Here We have Idaho | Spring 2008

idaho

university of idaho magazine | spring 2008

Here We Have

Fire Water

Idaho Benefits from New Natural Resources Programs

spring 2008

and

1

2

idaho

idaho Here we have

university of idaho magazine | spring 2008

12 Transforming an Icon Kibbie Dome renovation and expansion project underway.

On the Cover: Photo collage by Julene Ewert

Cover Story 1 6 Fire and Water Idaho benefits from new natural resources programs.

Features Departments

Letter From the President 2

Campus News 3

Class Notes 30

Events Upcoming 37

A life shaped by global politics.

8 Idaho Nanotechnology

Researchers tackle enormous healthcare challenges.

2 Inspired 2 Four May graduates and their mentors. spring 2008

7 Wusi Maki

1

From the President The University of Idaho Magazine spring 2008 • Volume 25, Number 2 University President Timothy White

Vice President for Advancement Chris Murray

Assistant Vice President for Marketing and Strategic Communications Wendy Shattuck

University of Idaho Alumni Director Steven C. Johnson ’71

Alumni Association President Andrea Niehenke ’96

University of Idaho Foundation Chairman William G. Gilbert Jr. ’97

Editor

Jeff Olson

Magazine Design Julene Ewert ’91

Class Notes Editor Annis Shea

Writers and Contributors Hugh Cooke ’74, ’77, ’02 Leslie Einhaus Donna Emert Cheryl Haas Tim Helmke ’95 Joni Kirk Sandy Larsen Sue McMurray Cynthia Taggart Tania Thompson Bruce Woodard

Photographs

Joe Pallen ’96 Kelly Weaver and as credited

www.uidaho.edu/herewehaveidaho

The University of Idaho is an equal opportunity/ affirmative action employer and educational institution. © 2008, University of Idaho 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 83844-3147.

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.

O

ne of the great joys of serving as president of the University of Idaho is meeting you, our alumni, hearing the many fond recollections of your time as a student, and coming to know first-hand how the University helped prepare you for success. The accomplishments of our alumni are evidence of the University’s record of strong outcomes – the outstanding preparation we provide for career, service and life.

A particularly important ingredient in our legacy of successful outcomes has been the quality and vision of our academic programs. The distinctive value of a University of Idaho degree derives from the breadth, depth and relevancy of the coursework; the myriad opportunities for hands-on learning with creative, innovative faculty in the classroom, lab, studio, clinic and field; and unparalleled opportunities for service learning.

Over our history, the University of Idaho has been able to align our academic programs to address the critical issues and needs of the state and region. By thinking and growing strategically, we continue to introduce new degree programs that build upon our existing academic and research strengths, to prepare the next generation of leaders in critical areas.

This issue of Here We Have Idaho features two of our newest degree programs that focus on Idaho’s natural resources. These innovative programs will deliver positive and lasting impacts to benefit us all.

Waters of the West reflects a new, collaborative approach to help communities solve water problems. The program has brought together more than 50 faculty members who specialize in engineering, physical and natural resources, social sciences, law, political science and economics and guides students to attain master's and doctoral water resources degrees. Graduates of the program will help Idaho and the West address the policies for, and management of, our water resources.

The College of Natural Resources draws on more than 30 years of fire research to offer a bachelor’s degree program in fire ecology and management. The program encompasses fire prevention, suppression and management of both forest and rangeland fires, and will address a growing demand in Idaho and the nation for well-trained fire professionals.

This issue also profiles four of our exceptional May 2008 graduates and the faculty members who have inspired them. We will honor all of our graduates at five commencement ceremonies around the state, starting with Boise on April 30, Idaho Falls May 1, Coeur d’Alene May 5, and culminating with the Moscow ceremony and the College of Law commencement on May 10. Congratulations to all our graduates. May you achieve all of your – and the University’s – expectations for your personal and career successes. Go forth to help make Idaho, the West and the world a better place to think, create, work and live.

Letters 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.

idaho

Timothy P. White President

2

"It was a pretty good year …if you like snow.”

—Russell Qualls, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering and Idaho State Climatologist

spring 2008

It was a winter to remember: • Seven inches of snow in November • 23 inches of snow in December • 40 inches of snow in January • Seven inches in February The winter of 2007-08 far exceed the annual average of 50 inches of snow in Moscow. A two-day storm Jan. 31-Feb. 1 dumped eight inches of drifting snow that closed campus, cancelled classes, and triggered a state of emergency in the region.

Facilities crews were the heroes of the day. They worked more than 1,100 manhours to clear streets, sidewalks, stairways and parking lots to reopen the University.

3

News Campus

TODAY@IDAHO

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

The Coeur d’Alene Mines Corporation (Coeur) has pledged a gift of $100,000 to the College of Business and Economics. The funds will allow the college to reward some of its best faculty and invest in strategic programs like entrepreneurship and the newly launched executive education initiatives in northern Idaho.

Destination Pluto

Brandon R. Schrand, coordinator of the Creative Writing program, has been awarded the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers distinction, and his memoir, “The Enders Hotel,” will be a featured selection in Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide this summer.

Creative Writing faculty member Joy Passanante had her essay “Visitations,” published in Shenandoah magazine, and won Shenandoah’s annual Thomas H. Carter Prize for the best essay written in 2007.

idaho

Research professor of geography Vladimir Aizen has received an $885,000 grant from NASA to study the impact of climate change on water resources and land surface degradation in the Pamir and Amy Dariya River Basin in central Asia.

Aizen’s research team has received more than $2 million in research awards in the last three years.

4

NASA/JHU/APL

The University of Idaho is included in the 2008 list of Kiplinger's 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, one of only 32 universities west of the Mississippi to be so recognized. The rankings reflect an institution’s academic strength and affordability, and more than 500 public four-year colleges and universities were evaluated.

This is a montage of New Horizons images of Jupiter and its volcanic moon Io, taken during the spacecraft's Jupiter flyby in early 2007.

Computer chips developed at the University of Idaho are hurtling toward the edge of the solar system aboard NASA’s New Horizons probe.

Launched in January 2006, the mission is now more than 880 million miles from Earth. It is expected to arrive at its ultimate destination, the dwarf planet Pluto and the unexplored Kuiper Belt region, in 2015.

The probe carries the University’s Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research’s (CAMBR) EDAC5 chip that provides error correction of the data gathered on the groundbreaking mission.

Physicist and Laser Expert Is New Research Vice President John (Jack) McIver has focused his research on laser technology, and his administrative eye on managing and building interdisciplinary research enterprises. Now, after stops in Moscow, Russia, London, England, and Albuquerque, N.M., he heads to Moscow, Idaho, to assume the post of vice president for research at the University of Idaho.

“I’m impressed with the vibrancy of interdisciplinary research and programs at the University of Idaho, as well as the faculty and administration,” said McIver.

The University attracts nearly $100 million in research grants and contracts each year. It has experienced significant expansion in sponsored research over the past decade and is positioning itself John (Jack) McIver for future growth.

McIver, who currently serves as interim vice president for research and economic development at the University of New Mexico, takes up his new appointment on June 1, 2008.

McIver will oversee all policies and procedures relating to research, technology transfer, economic development and regulatory compliance, and will oversee research institutes and facilities in Moscow and around the state. He will report directly to the president.

Campus News

The University Library has made a significant addition to its materials on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

The library purchased an 1810 French language version of a journal

by Lewis and Clark expedition member Patrick Gass.

