise Commencement UI Coeur d’Alene Commencement Alumni Hall of Fame Celebration UI Moscow Commencement New York Alumni Chapter Silver and Gold Dinner 21 Texas Alumni Chapter at Texas Rangers baseball

For more information on UI alumni chapter events, go to www.supportui.uidaho.edu on the Web.

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WINTER

From the President

Pumping Biodiesel UI researchers have earned a $950,000 grant to boost public education on biodiesel fuels made from oil crops, such as canola or mustard seed and reused vegetable oils. Working with Iowa State University, UI will work to move biofuels research from the laboratory into classrooms and boardrooms across the nation. The effort will identify barriers to commercializing biodiesel and address them through publications, displays, educational materials, Web sites and workshops across the nation. “The significant issue is to help the public and industry better understand the advantages, ease of using and eventual benefits of biodiesel fuels,” said UI’s Charles Peterson, the project’s principal investigator.

CAMPUS NEWS TODAY@IDAHO A breakthrough for space technology has been achieved by the UI Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research. A research team has designed a new radiation-hardened error-correction microchip. It consumes less than 15 milliwatts of power, runs at 100 times less energy and operates more than twice as fast as current chips. The chip has been delivered to NASA for use in future space missions. Jenny Sue Anchondo, a communication student and Kappa Kappa Gamma member from Coeur d’Alene, was selected Homecoming Queen. Roger Brandon Beaty, a business student and member of Alpha Kappa Lambda, from Anchorage, Alaska, was named Homecoming King. The University of Idaho Press’s bestseller by Linda Lawrence Hunt, “Bold Spirit: Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America,” was selected by the American Booksellers Association as one of the top 10 University Press books for fall 2003.

HERE WE HAVE

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Dave Smith from Clancy, Mont., is the 2003 UI Dad of the Year, thanks to the winning essay submitted by his daughter and UI student Stacy Smith. “I can say that being around a guy that is always so happy and thrilled by the little things in life makes a big difference in your own outlook on life,” wrote Stacy.

Enrollment at UI has hit another record high. Fall semester enrollment totaled 12,894 students taking classes at UI sites throughout the state.

Students stop to read the Administration lawn tradition marker — a gift from the class of 2003.

A Classy Gift The idea of graduating classes providing a gift to UI was popular in the 1930s, and recent classes have brought the tradition back. The class of 2001 created a legacy scholarship. The class of 2003 has gone even further to honor tradition. Their gift to UI is a “Tradition Marker” – an all-weather interpretive podium that details the lore of Hello Walk, the Presidential Grove and the Administration Lawn design. The marker was installed along Hello Walk in early December. As soon as the marker was installed, students on their way to classes stopped to read about the 90-year-old traditions. The fund-raiser began with a request for the graduates to donate $20.03 in honor of their year. Some ended up giving as much as $100.

UI Through The Years Special Collections and Archives in the library basement Gerald Louis (Jerry) is a hidden, or at Kramer (Class of 1958.) #3-1846b. least hard-to-find, treasure of UI history. Now, it offers an online UI historical timeline, which features some of the historical photographs in the collection. You can view the timeline at www.lib.uidaho.edu/specialcollections/timeline.htm.

UI PHOTO SERVICES

For more on these stories and for daily UI news, go to www.today.uidaho.edu

The BioBug, which runs on 100 percent biodiesel, is just one of UI’s biodiesel research efforts.

Library, University of Idaho. (1957) #1-122-001.

1957 Jerry Kramer wins MVP at the Shrine Game; is drafted by Green Bay the following year. November 2, 1957 Library dedicated.

1959 Doctoral program introduced. Boise Adult Education Center offers a program of residence courses.

Gordon Law and Peter Haggart, KUID-TV. University of Idaho. #2-185-1.

1960 KUID-TV started closed-circuit broadcasting to classrooms; broadcasting to the public on September 6, 1965. 1961 Mines Building opened. 1962 “Beacon for Mountain and Plain” published.

CAMPUS NEWS

A Star is Named UI’s youngest mule clone has become a star — Idaho Star to be exact. That was the name chosen from the hundreds of suggestions that came in from around the country during a naming contest this fall. Eight persons submitted the winning name, including seven Idaho school children. Idaho Star and his identical brothers Utah Pioneer and Idaho Gem appear to be normal and healthy foals, according to the Project Idaho researchers who created the mule clones.

College of Mines Building. University of Idaho. (1960's) #11M19.

Students doing a radio broadcast University of Idaho. #11-R7.

1976 ASUI-Kibbie Dome 1963 Fourteen receive first Alumni Hall of Fame awards, January 21, 1963. KUID-FM started broadcasting.

1967 Vandal high-jumper Steve Brown first person in North America to clear seven feet. Jazz Festival begins.

1970 May 5, 1970, NROTC building firebombed.

1972 Women's Center presents first program.

named winner of national outstanding structural engineering achievement award.

1977 Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science approved by Regents.

1980 Science Experience Center in Idaho Falls purchased by UI Foundation to become University Place, a center for higher education in Idaho Falls.

Steven Louis Brown; University of Idaho high jumper. #92-1539. University of Idaho campus, oblique aerial view from over ASUI-Kibbie Dome. (1976) #1-3-38.

First annual UI Silver and Gold Day in Hailey, Idaho. (1981) #40-SIL17.

1981 Silver and Gold Day established by Alumni Association.

1987 “This Crested Hill,” a

1998 Vandals beat

1982 Asian American

centennial history, published.

Comparative Collection established in Laboratory of Anthropology.

School of Music named after Lionel Hampton, first in U.S. for a jazz musician.

Southern Mississippi 42-35 at first bowl appearance.

1983 Margaret Ritchie

1989 Time capsule opened at

School of Family and Consumer Sciences joins College of Agriculture.

Centennial Celebration.

University Honors Program established.

2002 College of Science and College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences established.

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Born on July 27, Idaho Star is the youngest of three mule clones created at UI. More information on the cloning project is available at www.uidaho.edu/cloning. Kids can learn more at the Clone Zone, www.uidaho.edu/clonezone.

What do students and faculty remember most about the University Classroom Center? The roof leaked, the wind blew into classrooms and it was a technological dinosaur. Well, the UCC may be down, but don’t count it out. A $12.2 million renovation project is underway to transform the facility into a teaching and learning center with a number of state-ofthe-art classrooms. On a cold winter day, students say the building brought a new meaning to the term “breezeway.” Now, the hallways will be enclosed. The project is funded primarily with state funds through the new bonding system approved by Idaho lawmakers last spring.

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PHIL SCHOFIELD

Transforming the UCC

CAMPUS NEWS

For Your Health A group of UI scientists is trying to make us all healthier. The researchers are included in a consortium of Northwest scientists that received a $50 million grant to create a Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases Research. “We are proud to participate in this program,” said Richard Heimsch, interim dean of College of Agricultural and Life Sciences. “The selection shows the University of Idaho has researchers with the expertise and the facilities to pursue science of national importance.” The UI’s role will include development of vaccines and immunesystem stimulants to fight naturally occurring and introduced disease agents identified as bioterrorism risks. The work also will include a project to track the expression of genes in disease agents as

they colonize their hosts. Other institutions participating in the regional center of excellence include the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Harborview Medical Center, Institute for Systems Biology, VA Puget Sound Health Care System and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease’s Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont. The grant also illustrates the growing medical research efforts at UI. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the National Center for Research Resources awarded

UI scientists nearly $30 million during the past three years for research on infectious diseases, evolutionary biology and regional medical research.

CQ Campus Quote

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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IDAHO

“Our enemies will defeat us if our own deeply held values are not safeguarded.”

— Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, speaking at the Sept. 18 College of Law Bellwood Lecture. Ginsburg commented on the judicial system’s struggle to balance civil rights and the desire for security as a result of the war on terrorism.

“What I term alpha predators includes a group of animals that will kill and eat a human. There is a short, special list of these ‘alpha predators’ that includes lions, tigers, polar bears, the Anaconda snake, cougars and the Great White Shark. These species are very important to us. They exist, in part, to remind humans that we don’t sit at the apex of creation.” — David Quammen, natural resources writer, speaking at UI Wildlands Issues Colloquium on Oct. 8.

David Quammen

QUEST Research News

Counting on Drones

Hot Star Idaho is the Gem State, and its signature stone is the star garnet. University of Idaho geologists say the concentrations of iron, magnesium and manganese in the red almandine garnets tell a tale of their creation. It’s a hot story. The schist bed in which the crystals grew basked in temperatures of about 1,000 degrees. A team of UI and Ball State University geologists studied garnets from the Emerald Creek area using petrographic, electron microprobe and crystal structure analysis. The chemistry and crystallography of the garnets showed manganese levels were highest at the gems’ cores, while their rims were richest in magnesium and iron. Calcium levels, too, were highest toward the garnets’ outer edges. This chemical zoning suggests a complicated heat-growth history, which is not understood yet. Brendan Twamley of the University Research Office presented the team’s finding with Kirsten Nicholson of Ball State at the Geological Society of America’s November meeting in Seattle.

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From the tiny mustard seed, organic farmers may find new faith in agricultural innovation. UI soil scientist Matt Morra believes that chemicals found in plants as diverse as cauliflower, mustard and Canola can turn the tide against a sea of troublesome weeds and other pests. Australians, after all, buy Yandilla Mustard meal as the cure for the slugs that plague gardeners. As a natural pesticide, meal from mustard, canola or rapeseed shows promise for controlling weeds, nematodes, fungi and other pests. Organic farmers take particular interest in the potential benefits. Another benefit of making meal more valuable may make biodiesel researchers at UI and elsewhere very happy because the cost of the oil pressed from the seeds drops. That could mean lower fuel prices at the pumps, something that could make consumers happy, too.

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Pest Patrol

In wildlife biology, some of the most dangerous and difficult jobs involve trying to accurately census elk and other big game animals. Mountainous terrain, difficult weather and other factors present high risks for biologists and pilots who try to get up close and personal with the animals to count them. A team led by Pete Zager, an Idaho Fish and Game Department research biologist and UI affiliate professor of fish and wildlife resources, hopes to minimize the risk to people in the process. “We have to fly low and slow,” Zager said, and that cuts the margin of safety razor thin. The answer: pilotless aircraft or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). They already have found uses as diverse as fire fighting, farming, forestry and military applications. Equipped with video cameras, the craft can spot animals in hazardous terrain. UAVs also can conduct more routine flights, logging the locations of animals equipped with radio collars. Challenges include the initial expense and capturing the detailed images required to gather accurate data. And then there are the flying conditions that are no easier for UAVs: skimming mountain slopes and treetops in weather that can change rapidly.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY NATHAN NIELSON

Salud! Vandal Vintners Crush a Mean Grape

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

Move over potatoes. Down on the farm, Idaho grape growers and Vandal vintners are cultivating a grape boom. Idaho is becoming a stomping ground for quality wines.

By Bill Loftus Photographs by Pam Benham

he Carmela Winery in Glenns Ferry overlooks neat rows of wine grapes strung across a gentle hillside and the Snake River. Across the river, steep slopes fall toward the ford called Three Island Crossing that once challenged Oregon Trail travelers.

Above top: Roger Jones ’60, fulfilled a lifelong dream when he purchased Carmela Winery in 1997. Above bottom: Stacie Woodall ’02, is a viticulturist for Canandaigua Wine which owns Idaho’s Ste. Chapelle Winery.

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The long-range plan calls for the Glenns Ferry winery to double production. Idaho’s rising reputation for quality wine, and figures that show residents are drinking more wine, buoy his optimism about reaching that goal. Nearly 100 miles to the west near Caldwell, the state’s largest and oldest winery, Ste. Chapelle, produces about 150,000 cases a year, three-quarters of Idaho’s total wine production. Stacie Woodall ’02, who now works as a viticulturist for beverage giant and Ste. Chapelle owner Canandaigua Wine, earned her master’s degree from UI and produced a study of the wine industry’s importance to the state. She reported then that the state’s 11 wineries generated $15 million in sales through their tasting rooms and wholesalers based on production of 165,000 cases of wine. In 2003, Idaho’s total grew to 18 wineries. She sees wine and grapes as a growth industry. “I think they’re just going to keep growing and growing. We’ve added four new wineries just since I finished my study. Everyone is really excited, and they’re working together.” The Magic and Treasure Valleys of south central and southwestern Idaho will remain the heart of grape growing and wine production. Still, new vines are sprouting as far north as the Clearwater River valley near Lewiston. Moscow’s Camas Winery is among the state’s most senior. More northerly still is the Pend d’Oreille Winery at Sandpoint. Woodall monitored the progress of southwestern Idaho’s crop and helped supervise harvest of nearly 5 million pounds of grapes, a crush of 2,450 tons. Idaho consumers buy much of the

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As Idaho agriculture navigates its own shifting currents of trade, many view the state’s wine industry as a journey toward future prosperity. And the number of Idaho wineries is growing. Roger Jones ’60, Carmela’s owner since 1997 and one of Idaho’s best known agricultural entrepreneurs, decided to join the game, and fulfill a lifelong goal as well. “I always wanted to own a winery,” Jones says simply while sitting in the morning quiet of the winery. Of course, for Jones, the man named outstanding marketer of 2000 by agricultural marketing professionals across North America, simple is a complicated concept. Outside the window, a caterer and wedding party organizers bustle in preparation for the afternoon ceremony ahead. Carmela includes a nine-hole golf course that skirts both winery and vineyards and an RV park across the street. On this August morning, Jones greets staff members and trades assessments of an elaborate dinner for 70 the preceding evening that feted both the resident chef’s and winemaker’s skills. The dinner paired six Carmela wines with a six-course dinner. It would come as no surprise to those who know Jones and his business acumen that the wine business would intrigue him. A University of Idaho business graduate, he cultivated his knowledge of agriculture and his home state to produce a fruitful business career spanning nearly half a century. Jones and his winemaker, Neil Glancey, expect Carmela to bottle 11,000 cases this year, the largest production among the state’s independent wineries.

IDAHO HERE WE HAVE

on hand, to guard against shortages of state’s production before it can even needed varieties, and at times to help cross the border. Jones of Carmela growers avoid surpluses. Canandaigua believes developing the Idaho market is owns wineries, not vineyards, so she critical for the state’s wine industry. works with 12 growers in Idaho. Washington, which now is home to She begins her season before the first 250 wineries, some 175 of them in the buds break, helping growers decide how Columbia Basin, provides a model for to trim their vines. Throughout the the future. The link between the older summer, Woodall helps them track the Washington and Idaho’s fledgling progress of growth and of pests. With industry is that its growth and reputation months until harvest, a lot can happen. rely on quality wines. “The Basin has had Natural conditions pose the biggest some real good wine in the last 10 years, challenge. There are and it’s won a lot of insects to watch for medals. Now we’re and other threats. winning a lot of “They say it can’t be any medals, too,” he said. good because it’s from Idaho. Among those And, as Roger threats is Botrytis, a So you’ve got to show them. fungus that attacks Jones’ instincts at Carmela Winery the ripening grape Show me the product; suggest, tourism and berries. It is a mixed show me it is better.” winemaking go blessing, cutting yield but adding together. Woodall’s sweetness. Through economic study the ages, winemakers have come to know found that travelers spent an average of it as noble rot. Another disease, sour rot, $139 during a trip to Canyon County is caused by a complex of organisms, and wineries, most of it on wine but about it is just bad news. Woodall now knows $42 in other businesses. to use her nose to detect it by its vinegar Her move into the vineyard was a smell. logical transition. Woodall’s employer, Reading between the vines, Woodall New York-based Canandaigua Wine, also sees more sweet than sour ahead for owns wineries in Washington where Idaho’s wineries. “I think it would be Woodall spends much of her time. helpful to have another big winery come Her No. 1 priority during the growing in to contract for more grapes,” she season is to collect data to prepare crop added. estimates. The wineries use the estimates Not all grapes are grown for wine, of to ensure enough tanks and barrels are

located a scientist at Parma to follow up on and expand that work. Now Fallahi is even more excited about another crop, table grapes. Idaho’s growing season produces excellent quality grapes. Equally important, the crop ripens in the lull between fading California table grape production and the arrival of Southern Hemisphere imports from Chile and elsewhere. His work at the Parma Research and Extension Center drew hundreds to a fruit tasting field day in September. He expected hundreds more to attend a winter meeting organized by the Idaho Table Grape Association. “Any place where we can grow wine grapes, we can grow table grapes,” Fallahi said. “They make an excellent alternative crop.” The next step will be to encourage enough table grape production to help Idaho build its reputation in the marketplace. Jones of Carmela has a similar goal — to earn respect for Idaho’s wines. Globally, winning recognition takes

decades. His experience growing and selling Idaho potatoes internationally proves the point. Jones said, “You say potato, they say Idaho. If you say wine, people will say France, California, maybe Italy or Europe. Even South America, where they’ve been making wine for 150 years, doesn’t come to mind immediately.” Still, he’s ready to start locally with Idaho’s own markets, particularly Blaine County and Sun Valley, a hundred miles to the northeast. “When you go to places like that and you say I have an Idaho wine, they think it’s kind of like a joke. They say it can’t be any good because it’s from Idaho. So you’ve got to show them. Show me the product; show me it is better.” Jones said his experience in Idaho’s largest city convinces him he can meet that challenge. “I can go to Boise now and compete with anybody. Now they know Carmela wines and that it’s an Idaho winery.” I

• Approximately two-thirds of all Idaho wines are consumed within the state’s borders.

• Idaho’s vineyards, which range up to 3,500 feet in elevation, are the highest in the Pacific Northwest.

• One in eight winters threaten Idaho vineyards with winterkill.

• In 2001, 75 percent of the wine grapes in production in Idaho were grown in Canyon County.

• Southern Idaho experiences daily temperature variations of 30 to 40 degrees, often swinging from 100 to 65 degrees in the same 24-hour period. These swings balance the sugars and acids in wine grapes.

course, and future production may expand to provide fruit for the table. Esmaeil Fallahi, UI research professor of pomology, helped support the state’s growing industry with wine grape trial plantings at Parma. Since then, the USDA Agricultural Research Service

IDAHO WINE FACTS

• In 2001, there were more than 1,000 acres of wine grapes in Idaho. For comparison, California has about 750,000 acres of wine grapes. • The first wineries in the Pacific Northwest were located in Idaho.

• In 2001, a typical 35-acre vineyard in Idaho required a total capital investment of $743,560. • The leading varietals produced in the Gem State are Chardonnay, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon.

• The American grape is hardier than the European and can withstand midwinter temperatures of -20 degrees. Compiled by Jeff P. Jones Sources: www.shafervineyards.com, www.winesnw.com, www.idahowine.org, www.nass.usda.gov and www.info.ag.uidaho.edu.

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• Wine grapes are the fourth largest fruit industry in the state.

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IDAHO

Streams of Consciousness

Environmental Learning Ripples from UI’s McCall Outdoor Science School

beginning at the UI’s McCall Outdoor Science School, or MOSS. The MOSS mission may be best summarized on the plaque beneath the brass bell, which was a gift from the Union Pacific Railroad Company to the UI College of Forestry in 1952. The plaque reads, “From the railroad that opened the West to the youth charged with conserving its resources for the future.” Steven Hollenhorst, resource recreation and tourism department chairman, notes that the field campus

Students conduct scientific observations streamside, and discuss how water moves down through the hills and how conditions work their way into the streams.

By Ray Doering Photographs by Pam Benham

2004

The dinner bell at the McCall Outdoor Science School calls students to class.

originated as a place for training foresters. “We’re not using the field campus to educate foresters anymore, but we are using it to prepare educators to teach about our natural world.” Now in its third year, the MOSS program brings fifthand sixth-grade students from schools across the state to spend a week learning how science is used to monitor the Earth’s environmental systems — and the learning is definitely hands-on. “What kind of clouds do you see?” asks UI graduate student Katie Wilson. The nine sixth-graders from St. Stanislaus Tri Parish School in Lewiston consult their cloud charts and start calling out names. The students eventually agree on cloud types and move on to the weather station to make temperature and precipitation readings. Later in the day, the student group records their readings on the blackboard in the field campus classroom so that all of the students can mark them down in their field notebooks. The exercise emphasizes the cooperative nature of scientific study, and thus, the need for accuracy. The other students depend on each group’s readings. Last fall, nine UI graduate students spent 10 weeks at the field campus as course instructors, learning what it takes to teach environmental science in the field. One graduate student is assigned to each of the six student groups along with their schoolteacher and at least one parent. During the week, each group conducts scientific observations in a lake, stream, marsh, meadow and sage brush environment. Students also spend a full day hiking through the Ponderosa pine forest system, to study fire ecology and

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n a crisp October morning, the shouts and laughter of more than 50 fifth and sixth graders welcome the first real autumn day to central Idaho. Nine students stand on a dock on Payette Lake and take the first meteorological measurements of the day. Their teachers and parent chaperones nervously glance upward at the gray sky wondering whether their day will be interrupted by rain. Meanwhile, two girls pass the time before their morning field science class by jumping rope, proving it is possible to jump rope while wearing a backpack and hiking shoes. Graduate student Jeanette Gara takes the reins of the “dinner bell” — a bell that once rode atop a Union Pacific steam engine — and signals the end of play. As the students quietly line up at the classroom door, another day is