Gass' account was first published in Pittsburgh in 1807 – seven years before official authorized expedition accounts were available. The edition is one of only 58 known to exist in public research libraries around the world – and the only one in Idaho.

The journal is unique because it includes the first published map to accompany the narrative.

Family members and friends of Warren and Pauli Owens provided funds for the library to acquire the journal as a way to honor both the Owens. Warren served as dean of the University of Idaho Library from 1968 to 1987 and passed away in November 2006.

Commencement Honors The University’s 113th commencement in Moscow is May 10, and follows ceremonies at Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls. More than 1,740 students statewide are expected to receive degrees.

The University also awarded honorary degrees to: • Duane Hagadone, Coeur d’Alene, businessman and community leader; • Roger Ottmar, Seattle, Wash., research forester and fire scientist; and • D. Tony Stewart, Coeur d’Alene, political scientist and human rights activist.

President’s Medallions were presented to: • Clifford A. Brady Jr., Idaho Falls, businessman and advocate for education; • Lidwina Dirne, Coeur d’Alene, educator and health care advocate; and • Tom ’58 and Alice Hennessey, Boise, community leaders.

2008 inductees into the Alumni Hall of Fame are: • Dr. Todd Kuiken of Oak Park, Ill.; medical researcher in the design and implementation of prosthetic systems; • Otis Livingston ’91 of South Orange, N.J., sports anchor for WNBC-TV in New York City; • Dayaldas T. Meshri ’68 of Tulsa, Okla., president and CEO of Advance Research Chemicals.

Capt. Brian D. Gilbert ’00 in Iraq.

Young Leader Capt. Brian D. Gilbert ’00 is one of 28 U.S. Army officers selected to receive the General Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award. The award is presented to officers who “epitomize the ideals for which Gen. Douglas MacArthur stood; duty, honor and country.”

Gilbert commands more than 130 soldiers of D Company 1-15 Infantry serving in Baghdad, Iraq. The company will finish its 15-month deployment in May and return to the U.S. This is Gilbert’s third deployment to Iraq in his Army career.

An award ceremony took place in the Pentagon’s Hall of Heroes in April.

“In my opinion, what determines a good leader from a bad leader is when you're out on security at 3 in the morning and no one is watching; are you doing the hard right over the easy wrong? I learned the importance of this in my upbringing in Idaho and refined it through my education and experience at the University of Idaho,” said Gilbert.

He was a member of ROTC for four years and commissioned into the Army as a second lieutenant from the University of Idaho in May 2000.

He married a Vandal, Kasey ’97, and is the brother of Bill Gilbert ’97.

Art Meets Government Art and architecture students found display space in the halls of power, and captured a high-level audience with their creative works. Some 22 pieces were on display from February to mid-April in Idaho Congressional delegation offices in Washington, D.C. "We hope a broad array of people will see our students’ work in the congressional offices," said Mark Hoversten, dean of the College of Art and Architecture. "Each discipline is represented. What better opportunity to show the world the range of products in our studio-based education?"

The works were installed in the offices of Senators Larry Craig and Mike Crapo and Representatives Bill Sali and Mike Simpson.

spring 2008

Special Collections

and Archiv es

An Old Book Gives a New Look into the Lewis and Clark Expedition

5

News Making the Honor Roll

Idaho students get into helping others. In the 2006-07 academic year, some 2,213 students volunteered for community service projects and gave an estimated 50,000 hours of service.

The ASUI Center for Volunteerism and Social Action and the University's Career and Professional Planning Service-Learning Center coordinated many of the projects.

That dedication has been recognized. The University of Idaho is included in the 2007 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for exemplary service efforts. It is the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for its commitment to service-learning and civic engagement.

Law students Anna Faller and Erika Parsons volunteered with the North Gulfport, Miss., Community Land Trust to survey residents about a proposed Port Authority storage facility. The facility would add needed jobs to the hurricane-devastated community, but would be built in the middle of an existing neighborhood.

Spring Break…Volunteering Everywhere

Alumni connection: Bob ’60 and Sue Perrin of Spartanburg, S.C., hosted Alternative Spring Break students at their home for a Southern dinner of red beans and rice. Students included: Melissa Fuelling, Ashley Elsensohn, Levi Kincaid, Heather Boni, Bethany Blair, Sarah Loney, Sara Peterson, and Paige Lee.

Idaho students continued to demonstrate their leadership in civic engagement efforts over spring break in March. A group of 121 students and advisers traveled to locations in Tennessee, Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, North Carolina, Alabama, Utah and New Mexico for Alternative Spring Break projects. Their efforts ranged from helping build houses to working with neglected youth, all in the hope of changing peoples’ lives for the better.

Students in the College of Law returned to New Orleans, La., and Biloxi, Miss., for a second year to provide pro bono legal services to help Hurricane Katrina victims, along with some manual labor. Other law students volunteered for programs in Boise and Washington, D.C.

Winter Break in Peru For the first time, Idaho students went international for an Alternative Service Break project. A group of 24 students and four advisers traveled to Peru over winter break. In the small village of Cai Cay, the group lived in tents and helped build a youth center to expand educational opportunities for children in the area. What was the impact on the students? Senior Matthew Haley was quoted in the Argonaut: “I just expected 28 people to work hard and serve. I didn’t expect to see them affected and changed right in front of me. The people that left aren’t the same people that came back.”

idaho

Senior Cara Haley uses mud to fill holes in a newly constructed rock wall.

6

Wusi Maki — A Life Shaped by Global Politics

By Donna Emert

W

Photos by eric galey

usi Maki has walked a difficult path to reach the forefront of biomolecular research.

Maki is principal investigator on the biomolecular research side of the University of Idaho’s Center for Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research (CAMBR). She and the CAMBR interdisciplinary team have recently created a state-of-the-art biosensor that can detect deadly pathogens from molecular samples (see story, next page).

Maki’s road to success cuts a swath through several continents.

She was born Wusi Chen in China when Mao Zedong and his Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were in power. In her sixth year of public school, Mao eliminated all curriculums and replaced them with the exclusive study of his communist manifesto, the “Red Book.”

Her parents were removed from their teaching posts and the family was marked “Black Chinese.” The Chens were stripped of their possessions as well as their livelihood. Millions of others were imprisoned.

“My parents were considered the Communist Party’s enemies. Former students were encouraged to beat them, and they did,” Maki recalled. “In the whole country, there was a lot of violence.”

When she was 16, Maki was sent to China’s border with Russia to learn agricultural skills and receive brain washing sessions from Mao’s Red Guard, who aimed to “wash away” Western influences, promote the CCP, and break the Chinese people’s ties with their own cultural heritage.

“You had a choice of which border to defend, but you had no choice about going,” said Maki.

Eight years later, following Mao’s death and a regime change, Maki was allowed to return home to the Shanghai Province.

There, she passed the university entrance exams – with a fifth-grade education and three months of intensive study.

She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology in China, and was serving as a student adviser at East China University when the Tiananmen Square protests began in the spring of 1989.

Deeply disillusioned with her government after the massacre, she fled to South Africa and earned a doctoral degree at the University of Cape Town in 1996. At that time, Africa’s political upheaval made research difficult, so she left for the U.S. and post-doctoral work at the University of Florida.

In Florida, she met microelectronics researcher Gary Maki. They married soon after and moved to Mexico, where she pursued research in genetic disease. Her work in DNA sequencing helped redefine multiple sclerosis as a genetic disorder.

A second post-doc took her to Washington D.C., where she worked for the National Institutes of Health studying the mechanisms of melanoma metastasis, and possible interventions. That research was cut short when, on Sept.11, 2001, a hijacked plane aimed at the Pentagon went down in Pennsylvania.

In 2002, Gary and Wusi Maki brought their interdisciplinary CAMBR research team to the University of Idaho Research Park in Post Falls.

Despite her past, or perhaps because of it, Wusi Maki lives very much in the present.

“I have to say if I am proud of something, it is this team,” she said. “We have accomplished so much in the last year. It is the combination of the team’s interdisciplinary skills that allows us to succeed.” I

spring 2008

Top, Wusi Maki as a teenager, posing for a propaganda photo toting a wooden gun.

Maki noted the actual guns issued to student soldiers were not nearly as modern as the toy pictured, and were kept by Red Army guards, five miles from the students' camp.

Above, Maki in a Center for Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research laboratory at the University of Idaho Research Park.

7

idaho

small is the new 8

I

n the 13th Century, inquiring minds speculated about how many angels could fit on the

head of a pin. Available space on the head of a pin ranges from 1 to 2 million nanometers (nm).

That space has recently been sublet as a laboratory and foundry.

BIG

By Donna Emert

Photos by eric galey

pin is roomy. Nanotechnology deals with matter at a scale of 1 to 100 nanometers. A nanometer spans about one billionth of a meter.

Using nanotechnology, scientists manipulate molecules at an atomic level, and at that level, weird stuff happens. For instance, conductors become insulators and insulators become conductors. Because new rules govern interactions at the molecular level, scientists working at that scale can create materials and engineer systems with unique properties. spring 2008

University of Idaho’s tiny nanotechnology tackles enormous healthcare challenges

On the nanoscale, the head of a

9

Biosensor Breakthrough University of Idaho researchers at the Center for Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research (CAMBR) are at the forefront of nanotechnology development. They have developed a biosensor based on a nanowire field effect transistor, 30 nanometers wide. It is one of the smallest transistors fabricated in Idaho.

The tiny CAMBR biosensor very quickly and very accurately identifies deadly pathogens, including Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli O157:H7.

“Our electronic detection capability is at least 1,000 times more sensitive than the technologies currently being used in clinical laboratories,” said Wusi Maki, principal investigator for CAMBR biomolecular research.

“The bacterial culture method is very sensitive, but time consuming. Analysis of the sample is visual, and therefore subject to human error. Detection of bacteria on the biosensors is not subject to interpretation.”

The vast majority of hospitals in the U.S. and around the world still culture staph in Petri dishes. The sample usually takes one to two days to mature until it is identifiable. CAMBR’s nano-biosensor identifies staph within three hours, with an equally astounding increase in accuracy. The device already has successfully detected

“There is an immediate need for faster, more accurate pathogen detection.

Quick identification in hospitals could save many lives, and millions of dollars in health care costs.”

— Wusi Maki

idaho

Staphylococcus aureus RNA, DNA and protein, as well as a biomarker for lung cancer. CAMBR laboratory trials also have provided proof of concept for electronic detection of E. coli. It is able to detect these pathogens at extremely low concentrations.

The CAMBR’s nano-biosensor combines biology with electronics: The bio-molecules being analyzed are captured on the nano-transistor’s sensing surface. They change the electronic properties of the nano-wire beneath to generate an electrical signal. This primary signal is amplified and converted to a digital signal, which reports the presence of the target bio-molecules on the sensing surface.

The CAMBR device is the first biosensor universally applicable to the identification of almost any bio-molecular sample. This breakthrough capability has generated two recent patent applications.

Using technology they developed for NASA, CAMBR engineers Ron Nelson and Paul Winterrowd are leading the effort to incorporate even more sophisticated electronics into the biosensor, including an on-chip microprocessor.

Within the next several years, they hope to develop the capability to detect pathogens in real time.

10

The resulting device, it is hoped, will be hand-held, easy to use and hard to break, with immediate feedback and spot-on accuracy, cheap to produce by existing semiconductor manufacturers, and applicable to the detection of diverse disease-producing agents.

Because nanotech research deals with the quintessential building blocks of matter, its implications and applications cross scientific disciplines, bringing scientists together. The CAMBR research team reflects that disciplinary diversity.

The tiny transistor that serves as the base of the biosensor was designed by CAMBR surface chemist and nanofabrication expert Nirankar Mishra and fabricated by Mishra at the Cornell NanoScale Facility.

Teammate Shiva Rastogi, organic chemist, synthesizes peptide nucleic acids for use as sensing probes on the biological layer of the nano-device. Rastogi also is working with University of Idaho chemistry professor Tom Bitterwolf and CAMBR biochemist Brian Filanoski to create a new molecule that will make optical biosensors economically feasible. Optical biosensors sense light, rather than an electronic field, to provide identification.

Maki, a molecular biologist, oversees the development of both the electronic sensor and an optical sensor. Maki focuses on the electronic sensor’s ability to effectively translate biological events into an electronic signal. In her team’s optical biosensor research and development, she works on translating biological events into a light profile.

Profiling Bacteria: From Meek to Lethal Now that the CAMBR nano-biosensor has demonstrated the ability to identify potentially lethal pathogens, CAMBR researchers, based at the University of Idaho Research Park in Post Falls, are beginning to work with researchers on the Moscow campus to develop the capability to measure bacterial virulence.

“We are working with professors Greg Bohach and Carolyn Hovde Bohach to use the nanosensor CAMBR has developed to provide a molecular profile that will tell us very quickly, and very accurately, if we are looking at lethal or just mild bacteria,” said Maki.

Bohach is principal investigator and director of the Center for Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE).

His laboratory group focuses on better understanding the development of infectious disease, particularly diseases caused by Staphylococcus.

Hovde Bohach is principal investigator and director of the IDeA Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE). Her laboratory works on the enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) bacteria, which includes the potentially lethal E. coli O157:H7 serotype. Their projects investigate the relationship between healthy cattle and EHEC. There currently is no method available to quickly and accurately judge which staph or E. coli bacteria are harmless, which can make you ill, and which can be lethal.

Bohach, Hovde Bohach and their teams are partnering with researchers at the University of Minnesota to develop molecular profiles of these pathogens to answer those questions.

CAMBR Biosensor Research Team: Back row, Mark Fellegy, bio technician and Brian Filanoski, biochemist. Middle row, Eric Cameron, research engineer; Nirankar Mishra, surface chemist and nanofabrication expert; and Shiva Rastogi, organic chemist. Seated, front, Wusi Maki, molecular biologist and principal investigator for CAMBR biomolecular research.

Delivering a Knock-out Punch While these University of Idaho researchers develop nanotechnology to identify lethal pathogens, they also partner with researchers developing innovative nanotechnology to seek out and destroy the pathogens.

Physics and materials engineer Professor David McIlroy and his research group in the Biological Applications of Nanotechnology (BANTech) research team, have hijacked the methods bacteria use for toxin delivery, and successfully used them to deliver drug therapies specifically to infected cells.

BANTech researchers have found that nanomaterials penetrate cells, and can do so coated with antibodies or other materials that enter and destroy infected cells.

They are now looking for ways to enable nanomaterials to more readily penetrate targeted cells, and report that nanowires coated with the protein fibronectin penetrate more easily than uncoated nanowires. In experiments with human and animal cells, they have illustrated that coated nanowires can enter and deliver a specific toxic agent that kills the cells.