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Streams of Consciousness Streams of Consciousness

bird habitat. The McCall Field Campus sits on property along Payette Lake between the City of McCall and the state park. The property is owned by the Idaho Department of Lands and is leased on a long-term basis to UI, which owns the buildings. enthusiasm they bring to the program. Hollenhorst points out that the On the practical side, Hollenhorst science school has benefited significantly explained that these are the last years from its close cooperative relationship that students are in a single classroom with the state park. He said Park situation. This allows teachers to take Director Dennis Coyle has actively their full classes to the field campus. The supported the MOSS program and has program seeks to teach the teachers as made important contributions to the well as the students. curriculum. “We want the teachers and the The real impact of the school can be students to take their experiences back to seen in the field. After a short van ride their schools and build excitement for and a climb down the bank, the science,” Hollenhorst said. “Our studies members of Carol Bickford’s sixth-grade have shown that students have a greater class at St. Stanislaus are sitting quietly interest in science after their experiences on the rounded pebbles along a small here. The same holds true for their stream. In an ice-breaking exercise teachers and the parents who volunteer designed to test their powers of their time here.” observation, graduate student Travis Back at the stream, the scientific Dickson has the students observations are about seeing, hearing and smelling to begin. Dickson asks what is around them, and his group, “Is a stream a “Our studies have then writing about or shown that students good indicator of how drawing what they healthy the earth is?” have a greater experience. They discuss how water interest in science The students share their moves down through drawings and read a few the hills and how after their sentences out loud. Their conditions in the experiences here.” teacher and two parents atmosphere and the find a comfortable spot on hillsides will work their the bank in the emerging sunshine and way into the stream. listen to the students’ answers, the water “The whole program is based on running over the rocks and the bird recognizing and monitoring what we call songs echoing in the woods. the Earth’s vital signs,” Hollenhorst The program’s focus on fifth- and observed. “If we understand how natural sixth-graders during its formative years systems are linked together, then we can has been partly by design and partly use science to take indicators of the through logistical necessity. Hollenhorst health of our environment. The longnotes that this age group is advanced term goal is to provide a base of enough to understand the more technical knowledge for our students so that they aspects of the program. Of course, there can become better citizens and make also is the youthful curiosity and more informed decisions about natural

resource issues as adults. “Many of the students are becoming monitors of environmental vital signs in their own communities,” he added. “Some are taking part in an online global database that is collecting observations contributed by children all over the world.” At the stream, students conducting scientific observations don rubber gloves and goggles as they begin testing the water’s temperature, pH levels, conductivity and turbidity. Chemicals are mixed to test the level of dissolved oxygen. While three students conduct their observations, the rest of the group waits their turn. They will conduct the series of observations three times and then average the results. Thus they are introduced to the rigors of science. “One important aspect of the program is to familiarize students with the protocols of science,” Hollenhorst explains. “It is important for students to understand the work that lies behind scientific findings reported in the media.” As the observations continue along the stream, Dickson notices a growing impatience among the students waiting their turn. He announces that there will be time allotted for a stone skipping contest after the last set of observations. Immediately, the search is on for the best skipping stone. Sometimes the protocols of science must recognize the playfulness of youth. Similar activities take place in each of

Three years ago, Clara Bleak ’46 wanted to do something new in the area of environmental science education. That something new became the UI’s McCall Outdoor Science School. This year, her Clara Bleak $50,000 gift was instrumental in the expansion of the program to 10 weeks. “There would be no McCall Outdoor Science School without Clara Bleak,” says Steven Hollenhorst, chair of the resource recreation and tourism department and director of the MOSS program. “Her initial contribution got the whole thing started.” Since the school began operations, it has been able to attract government and foundation contributions, including grants from the Christensen Fund and the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Further operating expenses come from per-student fees charged to participating schools. Hollenhorst said schools participate in a variety of fundraising activities to support student participation. He said two rural districts with limited resources were able to send students with the support of the Idaho Forest Products Commission. “We are at the limit of our resources now,” Hollenhorst added, “and we are looking at new ways of building financial support for the facility upgrades that will allow us to expand the program year-round.”

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How MOSS Came to Be

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the environmental areas. Graduate student leaders listen carefully to the reactions of their students. At the end of each week, the grad students compare notes, offer constructive criticism and look for ways to do it better next week. According to Hollenhorst, this is how the MOSS curriculum has evolved over the past three years. “Adaptive management, that’s the name of the game,” he said. “We have moved away from a canned curriculum to one that is more related to this site.” These skills will be particularly important as program planners seek to expand their offerings to junior high and senior high students while also looking into a year-round program. After a twoweek first year and a three-week second year, this year’s program ran 10 weeks and ended Nov. 15. As the McCall weather gets colder, this year’s instructors experienced their first indications of what it will be like to develop a winter curriculum for the site. Meanwhile, the stream group is arriving back on campus. Two buckets filled with stream water will be taken to the classroom for the invertebrate lab. Different samples from the other groups soon will be arriving for additional lab sessions. Dinner, clean-up and a team-building activity also are on the schedule, followed by an evening program that will include performances by each of the groups that reinforce the lessons of the day. Staff members have made sure that ingredients for s’mores were procured. No science camp would be complete without them. I

The Relevance As we hurtle away from dead languages toward binary code, does the wisdom of the Ancients still touch our lives? By Donna Emert

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o one morning Plato is slowly pacing the Academy floor, recovering from the festival of Dionysus (god of wine and party behaviors), where he may have broken his vow of moderation in all things. It’s too dark to read the sundial. He shoots a bleary glance at the lunar calendar, which loses about 10 days annually. He pinches the bridge of his nose as he registers the need for timekeeping devices that function independent of planetary rotation. It’s a rainy day in Athens, 367ish B.C.E. Coffee will not be introduced to Greece until the Ottoman Empire. Not soon enough. The great teacher’s robes are decidedly in a bundle. He prepares his lesson — another oral exam, a dialectic, an innovative teaching method passed on from Socrates. He begins to recover his characteristic clarity of mind as he looks

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JULENE EWERT

forward to invigorating discussion. He will ask the hard questions: What is the nature of reality? How do we know? And the extra credit: Why are we here? Since the beginning of recorded history, great minds have pondered the Big Questions. But is the wisdom of the Ancients still relevant today? And if so, how does it touch our lives? Here, six University of Idaho doctors of philosophy knock these oft-asked questions around. “It is difficult to answer questions like this without resorting to clichés,” said recently retired Classics Professor Cecelia Luschnig. “There is, of course, the old chestnut about those who do not know what happened before they were born will always remain children — from Cicero — or those who do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it — Santayana, I think. Ancient thought runs from the trivial to the profound, from the brutal to the humane. We study all of

it to get a fuller picture of the people in the ages we are interested in.”

“Know thyself.” —Socrates

he point of understanding cultures and ideas older than our own, or at the very least, one fabulous perk of this endeavor, is that we learn about ourselves in the process. “The study of ancient history, literature and philosophy — including the study of ancient languages — challenges us through encounters with distant and often radically different lives and communities,” notes Stephan Flores, Honors Program director. “Such study also obliges us to reflect upon our own commitments and identities. “We examine our relationships because it is essential to our lives as a community,” Flores continues. “Socrates’ assertion that the ‘unexamined life is not

of the Ancients

“I think therefore I am.” —Rene Descartes

n Aristotle’s view, to be fully human is to pursue knowledge, become a good person and a good citizen, to exercise moderation in all things and to cultivate self control in order to accomplish these tasks, among other things. As he put it, “The soul is in harmony when reason — in cooperation with the passions — rules over and checks the appetites,” explains George. Today, as in ancient times, the human propensity for violence is a densely complex historical, sociological, psychological and philosophical issue. Yet 2,400 years after Aristotle, knowledge and self-control still are recognized as some of the handiest tools in the kit of good citizenship. To the modern reader, Aristotle’s reference to the passions, the appetites, and reason may sound oddly like the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego. “Yes,” confesses George with some hesitation,

“Freud is mostly warmed over Greek ideas of the soul. That might not be the best way to say it. I don’t know what my colleagues in psychology would say about that,” she says with a smile, “but it’s quite obvious that this is appropriated.”

“Traveler, there is no path. Paths are made by walking.” —Mahatma Gandhi

t’s no secret that Ancient ideas and insights tend to trickle down and mutate through the ages, reoccur and morph across cultures. As a culture and as individuals we infinitely mix and modify ancient wisdom with other Big Ideas.. Professors of philosophy are not immune to this process. “Sometimes I jokingly call myself a Buddhist Unitarian,” says Professor Nicholas Gier, recently retired coordinator of religious studies at UI. “I also believe in God. Many people believe you are either an atheist or a believer… but there are innumerable options in between. What the study of philosophy does is open up options for people.” Last spring, Gier received the Award of Highest Honor from Soka University

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have faced the same kinds of problems we do, I would think that a student would gain a depth of understanding of what it is to be human.”

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worth living’ can be understood as a condition for participation in the dialogues that are essential to a democratic society.” “Human beings do face similar problems throughout the ages,” adds Kathryn Paxton George, professor of philosophy. “In the Nichomachean Ethics, for example, Aristotle asks, ‘What is the good life? What is the best life?’ People usually refer to wealth, power and fame as definitions of the good life. The Greeks that we read now tend to say that wealth, power and fame certainly are good things, but it’s not all there is to the good life. Aristotle says a bad man can’t be happy; you have to cultivate goodness. It isn’t enough to be successful; you have to be moral. “In the Ethics, contemplation is the highest good, an intrinsic good, good in itself, not as a means to something else,” George said. “The happy life is not the life of pleasure or the life of honor, that is, to be admired by your friends and countrymen. It’s the life of thinking. That’s how we’re supposed to realize ourselves as human beings. “If a student understands that people have been asking questions about what the good life is for a very long time — so strikingly similar to the way we do — and

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in Japan for his 25 years of exceptional research on Buddhism. A comparative philosopher by nature and habit, he sees the ancient ideas of the Buddha later emerging in Western philosophy. “We have a wonderful, homespun tradition in American philosophy that is very close to many of the Asian thinkers; Pragmatism, defined by William James and John Dewey, has led us to all sorts of achievements.” He illustrates: “The Buddha says, ‘Do not accept what I have said to you because it has been said in the past, because it has been handed down by tradition, because it is in the Holy Scriptures, because it is said by a famous or holy monk. But if you find that it appeals to your sense of discrimination and conscience as being conducive to your benefit and happiness, then accept it and live by it.’” “That’s Pragmatism,” says Gier. “That’s the American spirit.” Every philosophical discipline, each school of thought within it and every text, rule and finding arising from it, is fodder for endless debate on translation, meanings, morals and content. In the search for truth it seems, there is no lack of riches and no single answer. Luschnig has been mining the stories

of ancient Greek and Latin texts for more than 40 years. The ancient writers embraced controversial themes of aesthetic, personal and political duty, and social injustice. She finds much there that is applicable today. “Particularly I have worked on the Greek tragic poet Euripides,” says Luschnig. “I cannot imagine my life without him. Recently I have been working on the ‘Medea,’ in which a woman, abandoned by her husband and denied the protection of the city-state, resorts to violence of the most frightening kind. “In the drama, she has used every kind of argument, from persuasion through empathy, to the kind of logic in which the Athenians at that time (5th c. B.C.E.) prided themselves, to pleading as a suppliant. All fail her because she is a woman and a foreigner, about to become a homeless refugee wandering the roads with her two children, everyone’s victim.” The drama and Luschnig ask: “When reason fails, when the vaunted laws of society and the justice they claim do not apply, what choice does a person have? I believe that this play, written nearly 25 centuries ago, can help us understand what terrorism is and why it happens.