Nanotechnology and MRSA Developing University of Idaho nanotechnology is particularly relevant in light of recent methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreaks. MRSA is responsible for more 94,000 infections and 16,000 deaths annually in the U.S. alone, according to recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports. Those numbers indicate MRSA is a greater health threat to Americans than HIV in AIDS. The spike in the number of MRSA deaths presents formidable motivation to move infectious disease research ahead, and to get life-saving nanotechnology into the marketplace. University of Idaho scientists are focused on both goals.

Once developed and adopted for use in hospitals, biosensors will impact both those who test positive and those who test negative for potentially deadly bacteria.

During the current one- to three-day wait for a staph culture, hospitals must isolate the patient. Insurance seldom covers that expense, so patients and hospitals currently pick up the hefty tab.

With the onslaught of MRSA, hospital expenditures associated with staph infections rose from $8.7 billion in 1998 to $14.5 billion in 2003.

“There is an immediate need for faster, more accurate pathogen detection,” said Maki. “Quick identification in hospitals could save many lives, and millions of dollars in health care costs.” I

spring 2008

As that research moves forward, CAMBR scientists will work with COBRE and INBRE to develop sensors to implement molecular profile detection. The resulting technology will be evaluated in Mayo Clinic laboratories.

11

idaho

T 12

a r

s n

o f

m r

g in

$52 Million Project to Renovate and Expand

the Kibbie Dome Includes $35 Million Fundraising Campaign

Phase 1 Life Safety Issues

he ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center – the Kibbie Dome – is a landmark on the University of Idaho landscape. Its iconic look is equaled by the ways it benefits campus life. It is a multi-purpose venue that houses commencements, convocations, the Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival and other concerts, community events … and Vandal Athletics.

Now, 33 years after it came to dominate the campus’ western horizon, the University has embarked on a campaign to renovate and expand the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center.

“Our goal is to ensure this signature structure continues to resonate with students and alumni as a welcoming and versatile facility that symbolizes the vitality and leadership of the University of Idaho,” said President Timothy White at a January ceremony to announce the campaign.

Funding for the $52 million project will come from two sources: $17 million from University funds designated for life safety issues and $35 million from private gifts.

T

Phase 2 Creating a Leading Multi-purpose Venue Phase Two encompasses an ambitious expansion of the Kibbie Dome to renew the facility’s standing as a leading multi-purpose venue. Expansion of the Dome will be financed through private gifts. The plan calls for: • adding 3,600 seats to increase capacity to accommodate 20,000; greater capacity is projected to generate more revenue for university athletic programs • lowering the playing field and courts to improve sight lines and to accommodate new seating to create a more exciting and rewarding event experience • updating concourses, restrooms, press and media facilities, and lighting • adding 306 club seats, 34 loge boxes and six suites • creating a premium-level Vandal Hospitality Club Room with upscale lounge and concessions as a venue for gatherings and pre-event activities. spring 2008

By Jeff Olson and Tania Thompson

The safety of students and guests is a paramount concern.

After more than 30 years, systems in the Dome need to be updated to current building code requirements. Life safety work to renovate the Dome is the first phase and includes: • replacement of the structure’s two wood-frame end walls with translucent fiberglass panels; • improvements for the north and south concourse restrooms; • enhanced exiting; and • improvements to mechanical systems including smoke exhaust, fire sprinkler and fire alarm, air handling and electrical distribution.

Phase One is underway, with a completion date of September 2009.

13

idaho

• providing an inviting west-end approach to the dome with reserved VIP parking, and • enhancing and modernizing the concourse, concessions and amenities that lead to an all new Vandal Hall of Fame and Vandal Hospitality Club.

Accelerated fundraising efforts could allow the University to present construction contracts and plans to Idaho’s State Board of Education for approval by Feb. 2009, with construction completed by Dec. 2010. All action and timetables are subject to the availability of private funding.

14

The Dome is one of only two NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision indoor, on-campus stadiums in the nation.

Richard ’73 and Sharon ’73 Allen Darren Anderson ’98 Eliot ’02 and Tiffany ’00 Bailey Amy D. ’03 and Bennie G. ’03 Calabretta Robert ’57 and Janice Hale ’57 Cowan J. Patrick Diener ’01 Harold Durk ’77 and Nancy Lesage ’00 Elgin Electric Company Ryan Gerulf ’05 Daryl ’74 and Catherine ’00 Hart Justin Hatley ’04 Jack ’72 and Debbie ’74 Hetherington John Kirkpatrick ’92 Ryan ’94 and Kara ’94 Klaveano Flip ’55 and JoElla ’56 Kleffner Andrew Longeteig ’98 Toni L. Miller Daryl ’00 and Joyce ’00 Reoch Douglas ’58 and Ella ’68 Seely Daniel ’72 and Marilyn ’72 White Gaylen ’00 and Mary ’00 Wood Learn more about the project and view an updated list of donors at www.uidaho.edu/kibbie.

The Kibbie Dome was deemed innovative when it originally was built in the 1970s. Its 400-foot clear-span wooden trussed-barrel arch roof became a signature look for the university, and gained acclaim by earning the 1976 American Society of Civil Engineer’s Outstanding Structural Achievement Award.

spring 2008

The Benefits The Dome remains a rare jewel in the Gem State, and according to Director of Athletics Rob Spear, is deserving of continued investment.

“A state-of-the-art facility will create an unparalleled experience for everyone who comes to the Kibbie Dome,” said Spear. “Enhancing our facilities benefits our entire campus and makes us a stronger partner within the Western Athletic Conference.”

The simple, strong, graceful curve of the roof greets many prospective students on their first visit to the University of Idaho. Nearly every student attends academic, cultural and athletic events there. And, it is where students walk across the stage at commencement ceremonies prepared to step into the world to join the University’s legacy of leaders.

Vandal football player Shiloh Keo calls the Dome his home-away-from-home.

“But it’s really all about the university experience,” said Keo. “All students, not just student-athletes, want to know their facilities are nice, top of the line and high-class. After the renovations are done to the Dome, students will be able to experience that and share it with the rest of the world.”

Gifts and Pledges Made to the ASUI-Kibbie Renovation and Expansion Project

15

Fire Water and

Idaho Benefits from New Natural Resources Programs

IDAHO idaho

By Sue McMurray

16

Fire and water usually don’t mix well, except at the University of Idaho. Here, two new premier programs will produce leading experts equipped to address Idaho’s top natural resources challenges.

Waters of the West (WoW) is a unique graduate education and research program designed to revolutionize water resources policy and management decisions.

A bachelor’s degree program in fire ecology and management will meet a growing demand for highly trained fire professionals who can make sound decisions about fire prevention, suppression and management.

Both programs were launched as part of a University initiative to reinvest in strategic and multidisciplinary academic areas. Both programs also can deliver positive and lasting impacts to benefit the state and beyond.

Cascading Effects: Waters of the West

Geoff Crimmens

W

Steve Robischon, right, observes drilling of a ground water monitoring well north of Moscow.

Reflection Enhances Water Resources Career While Steve Robischon already works fulltime to develop solutions for Idaho water problems, he found he could develop new approaches by becoming a doctoral student in the WoW graduate program. Many career paths led to his current positions as assistant director of the Idaho Water Research Institute and executive manager of the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee. During stints as an aerospace engineer on the Space Shuttle, a particle beam accelerator design engineer, a nuclear security systems engineer and a water-rights adjudication engineer, he observed that almost anything worth doing requires input from a variety of perspectives to be successful.