Students often ask me, ‘Do these plays have anything to say to us?’ The answer is ‘Yes. Everything.’” Many ancient thinkers focused on how we should best live life, exploring deeply the relationship between the citizen and the state. The Ancients also were among the first to systematically employ empirical methods and mathematical proofs. While Greek and Latin now are considered dead languages, the ancient language of mathematics endures. “When you talk abut Euclid (300 B.C.E), you’re talking about a person who believed you could set down a set of mathematical precepts, or postulates, and based on those postulates, everything should be built in a logical fashion,” says Monte Boisen, UI chair of mathematics. “That basic approach forms the cornerstone of how we have created mathematics throughout the centuries. “I think some people may believe that mathematics died with the Greeks,” he adds, “but mathematics is a living, breathing discipline that has undergone as much change in recent years as any other subject. For example, chaos theory. Some examples in nature are what we call chaotic: some very small change in the initial values of the phenomenon

“

certainly think the wisdom of the Ancients remains as current as it ever was,” says UI philosophy Professor Michael O’Rourke. “The type of philosophy I do embraces the language of binary code. I am interested in understanding the nature of language, and the languages of modern mathematics and computer science provide a fruitful testing ground for hypotheses about linguistic significance. “As a philosopher, you need to be sensitive to new and different contexts within which your ideas apply, and these two areas certainly supply such contexts.

student brought up the fact that recently a woman of 70 had been impregnated and borne a child by artificial means. Clearly he found this unnatural and bizarre. Our conclusion was that being technologically advanced does not make you more rational.” Like the Ancients, we persist in our inquiries, asking flawed questions and readjusting our assumptions as we acquire more knowledge. To question is to take part in the ancient human dialectic. “As I see it,” says O’Rourke, “we do philosophy when we engage in abstract analysis of concepts, and we do this more often than we might think. Humans are philosophical creatures, for better or worse, and so philosophy will remain relevant to us as long as there is an us.” I Author’s Notes: Professor Gier points out that Plato was critical of Dionysian and other orgiastic rites, making the opening scenario highly unlikely. The notion of Plato physically possessing a calendar of any kind is also improbable. The author retains these devices in order to playfully present Plato within the sociological and technological context of his era.

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Philosophy as a Verb

Philosophy is a dynamic business, responding and growing along with the human condition.” Since the age of Euclid, Plato, Aristotle, Euripides and Buddha, we have gathered a lot of data, some of which we’ve put to use. One measure of the vast distance between us and Plato can be taken in artifacts like the calendar, now evolved to Palm Pilot technology, and the atomic clock. While technological advancements offer a good measure of our growing knowledge, our uses for them does not always reflect an equally expanding wisdom, notes Luschnig. “In my class on Greek tragedy we were discussing the ‘Oresteia,’ a trilogy about the system of vengeance, or feud killing. The Athenians, who already knew the concept of the ‘blood price’ in earlier times, found this still a problem. The play is resolved by setting up their first trial by jury. “Discussing this play and our own type of punitive killing or capital punishment, which was already in disrepute in the fifth century B.C.E., we recognized that the Greeks saw themselves as a rational people. And we, of course, think of ourselves as rational people, no age or culture more so. A

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have enormous impact on the outcomes. ‘The butterfly flutters its wings and causes a hurricane.’ These things are very difficult to model mathematically, so a whole new branch of mathematics had to be invented to deal with that. “Mathematics continues to struggle to find ways of expressing truth in what we find in science and physics and chemistry. Finding an ultimate description of how the universe works is still very much the impetus for mathematics.”

Albert “Chips” Carlson decorates his office with diagrams of the problem-solving microchips he has designed.

By Nancy Hilliard

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ring them on world — all the toughest problems technology has to offer. UI’s 44-year-old Albert Carlson, computer science doctoral student, is up to the challenge. In fact, solving tough problems is his form of fun, says Carlson. Already, he has solved many that have improved people’s lives. He has invented train door controllers and computer security tools, expanded digital communication capacities, and invented air pressure sensors that control hospital beds, irrigation systems and diesel engines. He has worked in military intelligence, contributed to high-definition TV and cell phone technology, created plane parts, hearing aides, intravenous sensors and parts of air filters on smokestacks. Carlson, also known as “Chips,” is a microchip designer and systems engineer who customizes technology solutions and seeks unconventional ways to fix problems. His resume lists at least 20 companies for which he has taken on their toughest challenges, found solutions and then moved on to the next. “I look for people’s needs and pathways to them — it can involve a

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MASTERMIND IN TECH PROBLEMS Says: ‘Bring On the Toughest’ product, a tactic or ways to make artificial intelligence more useful in our daily lives,” says Carlson. Most recently, with a team of UI researchers, he helped develop and patent CipherSmith, an innovative tool chest for computers to deflect hackers and crackers. (See sidebar.) Once finished with his doctoral thesis in computer security, he’d like to explore how the brain works and perhaps develop artificial pathways for diseased or dysfunctional sections. He’d like to explore language and knowledge development, and continue to play with codes and ciphers, which he’s done since age 12. He wants to figure out how to make things cheaper, smaller and faster, and deal with the by-product of heat in chips. Perhaps he even will attempt to design sensors for certain microbes to

detect diseases. “Give me the unsolvable problems,” he adds, “because the other stuff’s not nearly as interesting... I rely on others to present the problems and then I analyze the boundaries, rules and conventional wisdom, and come up with a new approach.” Take for instance, when Carlson was in the sixth grade and he had an experiment percolating in his mom’s kitchen. It went awry, and she found 1,500 caterpillars dangling from her kitchen ceiling — all in the name of understanding metamorphosis. His extraordinary team-building ability first became evident when he sparked a mutiny at his teenage Model U.N. experience. “They told us to lobby hard for our causes — and did I ever,” said Carlson.

CipherSmith Thwarts Hackers and Crackers rotecting computer privacy now requires “007” countermeasures to deflect hackers and crackers who have learned how to break into systems, listen on the network wire, crack codes or modify programs meant to protect data. The computer security invention CipherSmith, developed by a UI student computer science team, blends the aggressive tactics of students with the “elegant encryption methods” of its lead investigator. Doctoral student Albert Carlson led computer engineering students Darin Evans, Philip Gregg, Thomas DuBuisson, Justin Cassidy and postdoctoral fellow Liz Wilhite in the tactical assault. They wanted to stun the intruders and bring them to their knees, they said. “Snoopers will only receive useless, obscured messages with CipherSmith,” says Carlson. “It speeds up and changes how the information is transmitted so that an intruder can’t keep up, and it becomes a practical impossibility to decode the message.” By inserting a chip or software into existing computers, network routers, switches and traditional or cellular phones, the resulting product deflects hacking or cracking on all communication media. It is particularly useful for industries that remotely control and monitor equipment such as utilities, power grids, nuclear plants, transportation systems, online transactions and e-commerce, routers, military communications, manufacturing and

scouting and church activities. They even study together at UI. Wife, Tina, is a sophomore in art education; daughter, Ariana, takes fisheries and physics; sons Robert and Alan have taken or will take advanced placement courses while at Moscow High School. After they graduate, the family may live in Minnesota where the fish are aplenty. “We could be known for ‘fish ‘n chips,’” quips Tina. Or, they could land

medical applications. Conventional secureware on the other hand, detects intrusion, builds firewalls, provides anti-virus, autoresponse and notification functions, monitors and quarantines affected parts of the systems or protects Web servers and operating systems. Contrarily, one feature of CipherSmith uses four of the eight network cable wires to shuffle transmission of information at unpredictable times, says Carlson. “For optical networks and other media, we can switch keys, change encryption and trigger a variety of random tactics all on-the-fly.” Intruders would have to crack so many algorithms in just the right order to decode a message that “they have a better chance of winning the PowerBall than of decoding a single piece of a message,” says Wilhite, a team member who now heads techtransfer at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute. “And that won’t help them with the next piece - the equivalent of winning the PowerBall again next week.” CipherSmith doesn’t significantly impact the data stream or communication system performance, say its developers. For instance, one megabyte of information can be “hidden” per second with the present software version. Industry has expressed interest in the product at its first public debut this fall. CipherSmith’s eventual commercialization can bring royalties to UI and the student inventors.

in Golden, Colo. and teach, research and run their own company. It’s good to dream, they say. “Whatever we do, it won’t be for the money,” says Carlson. “I just want my kids to be proud that their dad contributed to the world in some way. I’ll go wherever my curiosity takes me.” It’s worth watching to see what problems next will entertain Chips. I

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However, as an adult, his innovative and unconventional ideas have paid off in automated networks, systems and technology advancements. Carlson returned to formal academe after military service and corporate life in Chicago, Ill. He had earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from the University of Illinois-Champaign Urbana in 1981 and began taking UI’s engineering outreach courses in 1991 from his workplaces. He completed his master’s degree that way, and since 2001, he has taught computer science and data structures on the Moscow campus as he earns his way to his doctorate. His current faculty mentors, Robert Hiromoto, chair of computer science, and Richard Wells, electrical and computer engineering, agree Carlson’s learning sometimes gets out in front of them. Wells says, “Al’s proposed encryption scheme for a security system is so complex it will involve a new method of mathematical analysis in order to really understand it.” Hiromoto enjoys “Al’s enormous intellectual capacity to formulate, understand and solve problems. His familiarity with advanced electronic devices, and his development of CipherSmith most likely was born out of his creative processes.” Carlson’s colleague, Liz Wilhite, who now directs technology transfer at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute, says “Al blossomed at UI where he found kindred minds and a freedom to think and dream radically different. At the same time, UI has helped him mature in his scholarly pursuits.” Despite Carlson’s racing mind, ferocious curiosity and patentable outcomes, he says his major asset is family. “I came from an original family of 19 kids, six born to our parents and others who were adopted or fostered. I’m now married to my childhood sweetheart, and we had four children who are the center of our lives.” He proudly produces the 44,000 names of ancestors on his computerized genealogy, along with hundreds of pages of family biographies. Sunday night at the Carlson home is a reenactment of his youth, with as many as 20 people around the dinner table, followed by a rollicking card game. The Carlson family fishes, rock hounds, fossil hunts and engages in

DO THE MATH — One Professor Meets Up with Three Generations of Students By Ray Doering

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ombine a chance conversation between a UI undergraduate and her grandmother with a UI professor who keeps all of her student records and what emerges is a family reunion of sorts as three generations compare notes about their math professor. Aubrey Comstock, a child development/family relations and early childhood education major, was discussing her spring semester courses with her grandmother, Dorothy Todd, when her description of Gail Adele’s “Early Childhood Math” class sounded familiar. “She remembered taking a math course in order to be certified to teach kindergarten,” Comstock said. “When I told her the professor’s name she said the name ‘Gail’ sounded familiar.” Comstock described the conversation in an e-mail to her professor. Right away Adele recalled the student from nearly 30 years ago. “I remember her [Dorothy] distinctly,” said Adele, a UI mathematics professor. “I was in my second year teaching at the UI, and she was an older student coming back for certification. “She stood out in the class,” Adele added. “She had a lot of ideas from her teaching experience that she shared with the class. I was still putting the course together, and it was good to hear from someone with classroom experience.” Adele thought there might be another family connection, so she consulted her

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UI math Professor Gail Adele (left) had a summer reunion with Dorothy Todd, Jerry Todd and Aubrey Comstock. Dorothy, Jerry and Aubrey represent three generations from the same family who took a UI math class from Adele.

grade book file. She has kept every grade book since she started teaching at UI in 1974. “I thought I also had taught her son, and I remember being quite amazed at the time that I taught two generations,” Adele said. Sure enough, her grade book revealed that Dorothy’s son, Aubrey’s father, Jerry Todd also spent a semester in Adele’s classroom. A 1982 graduate in mass communications, Jerry describes himself as the “wild card” in this story. “I only took one math class, and it was this one,” he said.

As for the Todds, the UI has certainly been a family affair. Dorothy’s husband, Harry, was assistant manager of the UI student union until his retirement in 1982. Dorothy began her undergraduate program in the late 1960s and graduated with her daughter, Charlotte Todd Devlin, in 1971. She went back for her master’s degree while her son, Jerry, was an undergraduate. As granddaughter Aubrey eyes graduation the question on everyone’s mind finally was given voice. “Are you ready for a Ph.D.?” I

To be profiled, mail information, including graduation year, to Tim Helmke, Alumni Office, PO Box 443232, Moscow, ID 83844-3232 or e-mail information to helmke@uidaho.edu (photos can be e-mailed in a jpg format). In the interest of accuracy and privacy, we will list only items submitted by an alumnus or their family.

CLASS NOTES 30s

60s

Doug Guy ’37 enjoys playing bridge three or four times a week, checking his e-mail daily and spending time with Elizabeth, his wife of 55 years.

Jack Lemley ’60 received the Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from North Idaho College for his record of significant achievement in his profession.

50s Raymond Taylor ’56 was honored with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Yeram S. Touloukian Award.

Jack W. Gustavel ’62 was appointed to Avista Corp.’s board of directors.

Dennis O’Leary ’64 retired in 2003 after 39 years in secondary and elementary education. Steven Bruce Harold ’65 works for Simplot in Manitoba, Canada, and helped oversee the construction of a new plant in Canada. John F. Ferguson ’69 retired from the Roseburg, Ore. public schools as an elementary band and vocal music teacher.

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President's Circle

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Bob Moreland ’72, ’73 has been a special education teacher for 29 years. He also has done work with the Sheriff’s Reserve in Ely, Nev. Dennis Hopwood ’73 was appointed vice president of human resources for Standard Insurance Co. in Portland, Ore.

Cindy Hauge Ferguson ’69 continues to work as an elementary band and vocal music teacher with the Roseburg, Ore. public schools.

Loren Butler ’63 had his article “The Long and Winding Road” published in the spring 2003 issue of The Magazine of Sigma Chi.

Tom Carter ‘72 is the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dinuba, Calif. His tenth book, “They Knew How to Pray: 15 Secrets from the Prayer Lives of Bible Heroes,” was published in June 2003.

Nick A. Vlachos ’72 wrote a play, “The Bed,” that was performed January 11-13, 2003 in Decatur, Ill.

John Taylor ’74 was the winner of the fourth annual Three Oaks Prize in Fiction for his story collection which will be published in the 2004 season. Paul Krausman ’76 was featured and presented information on the Public Broadcasting System television show “Western Predators,” shown throughout the West during recent months.

i Young Alumni

Together, building core support for University of Idaho's future. An annual opportunity for alumni and friends to demonstrate their enthusiasm and commitment to UI.

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For information on how to become a member of the President's Circle and President's Circle Young Alumni, please see the enclosed reply form in the center of this magazine or contact (208) 885-7069. www.supportui.uidaho.edu

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Young alumni can now join the President's Circle at special annual gift levels!

CLASS NOTES Tom Zimmerman ’79 was promoted to director of Fire and Aviation Management for the southwest region for the U.S. Forest Service in Albuquerque, N.M. Agnes Sowle ’79, ’82 has been appointed county attorney for Multnomah County in Portland, Ore.

80s Allen Jones ’86, ’88 recently received his Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Washington. He now is on the faculty at South Dakota State University, heading up the geotechnical engineering program in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Shawn McIntosh ’87 coauthored a mass communication textbook with publishers Allyn & Bacon called “Converging Media: An Introduction to Mass Communication.” Les MacDonald ’87 has been appointed the City of Moscow director of Public Works. Kristen Dayle Diffenbach ’88 received her doctorate in exercise and sport science from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Matthew Faulks ’88, ’00 has been appointed a special assistant United States attorney by U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Moss. Reva Nickelson ’89 is the acting department manager of sustainable environmental protection at Idaho National Environmental and Engineering Laboratory.

90s Melissa Fuentes Dannenberg ’91 is the manager of HPS Americas Customer Satisfaction with Hewlett Packard in Boise and was awarded a MVP award in Orlando, Fla.

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Keith Lee Morris ’92, ’94 had his novel “The Greyhound God” published by the University of Nevada Press.

Rachel Reese ’93 joined ZGA Architects as their marketing director in Boise.

Matt Yost ’93 was selected to participate in the Nature Conservancy expedition in China last winter. Yost guides wilderness and fishing trips in Idaho’s backcountry as well as working part time for Idaho Rivers United in Boise.

John A. McConnell ’99 was promoted to lieutenant in the U.S. Navy based on sustained superior job performance and proficiency in his designated specialty.

Patrick Brennan ’93 serves as administrator for the House Committee on General Government in the Oregon State Legislature. He has worked in legislative administration since 1999.

Kent Sorenson Jr. ’00 is the director of applied research at North Wind, an Idaho Fallsbased full-service environmental consulting firm.

Michael Arnzen ’94 has been promoted to associate professor of English at Seton Hill University where he currently teaches creative writing in the MA program for Writing Popular Fiction. Robert L. Lohrmeyer ’94 has been named dean of the School of Technology at Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston. Michael Edwards ’94 graduated from the University of Washington MBA program in 2003 and was awarded the Outstanding Student Service Award by the MBA faculty. He has joined Deloitte and Touche LLP as a consultant. Jing Wang Edwards ’95 works as director of financial reporting for Pacific Northwest Bank in Seattle. Connie Lovoi ’96 was named the new chief financial officer for Kootenai Electric Cooperative in Hayden.

00s

Vonia Jackson ’00 recently received her national credential as a registered environmental health specialist/registered sanitarian by the National Environmental Health Association. She is employed at South Central District Health as the environmental health specialist for Gooding and Lincoln counties in southern Idaho. Sarah Scott ’01 began work with Cal Inc. doing environmental consulting and construction. Curtis Chambers ’02 completed 21 weeks of training at the Oregon Police Corps Academy and is now employed as a police officer in Redmond, Ore. Annie Paffendorf ’03 is the new VCS marketing assistant for the Coeur d’ Alene Chamber of Commerce.

MARRIAGES Brian Bradburn ’84, ’90 to Jeanine Bussiere ’84 Allen Jones ’86, ’88 to Amy Jones Meyla Camille Bianco ’90 to Jared James Johnston Chris Codd ’95 to Joy Schadel ’97 Meghan Ireland ’96 to Raymond Schieferecke Todd J. Hall ’97 to Lynda Aparicio Brook Edwards ’97 to Elias Meyer ’98 Sarah M. Berch ’98 to Joseph Lynch Matt Petersen ’98, ’00 to Emily Corkill ‘00 Casey Lynn Leary ’00 to Ryan Edward Ries Jennifer Brun ’00, ’03 to Ryan Schindele Cynthia Yee ’00, ’03 to Jeremy Wallace ‘01 Rae Harrell ’02 to Kite Faulkner ’02 Chung-Wei Olive Lin ’03 to Brandon Lambert ’03

Andrew J. Long ’03 is serving in the U.S. Peace Corps in Tanzania, Africa as an education volunteer.

Todd J. Hall ’97 received his master’s in urban planning from the University of Washington in June 2003. David Weinstein ’97 is the new assistant provost at Millersville University in Pennsylvania. Tavis McNair ’98 has returned home after a tour of duty with the Marine Corps in Baghdad, Iraq. Michelle Yates Mandis ’98 recently presented at the American Chemical Society’s Northwest Regional meeting in the Radioactive Waste Remediation category. She received her Washington State Professional Engineering license. She also earned a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager license in March 2003. She works for Portage Environmental, Inc.

SEATTLE SONICS Idaho Vandals at Seattle Sonics Basketball Sunday, March 7 Join the UI Alumni Association and enjoy a Seattle Sonics NBA basketball game in Key Arena at Seattle Center. The gathering will include a UI pre-game reception with your alumni friends and guests. Special discount ticket prices, pre-game snacks and beverages will be available. Pre-Game Social 4:30 p.m. • Tipoff at 6 p.m. Contact UI Alumni Office, (208) 885-6154 or e-mail alumni@idahovandals.com for further details.

CLASS NOTES

IN MEMORY

John C. Robertson ’40, Gooding, Nov. 29, 2001

20s

Otto Tronowsky ’40, Glendale, Calif., Sept. 27, 2002

Annabelle Nero Belknap ’27, Clarkston, Wash., Jan. 30, 2003 Kian A. to Eric ’89 and Fafa Alidjani ’96 DeBord

Blake to Todd and Melissa Fuentes ’91 Dannenberg

William Stewart to John ’92 and Lisa Jolley ’94 Gibb

Mason Benjamin to Steve ’99 and Miskee Gendall ’98 Blatner

Leon L. Weeks ’28, Bellevue, Wash., Sept. 9, 2002

Abigail Catherine and Christopher Todd to Todd ’92 and Cassie Vosika ’94 Dompier

Charles James to Charles ’00 and Dana ’00 Peterson

30s

Burton O. Clark ’42, Nov. 16, 2002

Edna Mae Waide ’32, Lewiston, March 29, 2003

Eunice Hudelson deNeufville ’33, May 20, 2003 Frank Taft ’34, Challis, May 30, 2003 Blanche Taylor Nicholson ’34, Boise, April 29, 2003 Bernard A. Nelson ’34, Boise, Jan. 8, 2003 Norman L. Iverson ’36, Tacoma, Wash., March 30, 2003 Mary L. Gype ’36, Kent, Wash., July 23, 2002 Andrew Earl Alden ’36, Boise, Aug. 5, 2003

Braden to E. Scott ’98 and Jarilyn Throne ’98 Kim; and Andrea and Carl to Peter ’98 and Tanda Ash ’96 Tomchak

Ethan, Zachary and Jacob to Brian ’93 and Melanie Savage ‘93 Sanderson

John Christopher and Katie Marie to Chris ’98 and Annie Czarniecki ’96 Colson

Lindsey Ann to Kevin ’91 and Donna Lincoln Elizabeth to Peter ’93 and Caryl Kester ’94 Soeth Emily Grace to Stan and Angie ’98 Hammond Will Carter and McKenna Cline to Kelsey and Molly Sweetland ’97 Thompson