“The WoW program offers me an opportunity to break loose from the everyday job demands and reflect on those things that I’ve picked up along the way and never really thought about. In this program, I will consider the perspective of others, remember the things from the past that worked or didn’t work, and consider why,” said Robischon.

The College of Law has joined with WoW to offer the nation’s only concurrent Juris Doctor/Master of Science and Juris Doctor/Ph.D. degrees in water resources in the three academic areas listed above. One other element that sets WoW apart from other water resources programs is the requirement for students to study and research broadly to develop an integrated thesis in water resources. spring 2008

ater conflicts are escalating nationally, and Idaho is no exception. While noted for its beautiful mountains, lakes and rivers, Idaho has its own set of turbulent water resources issues that stem from competing demands for a limited supply of water.

One problem is southern Idaho’s place on the map. The Interior West has one of the longest seasonal droughts of anywhere in North America due to climatic patterns of wet winters followed by extended dry summers. People splashing in the state’s pristine lakes and flowing rivers may not realize how much these climatic patterns can diminish both the surface and ground level of the waters they so enjoy and depend on daily.

While cold, wet winters are great for skiers, early and rapid snowmelt has many detrimental effects.

Reservoirs become full, and an early release of water can leave too little for summer.

Forests become water-stressed and are at risk for disease or catastrophic wildfires.

Underground aquifers have less opportunity to refill.

Water quality also is a concern. Farmers who seed vast areas with only one crop may alter patterns and quality of water runoff and infiltration. Urban development may threaten water quality by increasing storm water runoff and degrading wetlands and riparian corridors.

New approaches are being developed to help deal with these issues.

Water resources agency managers and educators are increasing collaborations needed to consider basins as whole systems. Public involvement in decision making has increased. Attorneys involved in water resource issues are becoming more conversant in water science. And, universities are providing graduates with a broad variety of disciplines in an integrated learning environment.

Among the leaders of these new approaches is a group of nine University of Idaho professors who spearheaded Waters of the West. They have created a program that will help communities solve water problems. WoW is a response to water policy-makers whose decisions need to consider the multiple dimensions of a water basin – aspects such as science, economic development plans, financial feasibility of solutions, water law and more.

Now, more than 50 faculty members who specialize in engineering, physical and natural resources, social sciences, law, political science and economics, along with the Idaho Water Resources Research Institute, support the program. According to program leader Jan Boll, professor of agricultural and biological engineering, that allows WoW to offer interdisciplinary master’s and doctoral water resources degrees in • engineering and science; • science and management; and • law, management and policy.

17

Golder Associates, Inc.

“When you look at how we teach, learn, study, conduct research and even socialize, I cannot think of any program elsewhere with our level of integration,” said Fritz Fiedler, associate professor of civil engineering and WoW core team member.

But WoW is more than a graduate program. It’s a community resource. WoW teams of students and faculty work with communities to analyze a water basin. Their services help policy makers and community members make informed decisions based on a holistic view.

WoW is implementing this collaborative approach in a pilot study of the Palouse Basin. The team is addressing one question: How to better manage and sustain the water resources of the basin.

Because neither Idaho nor Washington have jurisdiction over the overlapping watershed, the teams meet with key stakeholders such as community businesses, agencies, developers and the general public to help minimize

potential conflict and to bring people together.

An integral part of the WoW program's philosophy is to break the mold of traditional water resource training.

By immersing themselves into challenging, real-world problems such as water rights conflicts, WoW students will become part of a new workforce that can meet the water resource needs of the future.

“All of us – students and faculty – are learning to work alongside people outside of our disciplinary silos,” explained Boll. “A new paradigm shift is critical to achieve sustainability. We’re revolutionizing the decision-making process associated with water resources management.”

Some sites for the Palouse Basin analysis are conveniently located on or near campus. A passerby probably wouldn’t look twice at what looks to be a small storage shed behind the Wallace Complex, but inside is a portal to the primary aquifer for Whitman and Latah counties. Here, students can document the level of the

idaho

Conserving Water Resources Across the West

18

James Capurso is not just another sportsman holding what might be his catch of the year. The fish he is holding, the stream in which he is standing, and the green underbrush in the backdrop are all integral parts of ecosystems he is dedicated to conserving. Capurso is a fisheries biologist at the Caribou-Targhee National Forest Headquarters in Idaho Falls and responsible for the protection and restoration of aquatic and riparian species and their habitat.

He also is a doctoral student in WoW’s water resources law, management and policy option and will focus on the successful dedication of western water for non-traditional water resource uses, such as healthy ecosystems, fisheries, wildlife, recreation and aesthetics.

“I enrolled in the program to stay on the cutting edge of resource management,” said Capurso. “So many professionals haven’t learned anything new since they graduated from college, are using the same science they learned two decades ago, and rarely look beyond a single disciplinary focus. That’s no way to be a conservation leader.”

Capurso is a non-traditional student who has professional and family obligations but will be able to take most or all of his classes and conduct research at the Idaho Falls campus.

James Capurso

Support WoW Four graduate students who work alongside faculty in the Palouse Basin Integrated Analysis are funded by assistantships from the University's Waters of the West Strategic Initiative Grant.

Additional funds are needed for new assistantships for the 2008-09 academic year. Your contribution to the WoW: Water Basins Fund will help put a graduate student on a basin team and enable you to join with WoW in solving water resource management problems.

You can send your donation, payable to the University of Idaho Foundation, Inc., to: Waters of the West: The Water Basins Fund PO Box 443147 Moscow, ID 83844-3147.

For more information, contact WoW Director Jan Boll at jboll@uidaho.edu or call (208) 885-9694.

Geoff Crimmins

Joey Machala measures Paradise Creek cross sections to learn how much water moves down the creek at peak flows.

New Program Attracts “Old” Student The novelty of WoW’s policy/ law combination and the faculty’s interdisciplinary strengths were key facters in Joey Machala’s decision to return to Idaho. Machala received his bachelor’s degree here in biological and agricultural engineering in 2006.

After working for a Utah consulting company, he returned to the University for a master’s degree in water resource engineering and science. He is one of the first students in the WoW program.

Machala is from Twin Falls, one area in southern Idaho embroiled in water rights conflicts that center on the management of the interconnected waters of the Snake River Plain aquifer, the Snake River and tributary springs.

“After working for a consulting firm, I realized how problematic water resources are in the world – even in my home town. With this degree, I can mold my own path and improve my ability to solve problems, for example, using climate scenarios to predict drought, or compare hydrologic models to assess surface water runoff.”

spring 2008

aquifer, which may not be receiving the recharge necessary to avoid steadily declining water levels.

Nearby, a team is measuring cross sections along the banks of Paradise Creek to learn how much water moves down the creek throughout the year as runoff. This is part of the study to understand the hydrologic cycle and to estimate how much recharge occurs in the Palouse Basin.

Teams also assess stream water quality, survey community attitudes, analyze development plans for the region, look at climate scenarios that influence stream flow, and examine other factors that may affect sustainability in the basin.

The team’s findings are shared with stakeholders and the community at meetings, presentations and through an online report.

WoW’s first published report is accessible on the Palouse Basin Water Information Community Web site at http://wr.civil.uidaho.edu/cwis/ palouse/.

The Palouse Basin study will provide a template of key questions and approaches to determine what a community wants for its water basin. The template will then be used for other projects such as the Snake River Plain aquifer and the Columbia River Basin. Discussions also are underway to begin an integrative analysis in the Lapwai Creek Basin in north central Idaho, where the goal is to restore fisheries and attain water quality standards.

“We have the passion, the students and the demand.

We’re looking for individuals who see the societal value of our work and will partner with us,” Boll said.

19

S

cientific projections show that the size, severity and cost of fires will continue to increase, especially in the forests and rangelands of the northern Rocky Mountains. In 2007 alone, more than 9 million acres burned around the nation, and the U.S. government spent almost $1.9 billion on fire suppression.

The College of Natural Resources stepped up to meet the growing demand for well educated fire professionals who can make sound decisions about fire prevention, suppression and management by creating the nation’s first fire ecology and management bachelor’s degree. It welcomed its first students in August 2007.

“Our program teaches students how to balance the benefits and detriments there may be from fires with public perceptions of the fires,” said Penny Morgan,

professor of forest resources.” This is more than fire suppression. It’s about managing fires and making decisions that have implications for wildlife, water, vegetation productivity, aesthetics and economics.”

It’s the only bachelor’s degree in the nation that focuses on wildland fire. Students will learn about fire ecology and management in both forests and rangelands.

“I’m happy to hear the University of Idaho has developed a new fire ecology and management degree program,” said Dave Koch, training officer for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. “A bachelor of science degree program such as this is an excellent way to meet federal fire professional requirements.”

Students in the program will learn to assess potential fire hazard, understand how and why fires ignite and

Harold Osborne

Prescribed Burning Lab Highlights Fire Education

idaho

Craig Roach carries a drip torch used to burn forest fuels under carefully prescribed conditions.

20

USDA NRCS

Idaho is Leading the Nation in Fire Ecology and Management

For more than 30 years, natural resource students have planned, conducted and evaluated prescribed burns at the University’s Experimental Forest. These are fires lit under controlled conditions with a specific objective or outcome.

In this capstone course, senior students learn how they can: • Identify elements that natural resource managers should consider in developing a prescribed burning program, including the advantages and disadvantages of prescribed burning relative to alternative treatments; • Collect and analyze data required for planning and evaluating prescribed burns; • Have a basic understanding of fire weather, fuels and behavior; • Work in teams to prepare a fire use plan for prescribed burns; and • Conduct prescribed burns and evaluate the results.

“We work to give each student new experiences and responsibilities, pairing more experienced students with less experienced students. Students learn by doing and also learn from fire management leaders in the region,” said Professor Penny Morgan.

spread, develop fuels-management practices to protect people and property and understand the effects of fire on ecosystems. Many will gain valuable experience working as fire fighters and fire managers while they are students.

During prescribed burns on the University’s Experimental Forest, students plan, conduct and evaluate burning exercises using the latest computer simulations, Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and field sampling approaches. The burns are carefully designed to meet management objectives safely and effectively. The prescribed burning lab is one of only four courses of its kind offered at universities in the U.S. Already, this program is attracting new students to the University of Idaho.

“Within four years, we expect to graduate some 40 new professionals from this degree program,” Morgan said.

“As well rounded, critical thinkers, our students will be in demand over the next decade for leadership positions within federal and state agencies, in nonprofit organizations and in consulting and other businesses.”

Though the bachelor’s degree program in wildland fire is new, the fire program at the University of Idaho is not. More than 30 years of fire research have established its faculty as national leaders in the discipline, and many University of Idaho graduates are leading fire professionals.

In response to new educational requirements for federal wildland fire personnel, Idaho faculty established many online courses that have now been taken by more than 300 students in 37 states.

Other University fire researchers and faculty created Fire Research and Management Exchange System (FRAMES), a Web-based system for ongoing information and technology transfer. It provides fire management tools, documents and data to wildland fire researchers, managers, policymakers and the general public.

These and other accomplishments of University of Idaho faculty and students have led to some of the highest honors in the nation relative to fire and management.

Jointly sponsored by the Department of Rangeland Ecology and Management and the Department of Forest Resources, the new bachelor’s degree will bolster and support the institution’s land-grant mission to help the state and region achieve a sustainable future in natural resources. I

Nat Anderson

The Working World of Fire With nearly two million acres burned in Idaho last year, land managers are looking to University of Idaho graduates like Nat Anderson to help them develop innovative fire management strategies.

Though still a student, Anderson is already a seasoned professional on the fire line. His expertise stems from working summers as a fire fighter and the knowledge of cutting-edge technologies he’s learned in the nation’s only bachelor’s degree program focused on wildland fire.

“My degree program will help me to not only be more effective in the field, but help me better understand why things happen in the field, which will make it easier for me to help others. It also will help me to work better in a team setting and set me up for success in the working world of fire,” Nat said.

Anderson is from Twisp, Wash., and graduates in May with a double major in forest resources and fire ecology and management. He is planning a career in fire management. He would like to be involved in making fire policy decisions that effectively protect public lands.

It’s as close to a sweep as it could be. Of the four national awards given by the Association for Fire Ecology, three went to University of Idaho students and emeriti. Award recipients were recognized at the annual fire ecology meeting Jan. 30 in Tucson, Ariz.

Josh Switzer received the annual Outstanding Undergraduate Student Nationwide Award. Switzer is from Pocatello and soon will graduate with a major in forest resources ecosystem management and a minor in fire ecology, management and technology.

Leon Neuenschwander, emeritus professor of forest resources , received the Association for Fire Ecology Harold Biswell Lifetime Achievement Award in Fire Ecology and Management. Neuenschwander helped start the University of Idaho’s fire program and taught many current leaders in the fire profession before retiring.

Chris Powell, from Ellensburg, Wash., received the Outstanding Graduate Student Nationwide Award. Powell helped start the University of Idaho chapter of Student Association of Fire Ecology and served as president for three years. Concurrently, he was co-president of the national Student Association of Fire Ecology for 2006.

spring 2008

The Nation’s Hottest Awards in Fire Ecology

21

Inspired Profiles by Cynthia Taggart

The Alumni Association Award for Excellence speaks to the distinctive student life experience at the University of Idaho. The award recognizes more than the academic achievements of graduating law, graduate and undergraduate students. It also honors the inspiration for learning, achieving and caring that faculty and staff members instill in their students.

In December 2007, 40 top students were honored at the annual Awards for Excellence banquet.

Each student asked their most inspirational faculty or staff member to accompany them to the event.

Here are stories on four of those top students and their source of inspiration.

Chris Chandler

idaho

Photos by Joe Pallen and Kelly Weaver

C

22

hris Chandler can plan your diet when you have chewing or digestive challenges. But he’d rather analyze what you’re eating and steer you to a diet that promises a more positive evolutionary path.

“Peanuts are not native to Africa but were imported for a cash crop for the English,” says the senior dietetics major.

“It’s become a dominant part of the food system there. Has it changed them genetically? That’s a valuable thing to research.”

Chris was captivated enough by the question to apply for and win a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholarship to find an answer. He’ll leave for Harare, Zimbabwe, in August to work on his master’s degree in nutritional anthropology.

“Having students like Chris is an inspiration,” says Maddy Houghton, an instructor in Family and Consumer Sciences. “He’s curious about everything and gets books and resources to make himself an expert. He really makes you feel good about young students.”

Houghton met Chris through the University’s War on Hunger program. Chris hadn’t considered hunger and malnutrition until the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences asked him to launch a campuswide war on hunger in 2005. Houghton became the adviser for the program that found student volunteers for local food banks and channeled campus food donations to food banks.