Bertha Randall ’37, Bremerton, Wash., Oct. 19, 2002 Esther Lillian Adriansen Mouchet ’37, Lewiston, March 22, 2003

Aidan and Jackson to Travis and Colleen Hall-Headley ’94

Karsen Elizabeth to Ross ’98 and Kari Gunter ’00 Granier

Lyle Forgey ’41, Spokane, Wash. Ralph Eugene Bowler ’41, American Falls, July 9, 2002

Howard B. Stowell ’32, Salt Lake City, Utah, Jan. 6, 2003 Sophia to George ’98 and Natasha ’00 Griffith

Orda Hoskins-Glodowski ’41, June 5, 2002

Frances E. Cummins-Ready ’29, Eugene, Ore., April 4, 2003

W. Frank “Tony” Warner ’32, Twin Falls, Jan. 20, 2003

Alexander Yi to Michael ’94 and Jing Wang ’95 Edwards

Erich Korte ’40, Boise, April 15, 2003

Ruben O. Hart ’42, Kalispell, Mont., Nov. 1, 2002 George H. Hackney ’42, Long Beach, Calif., Feb. 9, 2003 John F. Neely ’43, Moscow, Oct. 30, 2002 Josephine C. Shelton Gordon ’44, Twin Falls, Nov. 27, 2002 Constance J. McCluskey ’45, Spokane, Wash., March 28, 2002 Richard Grant Gardner ’46, April 17, 2003 John Thomas “Tom” Waller ’46, Nampa, April 4, 2003 Richard Nelson ’47, Riverside, Calif., Feb. 1, 2003 Elizabeth Glenn Schubert ’47, Gooding, Feb. 3, 2003 Grace Elizabeth Ann Robinson ’48, March 27, 2003 Courtland B. Smith, ’48, Idaho Falls, March 27, 2003 Betty Lou Jones Green ’49, Seattle, Wash., July 20, 2003

Ludeen W. Jergensen ’37, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 8, 2002

50s

William Brown ’38, Moscow, July 22, 2003

Roger F. Maxwell ’50, Olympia, Wash., Nov. 25, 2002

James English ’38, Coeur d’Alene

William Ross Woodland ’50, Billings, Mont., Sept. 16, 2002

Robert Edward Miller ’38, Dayton, Wash., Dec. 11, 2002

Jack E. Gillette ’50, Mesa, Ariz., March 16, 2003

Allee C. Givens ’38, Boise, April 25, 2003

Richard Gordon Allen ’51, Boise, March 28, 2003

Wayne K. Yenni ’39, Lewiston, Jan. 10, 2003

Don Lee Hutchinson ’53, April 12, 2003

Wilbur Sam Garten ’39, Sandpoint, March 26, 2003

Lester Vern Slater ’53, April 2003

40s

Robert R. Lee ’54, Rexburg, Sept. 27, 2002

Corbin “Nip” Neville ’40, Wallace, Aug. 17, 2003

Patricia Ann Hines ’55, Ketchikan, Alaska, Sept. 21, 2002

2004

Eva J. Nixon ’26, Mesa, Ariz., Jan. 18, 2003

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FUTURE VANDALS

CLASS NOTES In Memory Continued

Earl L. Erdman ’55, Clark Fork, April 8, 2003 Donna Lee Scharbach ’55, Lewiston, Sept. 26, 2002

Catherine “Kit” Scates Barnhart ’61, Coeur d’Alene, Aug. 21, 2003 Warren B. Holt ’62, Hemet, Calif., April 23, 2002

Mary Giles ’55, Sonoma, Calif.

Robert W. Galley ’64, Twin Falls, March 24, 2003

John C. Benzin ’56, Woodburn, Ore., April 19, 2003

Marvin Gene Fallon ’65, Jerome, March 31, 2003

Roger Clemens Ulbricht ’56, Missoula, Mont., Jan. 24, 2003

Frederick Eugene Freeman ’66, Boise, Feb. 4, 2003

Doris V. Kinman ’57, Potlatch, April 30, 2003

Ross Armitage ’67, Kendrick, May 2, 2003

Richard N. Clauson ’59, Feb. 4, 2000

70s

60s

Merle Lee Malmberg ’70, Feb. 3, 2003

Caroline Steinmann Valentine ’60, July 3, 2003

Jack Emerson ’70, ’76, Spirit Lake, Aug. 8, 2003

Donald M. Taylor ’60, Phoenix, Ariz., Dec. 27, 2002

Janice Rae Helbling Jones-Hill ’72, Lewiston, July 26, 2003

Susan Burcaw-Moerschbaecher ’72, Bend, Ore., Aug. 2, 2003 Neil Foote ’72, April 6, 2002 David Bruce Gray ’72, Hayden, Jan. 28, 2003 Carol Mahler Andrews Gutierrez ’79, ’83, Coeur d’Alene, Aug. 16, 2003

80s Aldrich Oz Bross ’80, Deary, April 22, 2003 Lance Wasem ’97, Bellevue, Wash.

00s Seth Dotson ’02, Hood River, Ore., May 31, 2002 Kristopher Allan Weed ’03, Seattle, Wash., Sept. 1, 2003

Trevor R. Baugh ’60, Boise, Jan. 29, 2003

BE A VOLUNTEER Alumni Board seeks new members The UI Alumni Association, which represents more than 70,000 alumni, is seeking regional representatives for its board of directors. The volunteer positions are for: • Northern California region • Southern California region. If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, or would like to be considered for appointment, contact the UI Alumni Office at (208) 885-6154 or alumni@idahovandals.com.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

Upham Memories

Seeing the picture of the freshman class of 1967 getting doused with water in front of Upham Hall brought back a flood of wonderful memories of living in Upham. It also brought back vivid images of the evening we took that picture. The tradition of the “freshman picture” had long been forgotten until that evening when I rallied some friends together to make it happen. That was me calling out “1-2-3,” while the photographer, Erich Korte, readied the camera. We had but one chance to get it right, and Erich did a great job. Coconspirator Ed VanWinkle had his car running at the curb, and we were able to make a hasty getaway before our drenched victims could come after us. We had access to a darkroom that night and had copies available for everyone a

short time later. By then, any hostile feelings had passed, and they were captivated by the picture. There is an axiom that if you can remember the 60s, you weren’t there. Not so at Idaho. It was a special time, and I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. Sincerely, Mike Berriochoa ‘71 Pasco, Wash.

Tri-Cities Mix-up I just received the Fall 2003, issue of “Here We Have Idaho.” I always enjoy reading the articles in this journal. It’s very well done and a great medium for helping us alums keep up with what’s going on at Idaho. On page 5, Coming Events, I noticed a mistake that I just couldn’t leave alone. I see that on Nov. 30, the Lady Vandals basketball team will be taking on Portland State at the Tri-

Cities Coliseum in Richland, Wash. Oops! The last time I looked, the Tri-Cities Coliseum is still in Kennewick, Wash. There’s not much wrong with Richland, you understand, but personal, professional, and community pride just won’t let me leave this alone. My Vandal Pride is absolutely thrilled that the Vandies are going to play in the Tri-Cities. The clothes in my closet that aren’t black and orange for the Kennewick Lions, are black and gold for the Vandals. Dennis Boatman Via e-mail

Alaska Connection I enjoyed your article “Alaska is Hot” in the latest issue of the UI magazine. I was particularly interested to read that so many students come to UI from Robert Service High School in Anchorage, because I also graduated from Service High.

Another faculty member in the Division of Statistics, Tim Johnson, graduated from Bartlett High in Anchorage, so it seems that we have a faculty connection to Alaska high schools also. Chris Williams Professor and Interim Director Division of Statistics Via e-mail

Corrections Fall 2003 issue Page 7: The Idaho Business Leader of the Year award is presented by the Alpha Kappa Psi professional business fraternity at Idaho State University. Page 21: UI alumnus and former Regent of the University of Idaho John D. Remsberg’s name is spelled incorrectly. Page 22: UI alumna Helen Dittman Beirne’s name is misspelled.

CLASS NOTES

Alumni Association Awards 2004

Richard Rock ’94 Douglas V. Hawkins ’66 Edward W. Hawkins ’74 Charles E. “Chuck” Poulton ’39 Greg H. Bower ’71 Rod Gramer ’75

JIM LYLE AWARD Recognizes individual or couple who has shown long-term dedication and service to the university and Alumni Association through volunteerism. Pat McMurray ’70 Leonard “Nick” Purdy, Jr. ’62 Helen McKinney ’39 David W. Farnsworth

If you would like more information or wish to nominate someone for an Alumni Association Award, contact the UI Alumni Office at (208) 885-6154 or alumni@idahovandals.com. Deadline for nominations is August 1, 2004. More information is available under Alumni Benefits at the UI Alumni Web site, www.supportui.uidaho.edu.

2004

James V. Hawkins ’59 Reginald Reeves ’52 Robert G. Cowan ’59 Albert W. Franzmann ’71

SILVER & GOLD AWARD Recognizes living alumni who have a distinguished record of achievement and service in their specialized area of endeavor, thus bringing honor and recognition to the university.

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UI ALUMNI HALL OF FAME Recognizes UI alumni who have achieved national or international distinction by their accomplishments and leadership. These distinguished UI graduates will be recognized and inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame, during 2004 Commencement weekend on May 13-15 in Moscow.

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

Peter Becker

Don Atkinson

Chris Williams

“This is a wonderful place to be, especially if you are an outdoors person,” says Don Atkinson, ’56 ’56. “This is really the jumping off point.” Leisure is very much a part of the life plan for the 800-plus University of Idaho alumni who live within 50 miles of Sun Valley. In 20 minutes from his accounting office, Alumni Board Member Peter Becker ’83 can be on the ski slopes. In another direction — 45 minutes from his office — Becker can spend a day lakeside with his children and wife Ruby. He also enjoys mountain biking and golf. Becker stays active as an alumnus. His Sigma Nu pledge class organizes a golf tournament every year. “The ties you have at UI follow you around your whole life,” he says. Becker, who grew up in Genesee, has spent 16 years in Hailey. As a member of the Alumni Board, he has a chance to visit northern Idaho on a regular basis to meet with family and catch up with old friends. Becker enjoys periodic homecomings, but would never trade his accounting gig in the Wood River Valley for cattle ranching on the Palouse. “I remember in college working on the farm when it was 10 below zero. I knew then I wanted an indoor job.” Ten years ago, Chris Williams ’87 traded in an accounting career in San Francisco, Calif., to manage Williams Market in Ketchum. “It is a good service to provide. Plus, the Wood River Valley

held a certain mystique for me,” he says from his office overlooking the grocery aisles and colorful organic produce section — a hit with customers. It’s not all work for Williams, though. He makes time for alpine and Nordic skiing in the winter and mountain biking in the spring and summer. He’s always been an active soul. At UI, he was a member of the track and cross-country teams. What propels these alumni to be so active? Everything points to the sun. The area receives more than 280 sunny days a year — an environment sure to boost the mind and body.