Last year, the program won a grant to gather food that students toss in the trash when they move out of the residence halls and deliver it to food banks. The War on Hunger’s first student collection effort salvaged more than 1,000 pounds of food. Chris named Houghton as his most inspirational instructor.

“She has a global perspective on food and helped me hone in on what I want to do,” he says. “She’s a very down-to-earth, caring person who brings to the table an interesting perspective on food and different cultures.”

Chris, a Montana native, pursued dietetics after he realized that it married his love of cooking with his interest in science. Clinical rotations this year convinced him that he wants to help people before they end up in a hospital.

“I’d rather focus on long-term preventive medicine than acute care,” he says. “That’s where the game is as far as nutrition.”

He plans to reach deep into the past to examine how people ate before agriculture. Something enabled those societies to survive and continue to evolve. Chris wants to know how the food people ate manifested itself in human development and how we can use those lessons.

Chris was honored with the Goldwater Scholarship for his post-graduate research plans last year. The prestigious scholarship encourages students to pursue careers in science, engineering and math.

“That showed me that I was on the right track as far as what I wanted to research in the future,” Chris says. “It was a nice affirmation.”

The dietitian in Chris prefers fresh food to eat, but the researcher in him cherishes the ancient.

“Nutritional evolution is so fascinating. It has to do with people,” he says. “You can go anywhere in the world and talk about food.”

curious

spring 2008

Chris Chandler, bachelor’s degree in dietetics, and Professor Maddy Houghton, Family and Consumer Sciences

23

Anna Makowski

A

nna Makowski collects languages with the same passion other people collect baseball cards. Anna started Spanish in kindergarten, added Hindi and some regional Indian languages to her collection last year and now she’s studying French.

“I’m interested in diplomacy,” says the senior with a double major in Political Science and Spanish. “Language and communication are important elements of diplomacy.”

Anna’s need to communicate with the world sets her apart from many undergraduate international relations students, says Lisa Carlson, who teaches Introduction to International Relations.

“She has intellectual curiosity and a voracious appetite for knowledge. And she has a passion for people,” Carlson says.

Anna named Carlson her most inspirational instructor.

“She’s very engaging to listen to and so organized and professional,” Anna says. “Her readings and selections of topics seem so relevant. I would take whatever she teaches.”

Anna nearly had no reason the take Carlson’s classes.

She was an English major from Beaverton, Ore., who spoke Spanish well enough to volunteer in an orphanage in Tijuana, Mexico, in 2005. A study-abroad program in the Dominican Republic later that same year, though, demonstrated to her the value of political science.

The Dominican Republic and Haiti share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, but that’s all they have in common.

Relations are strained and Haiti is in turmoil.

“Comparative politics got me into political science,”

Anna says. “Political science was a good way to use my reading and writing skills in a political way. I read the paper every day, especially with the situation in Haiti.”

Volunteering as a teaching assistant in a school on the outskirts of Santiago introduced her to a new world.

“It was really challenging, eye-opening seeing the problems they face,” Anna says. “It was the first time I’d seen that much poverty. But it’s so full of life down there and everyone is so welcoming.”

Ice hockey and running kept Anna in travel shape after she returned. She ran the Portland Marathon, then took off to study in India a few months later. For four months, she studied Indian politics and government, traveled to southern India and the Pakistan border and checked out Indian emergency rooms several times out of necessity.

“That was stressful, but overall it was a very interesting cultural experience,” she says.

Anna experienced the immigration issue facing the United States first hand last year as an intern in Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden’s office and the Consulate of Mexico in Portland.

“There was an immigration raid a few weeks into my internship,” she says. “We were dealing with immigrants trying to locate family members, so many levels of problems.”

Anna has applied for a Fulbright teaching assistantship in Uruguay after graduation.

“I like to go to places people don’t know about,” she says.

Wherever she lands, she’ll make a difference.

“She could pursue anything and have great success,” Carlson says.

“She has intellectual curiosity and a voracious appetite for knowledge.

And she has a passion for people.”

—Lisa Carlson

Other Alumni Award for Excellence Winners include:

David Adleman, History, and Professor Dale Graden, History Brandon Aldecoa, Electrical Engineering, and Professor Herb Hess, Electrical Engineering Cort Anderson, Civil Engineering, and Professor Edwin Schmeckpeper, Civil Engineering Amy Axley, Interior Design, and Professor Shauna Corry, Interior Design

idaho

Crystal Bain, Dance, and Professor Greg Halloran, Dance

24

James Benardini III, Microbiology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Professor Ronald Crawford, Environmental Research Institute Kathleen Buehler, Physical Education, and Coach Julie Taylor, Athletics Miranda Carman, English, and Shawn O'Neal, Student Media adviser John Cassinelli, Fisheries Resources, and Professor Christine Moffitt, Fish and Wildlife

Jennifer Cholewinski, Food Science and Toxicology, and Professor Kerry Huber, Food Sciences Kara Cromwell, Fisheries Resources, and Professor Brian Kennedy, Fish and Wildlife Peter Degner, Civil Engineering, and Professor Donald Elger, Mechanical Engineering Josh Boyce-Derricott, Biology, and Professor Joseph Cloud, Biological Sciences Jonathan Fairall, History and American Studies, and Professor Sean Quinlan, History

spring 2008

passion

Lisa Carlson, professor of Political Science, and Anna Makowski, bachelor’s degrees in political science and Spanish

25

Hugo LeComte

I

f anyone can spread fun around the world, it’s Hugo LeComte.

“He’s a Pied Piper,” says Mike Kinziger, associate professor of Recreation. “Hugo has visions for what he hopes to get done and he makes visions happen.”

In the last year, Hugo was the race director for the Fastest Swimmer on the Palouse competition; event director for a community bicycle event, the Palouse Poker Ride; and finished the Coeur d’Alene Iron Man triathlon.

The great outdoors generate nearly every vision this Sports and Recreation Management master’s candidate has.

“He is one of the ultimate recreators,” Kinziger says.

“He brings energy and enthusiasm to everything. You can’t teach that. It’s a gift.”

Kinziger’s admiration for Hugo is mutual. For the Alumni Award, Hugo named Kinziger his most inspirational instructor.

“He challenges you to know yourself,” Hugo says.

“Dr. Kinziger will always be, for me, the example of the perfect teacher – one who loves what he does, who loves his students, who loves life and who communicates those passions by creating the spark in everybody around him.”

Hugo brought his joie de vivre to Moscow from Versailles, France, by route of New Caledonia, Spain, Mexico and nearly every national park in the United States.

He calls Versailles “a suburb of gray Paris.” The outdoor greenery and tranquility of the historical royal grounds there offered a momentary escape from the monotonous cityscape, and Hugo, as a boy, was captivated. Each visit intensified his desire to leave Paris.

“I was unhappy with the environment, not the people,” he says. “I didn’t want Paris to be my reality.”

Hugo decided to travel. He first learned English through the University of Paris then headed to New Caledonia, a French holding in the South Pacific where a cousin lived.

For four months, Hugo surfed and worked in a Japanese restaurant. Travel suited his curious nature, love of people and need to learn.

Those characteristics bounced Hugo from wandering the world to enrolling in university programs. He studied hospitality and the tourist business in France and worked in Spain as part of the program. Then he surfed in San Diego, Calif., hitchhiked through Mexico and toured national parks across the United States in a Volkswagen bus.