“I feel so blessed to have landed here.” “It’s a creative place to live and work,” admits Jim McLaughlin, ’71 an architect originally from Mountain Home, whose clients include actor and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Wrigley family of gum-making fame. His red wire-frame specs reflect his stylish sensibilities while also demonstrating his attention to detail. In his office, the walls are filled with computerized replicas of building projects. “I’ve always told my kids, ‘Pick a profession that is your passion because you will be doing it for a long time.’”

McLaughlin has owned the same architectural firm in Sun Valley since 1975. He also receives regular kudos from his peers. In 2003, McLaughlin was named one of the Best and Brightest American Architects by Building Stone Magazine. It takes McLaughlin two to five years to design and build many of his projects. Most are high-end residential homes, with a smattering of commercial projects, including the award-winning New Zealand fishing lodge, Blanket Bay, selected as the No. 2 resort in the world by Harpers Hideaway. Natural materials, such as stone and wood, are signatures of his work. “Each project means a lot to me,” he says. “Part of my heart is in each of them.” Gail Severn’s heart belongs to art. Severn owns “one of the state’s most prominent exhibit spaces for contemporary art,” according to Art Idaho Magazine. After graduating from UI in 1974, Severn moved to the Wood River Valley, securing a job at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts founded by art patrons Bill and Glenn Janss. It wasn’t long before the young artist, who once studied with famed photographer Ansel Adams, struck out on her own. “My parents (Shirley Knox Severn ’48 and Russell Severn ’46) always told me, ‘Your business will not have as much a chance for success if you don’t own the property. You need to fully invest in the community to succeed.’” Heeding their words, Severn opened her own gallery — bearing the family name. After more than 25 years, it is holding its own among the whirl of 14 other galleries in Ketchum. In recent years, she has hosted several UI events at the gallery and works with faculty and

SUN VALLEY PHOTO BY STEVE PLATZER COURTESY SUN VALLEY/KETCHUM CHAMBER AND VISITORS BUREAU

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he Wood River Valley beckons poets and painters; architects and anglers; snowmobile enthusiasts and business folks; socialites as well as skiers.

2004

By Leslie Einhaus

sun valley vandals

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

Jim McLaughlin

staff on projects in the area. As a “people person,” she enjoys the role of managing an exhibit space rather than being a full-time artist stuck in a studio — only the muse to keep her company. “I feel so blessed to have landed here.” Recalling her semester exchange at the University of Hawaii to study glass blowing, the Nampa native says, “I wanted to experience the world — something broader than Idaho.” She continues to do that — even now — as a gallery owner bringing the world to Idaho in the frame of artistic vision. After high school, Don Atkinson was determined to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland. To get a jumpstart on his studies, he enrolled at Idaho State University. It was a big mistake, he says. “On the weekends, everyone was gone.” His father then suggested attending UI. After some reluctance, he agreed. “I remember my dad taking me to the front door of the SAE house and asking the brothers, ‘He’s part of a legacy. Would you have him?’” Plans for attending the naval academy dissolved — rapidly. Don was meant to wear silver and gold. “Attending UI was the greatest thing that ever happened to me,” he says. His degree in accounting served him well in the family’s supermarket business. Two of the main grocery stores in Ketchum are owned by UI alumni. The third is the staple Albertson’s, founded by Joe (J.A.) Albertson, a mentor of Interim President Gary Michael, who served as chair and C.E.O. of Albertson’s, Inc.

Don has retired now, and the chain of supermarkets has been passed down successfully to the next generation. Don’s sons Chip and Whit own and manage the markets in Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue. During his childhood, Don lived in Picabo, a tiny community about a halfhour drive east of Sun Valley. He recalls a vivid memory of hunting jackrabbits with his Dad, the Purdys and Ernest Hemingway in the rural domain of Picabo. With an abundance of jackrabbits in the area, the hunters suited up and took to the field. “There were millions of jackrabbits out there — literally,” Atkinson says.

“It’s about persistence. I’ve stuck with it and made it work. And I know that anything I accomplish is because of what I learned at UI.” Many would be jealous of these UI alumni — traversing the countryside with one of world’s most talented writers who had a way of always hitting the mark with accuracy and perfection — no matter the tool or trade. Nick Purdy’s life as a farmer, rancher and entrepreneur is far from average; it’s first rate. His contributions to rural

Nick and Sharon Purdy

Idaho are immense and varied — varied as the landscape one views traveling from southern Idaho to the tip of the panhandle. When the PC buzz first hit in the ’80s, Purdy helped equip farmers with computers. He managed the development of a Sun Valley subdivision, owns a ranch supply business, raised barley for Budweiser and designed a dust control sprinkler system for feedlots across the country. Purdy ’62 has started more than 20 businesses with each garnering a fair share of success. “It’s about persistence,” he says. “I’ve stuck with it and made it work. And I know that anything I accomplish is because of what I learned at UI.” When Purdy arrived at UI, he was ready for some gridiron action. “I thought I was this hot-shot football player,” he grins. “It lasted about a week.” Purdy is the quintessential Westerner — blue jeans, button-down shirt, cowboy boots. He’s a man of the land — energetic and full of ingenuity. The energy and fortitudinous nature of his character came from his father, who earned an honorary degree from UI in 1978. Bud Purdy, in his mid-80s, rides a horse every day, working alongside his son, Nick, on the ranch. “The ranch is the anchor of everything,” Nick says. Purdy owns 4,000 acres of deeded land and leases 2,000 acres along with 25,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management and state lands. The family’s land has been the backdrop for a series of Marlboro advertisements featuring the rugged

Michelle Frostenson

Gary Cooper, Bud Purdy, Ernest Hemingway, Mrs. and Mr. John Powell, Ruth Purdy and Rudy Etchen.

he steppe and sagebrush country of southern Idaho suited Ernest Hemingway’s well-known writing style — sparse and succinct. Shaded with its powder tones, the landscape exudes freedom, comfort and a sense of inspiration. It is this place that sustained one of the world’s best writers through his final years of life. To some UI alums, Hemingway was a hunting partner; others a family legend and one man’s ultimate hero. Hemingway came to the Wood River Valley for the first time in 1939. In room 206 of the Sun Valley Lodge, he penned portions of “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Two of Hemingway’s good friends were Bud Purdy and the late Chuck Atkinson ’41 ’41. Both were pallbearers at the writer’s funeral. Bud received a Spanish shotgun from “Ernie,” who often accompanied the men on bird hunting expeditions near Picabo. Chuck’s son, Don, tells stories about his Dad and Hemingway, and how the kids – Don included – did “all the dirty work – retrieving the birds from the field.” Skip ’53 and Bee Pierce have attended many parties at the Hemingway house in Ketchum. Bee’s sister, Puck, married Hemingway’s oldest son, Jack. “Mary always had birthday parties for Ernest even after he passed away. She invited friends and family to stop by and celebrate with her,” Bee says. “Skip and I got acquainted with the family at those gatherings.” Erv Johnson ’53 of Boise resembles the famous writer – so much so he decided to star in a traveling road show documenting Hemingway’s life. “Even when I don’t have the props, people say I resemble E. Hemingway.”

In 2002, Johnson presented UI Press with a collection of books and magazines by and about his alter-ego, a donation for the Hemingway Review, published by the university press. From 8 to 5, Marty Peterson ’68 heads up governmental affairs at UI Boise and moonlights as a Hemingway scholar. Peterson currently is working as co-chair of the Idaho Hemingway House Foundation, established to restore and operate the writer’s home in Ketchum. Peterson also was instrumental in bringing the International Hemingway Conference to the Wood River Valley in 1996. Peterson’s favorite piece of Hemingway’s writing is the short story “Big Two- Hearted River” that he re-reads at least once a year. Peterson recalls being approached by a man with an armful of the author’s memorabilia, including Hemingway’s short stories that included “Big Two-Hearted River.” Flipping through the story, Peterson spotted margin notes by Hemingway that read: “This is the best thing I ever wrote.” Recalling the moment, he laughs, “Boy, do I have good taste.” Idaho is a place of inspiration for literary elites. Peterson notes, “It could be said that the modernist movement of literature was born in Hailey with the birth of Ezra Pound and died in Ketchum when Ernest Hemingway took his last breath.” Idahoans never forget a friend. Hemingway’s memorial contains the words that he wrote for an Idaho friend’s eulogy in 1939: “Best of all he loved the fall/The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods/Leaves floating on the trout streams /And above the hills/ The high blue windless sky/Now he will be a part of them forever.” I

2004

Hemingway’s Last Home – UI alumni embrace a legend

WINTER

cowboy on the range. The land was first established in 1883 by Nick’s great grandfather. “I have been in many places in the United States,” Nick notes. “I haven’t found a nicer place to live than Picabo.” A fellow resident of Picabo, Michelle Frostenson ’95 commutes to Sun Valley each day to the Chamber of Commerce where she’s the finance manager. In her office, she proudly displays a photograph of the university campus. “I want each of my three children to attend UI.” Frostenson spent more than a decade in Moscow. At the time, she was a single mom, and tackling a degree wasn’t easy. “But if you put the effort forward, it always pays off,” she says. Frostenson plans to put that same attitude to work on Bald Mountain this winter as she learns to downhill ski. “Wintertime is so beautiful in the Wood River Valley. It’s truly a winter wonderland. There’s no other way to describe it.” On Christmas Eve, the Williams Market is festive and full of customers picking up last minute items — wine and hors d’oeuvres — before celebrating the holiday season with family and friends at the ski lodge and on the slopes. “It’s hopping mad here on the holidays,” Williams says. “There’s a buzz in the community. It’s a good feeling.” There’s a buzz a-brew during the summer months, too. Sun Valley boasts 16 hours of daylight in the heart of summer. It’s bright and ambitious — like the UI alumni who live here day-to-day in the resort town that attracts Hollywood’s hottest and Idaho’s finest. In this area of Idaho, Mountain Time is more than a time zone; it’s a state of mind. I

VANDAL SPORTS

By Becky Paull

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

Gym rat. Gentle giant. Class clown.

To those who know the other side of Leonard Perry, those are the words that come to mind when describing UI’s third-year basketball coach. Words that are far from the foot-stomping, glowering, prowling countenance Vandal fans see courtside at the Cowan Spectrum. “I still call him ‘Little Leonard,’ ” says his mother, Stephanie Perry from her Dallas, Texas, home. ‘Little Leonard’ stories abound from Perry’s childhood days, days spent splitting time between his mom’s house in Dallas and his dad’s in Chicago — between Dallas’ football state of mind and Chicago’s basketball mania. “We’d take and drop him off at the Boys Club or the YMCA,” says Leonard senior, “and he’d be there from daylight ‘til dark. He was a gym rat.” Perry’s early days, though, were spent on football fields rather than basketball courts. His Texas uncles were insistent on telling the younger Perry that basketball was a “sissy sport.” Eventually, Leonard Sr.’s passion for basketball took hold. Leonard Jr. began to spend more and more time on the hardcourt. Once he turned his attention to basketball, it became a passion – possibly fueled by the desire to someday get the best of his dad in one of their countless games of oneon-one. Although it has been some 20 years, Leonard Sr. remembers vividly the day he first lost to Leonard Jr. “When he beat me, he threw the ball up in the air. ‘I gottcha Dad. I gottcha,’ ” says Leonard Sr. “The kid was so happy.”

UI PHOTO SERVICES

LEONARD puts his PERRY

Today, Perry’s basketball intensity dissipates when he is off the court. The other Perry emerges. The one his wife, Christina, says is called the “Gentle Giant” by neighborhood children; the household comic; the persona that drew her in when both were UI undergraduates. “I thought he was goofy,” Christina Perry said as she recalled her first memories of her husband and his nonchalance about being chronically tardy for class. Nevertheless, there was something about him. His first call to her was to ask her if she would watch as the Vandals played at Washington State. She couldn’t rally any of her friends for the drive to Pullman, so she didn’t go either. “He was very disappointed I didn’t go and watch,” she said. “That’s how he was going to impress me.” His chance came a little later, and the electricity of their first date remains. “He was charming,” Christina recalls. “We’ve been together ever since.”

While his social life flourished, and his basketball skills helped push the Vandals into the upper echelon of the Big Sky Conference, academics suffered. Mightily. He admits to skipping virtually all of his classes his last semester. He wouldn’t graduate that spring — or for a few springs to come. His college playing days were over, and without a degree Perry spent the next few years working at a local video store. Granted, he advanced to manager but — despite his love of movies — his heart wasn’t in it. He wanted to coach; to be a part of the game again. For that to happen, he needed his degree. For that to happen, he needed some forgiveness from teachers and mentors at UI. Enter Dene Thomas, then UI vice provost and now president of Lewis-Clark State College. With Thomas’ assistance, a new Perry emerged in the classroom. He was on time. He sat in the front of the room. He asked questions. He graduated.

2004

He knows the hard-scrabble life of growing up in the projects; watching his mother struggle to make his and his sister’s world the best she could.

WINTER

spin on Vandal basketball

VANDAL SPORTS

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

Perry knows of what he speaks as he tries to instill among his players the value of an education. And he doesn’t accept excuses — not for missing class or practice, or having the attitude that life owes you. In short, when he returned to the University of Idaho in the spring of 2001, his attitude was that of 32-year-old head coach. “The message that I try to send is, ‘Don’t be afraid of your intelligence,’ ” Perry says. “I fought it for a long time because it just wasn’t the cool thing to do. It wasn’t cool to be in school and make straight As. “That was probably the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. To be able to use your intelligence in an academic setting is a tremendous gift to have. You can change the world with it.” That’s what Perry did. He knows the hard-scrabble life of growing up in the projects; watching his mother struggle to make his and his sister’s world the best she could. “There were long stretches where we didn’t have much at all,” Perry said. “We lived in some really tough neighborhoods, but my mother always provided for us. We may have had soup for Thanksgiving, but it was really good soup. “We had what we had, and it was great. I don’t look back on it and say, ‘Boy, this was messed up.’ I had a great childhood.”

“To be able to use your intelligence in an academic setting is a tremendous gift to have. You can change the world with it.”

Leonard Perry basketball intensity shows on and off the court. Some fans spend more time watching Perry than the game.

That attitude has carried through to his everyday life now. It is evident in the way he relishes life and in the gusto of his robust laugh that rolls down the Kibbie Dome halls when someone or something strikes him as amusing. “There is so much laughing to be done,” Perry says. “If you can laugh really, really hard every day, at least once, it will make you feel so much better. It is the best medicine.” Sports always have been a big part of Perry’s life. He remembers his mother clamoring down the sideline with her trademark cowbell as Perry would score touchdown after touchdown for his Pop Warner football team. He remembers

growing up the darling of the family. He remembers air-balling the opportunity of a lifetime when he failed to keep up with his classwork and didn’t graduate from UI. “When I had children and I was broke, it dawned on me the direction I’m heading is leading to tragedy — it’s going to be a bad, bad Shakespeare play if I don’t turn it around,” he said. Back to the UI campus he went, intent on finding a way to complete his degree. He did — with honors. “I’ve always known if I put my mind to something, I could do it,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just a matter of having

your back to the wall a little bit.” No longer is that the case. Prior to his being hired at UI in the spring of 2001, he was listed as one of the five up-andcoming coaches in the nation by Sports Illustrated. He is intent on returning the Vandals to their glory days. He does it with vast hours of preparation, relentless practices, a willingness to learn the very best approaches to the game and a passion and enthusiasm about teaching that would make his UI professors proud. They might be amazed when he says teaching is what, for him, gives coaching life. Every year, he has his players answer

VANDAL SPORTS

Football Jolt — Holt returns as head football coach

Vandal Volleyball Scores NCAA Tournament Invitation

Anna-Marie Hammond

questions that give glimpses into who they are. One is, ‘What is your favorite thing about Coach Perry?’ ” Rephrase it and turn it to him: What is your favorite thing about your team? “They allow me to teach, which is what I love doing,” he said. “Teaching is like medicine: It doesn’t taste good all the time … but boy is it good for you. “The opportunity to teach. I really appreciate that from them.” I

His wife, Julie, was UI women’s basketball coach for four years. Memories of those days were a big draw for Holt. “It’s a great town,” he said, “but it’s the people. It’s the tradition. It’s the Vandal family. It’s a really special place. People don’t realize that until they come here and they stay a few years. It grows on you.”

Idaho volleyball turned an end-of-season winning streak into post-season recognition. The Vandals won 12 of their last 14 matches to post a 19-11 record. They were rewarded with an invitation to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament — their first post-season activity since 1995. Idaho was matched against Hawaii, the number tworanked team in the country in the first round of NCAA action and lost in three games. The Vandals were led all season by middle blockers Anna-Marie Hammond and Sarah Meek. Both were named to the Big West All-Conference First Team while setter Mandy Becker earned honorable mention honors.

Enjoy watching the nation’s finest golfers in the company of your friends from the University of Idaho. This is our third annual Phoenix Open gathering ; they prove to be a great time for Vandals. Enjoy a gathering and luncheon with UI alumni and friends, and then watch PGA golf. Scottsdale TPC Golf Course, adjacent to the Princess Resort. All day spectator pass is available for advance purchase. For additional information and specifics: Hugh Cooke, UI Alumni Office, (208) 885-5106 or hcooke@uidaho.edu.

Silver and Gold Day at the 2004 PGA Phoenix Open Friday, January 30, 2004

2004

• Born: June 14, 1968 • Wife: Christina • Children: Leonard III, Cametri Deon, Keisha Ann, Kayla Corrine, Justin Leonard • 1994 - UI graduate, B.S. (General Studies, English emphasis) • 1982-86 Kimball High School (Dallas, Texas) • 1986-89 McLennan Community College (Waco, Texas) • 1989-91 UI point guard, 1990 Big Sky champion, NCAA tournament team • 1991-93 UI student assistant • 1993-94 UI administrative assistant • 1994-98 Utah State University assistant coach • 1998-2000 Iowa State University associate head coach • March 20, 2001 hired as UI head coach

Nick Holt

WINTER

Leonard Perry

Nick Holt may be just the guy to put a winning jolt into Vandal football. He certainly has the credentials — in the last six years, he’s been to six bowl games as a defensive coach with USC and Louisville. Holt was selected head coach for Vandal football in December, while he and the USC Trojans were preparing for a Rose Bowl appearance and possible national championship. But the opportunity to become a head coach was even more important to Holt. “This is a great opportunity,” Holt said. “This is what I’ve been working for for 17 years. You get in this profession and you say, ‘Someday I’m going to run my own program and be my own guy and have my own philosophy.’ I’m excited about the opportunity.” It’s a homecoming for Holt and his family. He coached at UI from 1990-97 under John L. Smith and Chris Tormey.

TO BE CONSIDERED

Building Blocks for a First-Class Education in Idaho By Blake Hall

HERE WE HAVE

IDAHO

s the State Board of Education, we have the responsibility of setting policy and directing Idaho’s educational framework. From the kindergarten class to the post-graduate lab, the State Board is committed to make certain every student has the opportunity for a firstclass education in Idaho. The University of Idaho plays an integral role in ensuring that Idaho’s students excel in the classroom and are prepared for the workforce. Because the State Board is constitutionally charged to “the general governance of all state education institutions,” we have the unique opportunity to help construct educational building blocks. This means our students, at every grade, and in every classroom are learning and progressing to meet the standards of the next level. As your board of regents, the State Board recognizes that these standards cannot be met without the support of the University of Idaho. The University of Idaho has a welldeserved reputation as a premiere land grant and research center. For more than 100 years, the UI not only has educated thousands of students, but also brought millions of dollars to Idaho’s economy. During the 2002-03 school year alone, UI researchers attracted more than $100 million in research support. Research dollars such as these are a vital link in the viability of Idaho’s economy. Access to post-secondary education is critical in preparing an individual for the

future, but is not an easy task. The geography of our state, our changing economy and the complexity of student needs challenge access at every level. Earlier this year, your State Board of Education addressed those access issues through a policy that provides for the planning and coordination of postsecondary education delivery systems, while eliminating unnecessary duplication. The plan calls for all Idaho colleges and universities to develop eightyear strategic plans. Plans are then updated every two years. The planning process serves as a catalyst to reassign missions and roles at these institutions. At the same time, the board has called for programs to be delivered in local campus buildings and utilize existing infrastructure to assure the most cost effective delivery of educational programs. The State Board of Education wants to ensure the University of Idaho’s legacy continues and future students have the opportunity to attend the university at a reasonable price while attracting and keeping knowledgeable professors and administrators. With the increasing cost of a college education, we know many students are feeling the crunch. The board is committed that every student who wants to attend an Idaho university can and will. I

Blake Hall is president of the Idaho State Board of Education.

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Scheduled to appear at the 2004 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival: Lionel Hampton New York Big Band; Roy Hargrove Quintet; Freddy Cole Quartet; Jane Monheit, vocals; Joey DeFrancesco, Hammond B3 organ; Slide Hampton, trombone; Paquito Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Rivera, saxophone; Claudio Roditi, trumpet; Bill Watrous, trombone; Jeff Hamilton, drums; John Clayton, bass; Benny Green, piano; Russell Malone, guitar; Pete Candoli, trumpet; Pete Christlieb, saxophone; Byron Stripling, trumpet and vocals; The Four Freshmen, vocals; Dee Daniels, vocals; Ethel Ennis, vocals; Houston Person, saxophone; Igor Butman, saxophone; Brian Lynch, trumpet; Roberta Gambarini, vocals; David Friesen, bass; Jerry Hahn, guitar; Carol Welsman, vocals; Greg Abate, saxophone; Lorraine Feather, vocals; Shelly Berg, piano; Jane Jarvis, piano; Evelyn White, vocals; Enver Izmailov, tap guitar; and Eldar Djangirov, piano.

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