The national park environment stirred him to search for a school with resource recreation and tourism programs.

The University of Idaho led every list. He enrolled in 2001.

The recreation element of the program grabbed his attention.

Serving as Coeur d’Alene’s Centennial Trail coordinator confirmed for Hugo that recreation was his calling. Local athletes convinced him to compete, too. In 2006, he attended a state recreation conference and met Kinziger.

The instructor worked his magic on Hugo.

While he studied Sports and Recreation Management, Hugo directed the Coeur d’Alene Marathon, launched his fastest swimmer competition and trained for Iron Man. “A lot of people have ideas, but Hugo takes them and makes them reality,” Kinziger says. “He’s constantly out there doing what he’s preaching. He’s a role model.”

“He is one of the ultimate recreators. He brings energy and enthusiasm to everything. You can’t teach that. It’s a gift.”

—Mike Kinziger

John Faley, Architecture, and Professor Bruce Haglund, Art and Architecture

Robert Harder, Studio Art, and Professor Greg TurnerRahman, Art

Karly Felton, Advertising and Psychology, and Professor Mark Secrist, Journalism and Mass Media

Shannon Hohl, German, Political Science, and Adrien Loehring, Student Affairs

Emily Field, Elementary Education, and Senior Instructor Cynthia Piez, Mathematics James Fox, Political Science, and Steven Janowiak, Student Activities and Leadership

idaho

Mikela French, Law, and Professor Russ Miller, Law

26

Austin Howard, Mechanical Engineering, and Professor Donald Elger, Mechanical Engineering Daniel Klier, History, and David Roon, Ecology and Conservation Biology program director Amy Larson, Secondary Education, Biology, and Professor John Davis, Education

Jeanie Levinski, Psychology and Spanish, and Steven Janowiak, Student Activities and Leadership

Zach McNair, Athletic Training, and Butch Fealy, Campus Recreation

Dirk Lundgren, Electrical Engineering, and Professor Richard Wall, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Lori Lynn Meier, Counseling and School Psychology, and Professor Thomas Fairchild, Counseling and School Psychology

Andrew Martineau, History, and Professor Michael O'Rourke, Philosophy

Elizabeth Myers, Pre-Veterinary, and Professor Mark Warner, Honors Program

Kelly McFarland, Accounting, and Professor Jason Porter, Accounting

Kjersti Myhre, Public Relations, and Lecturer Sue Hinz, Journalism and Mass Media

Kathleen McGovern, History, Philosophy and Pre-Medical, and Professor Ellen Kittell, History

Tess Nally, Interior Design, and Professor Rula AwwadRafferty, Interior Design

vision spring 2008

Professor Mike Kinziger, Recreation, and Hugo LeComte, master’s degree in sports and recreation management

27

Michelle Gustavson

L

ife grew more challenging and wonderful at the same moment for Michelle Gustavson.

The birth of her son after a year of law studies clarified priorities for her and multiplied her motivation.

Now, a third year College of Law student, Michelle sits at the head of her class.

“Michelle has superb analytical skills and is extremely responsible, detail-oriented and resourceful,” says Richard Seamon, a professor of Law and associate dean of Administration and Students. “She is also a wonderfully generous, caring, socially-conscious person. She couples peerless academic success with significant contributions to the law school community. She typifies excellence.”

For Michelle, the accomplishments are personal.

“I can tell my son that Mom went to law school and took care of him and did a good job at both,” she says. “I can show him that you can get through anything if you set your mind to it.”

Michelle chose Professor Seamon as her most inspirational instructor.

“He was so patient with us. He drops everything to help you,” she says. “He’s a great family man and does so much for the law school and makes it all seem effortless. You never see in his face how hard he works.”

Michelle left sunny Florida for law school in Moscow.

She’d noticed that people perceive power in a law degree and listen to lawyers. She’d served as a guardian ad litem, a volunteer court advocate for children, in Florida. A law degree, she knew, could make a difference in the world.

Michelle launched a guardian ad litem training program on campus her first year after she joined with other students to create the University’s first public interest law group.

“It’s great to have law students involved,” Michelle says.

“It trains them to get their facts in logical order and be more persuasive.”

Six student volunteers are active in the program now and earn pro bono credit for their court work.

Michelle’s pregnancy never threatened her grades.

Shortly after her son’s birth, she volunteered in the 2nd District Court as a legal clerk. Her impressive work turned into a paid position.

Work at Idaho’s oldest and largest law firm last summer garnered Michelle a job offer after graduation. She’ll first complete a clerkship with the Justice Roger Burdick ’74 on the Idaho Supreme Court.

Balance is a constant goal for Michelle. Her parents moved to Idaho to help the single mom care for her son.

Their help has been invaluable.

“I’ve been through a lot, but I have no reason to feel sorry for myself,” she says. “It’s given me so many wonderful people and opportunities in my life.”

She’ll focus on transactional work that will allow her more time with her son.

“I’ll be able to provide for my child,” Michelle says. “I think a lot of us in law school take work for granted and don’t realize how lucky we are. A law degree opens up so many doors.” I

“Michelle has superb analytical skills and is extremely responsible, detail-oriented

and resourceful. She is also a wonderfully generous, caring, socially-conscious

person. She couples peerless academic success with significant contributions to the law school community. She typifies excellence.”

—Richard Seamon Melinda Ouwerkerk, Biology and Chemistry, and Senior Instructor Sharon Hutchison, Chemistry Mary Packer, Theater and Film, and Lecturer Glenn Mosley, Journalism and Mass Media Aaron Parson, Landscape Architecture, and Professor Stephen Drown, Landscape Architecture

idaho

Carrie Phillips, Management and Human Resources, and Professor Mark Warner, Honors Program

28

Jessica Pollack, Communication Studies and Public Relations, and Lecturer Sue Hinz, Journalism and Mass Media Joseph Popplewell, Accounting, and Instructor Karin (K.D.) Hatheway-Dial, Accounting Michael Rush, Philosophy and Chemistry, and Professor Michael O'Rourke, Philosophy James Russell, Chemical Engineering, and Professor David Drown, Chemical Engineering

Cornelia Sawatzky, Accounting, and Professor Marla Kraut, Accounting

David Watkins, Civil Engineering, and Professor Erik Coats, Civil Engineering

Katie Scott, Elementary Education, and Professor George Canney, Education

Kimberly Watt, Law, and Professor Benjamin Beard, Law

Alexander Stegner, History and Economics, and Dean Katherine Aiken

Jean Bowen-Wilkinson, Accounting, and Instructor Karin (K.D) Hatheway-Dial, Accounting

Robert Taylor, Public Relations, and Shawn O'Neal, Student Media adviser Benjamin Tester, Resource Recreation and Tourism, and Tim Helmke, Alumni Relations

Carissa Wright, Journalism, and Shawn O'Neal, Student Media adviser

balance spring 2008

Michelle Gustavson, Law, with her son, Colin, and Law Professor Richard Seamon, associate dean of administration and students

29

Alumni

Class Notes

119 Years of Leading

As alumni, we know the University of Idaho is about leadership. It’s demonstrated by our proud 119-year legacy of leading in academic quality, student life, alumni achievement, research and extension.

Our extraordinary legacy of leadership was vividly expressed in 1898 when a 23-year-old student named Burton L. French was elected to the Idaho Legislature. Two years later, French was Republican floor leader and in 1903, at the age of 27, he was elected to represent Idaho in Congress.

As an alumnus and as the director of Alumni Relations, I am overwhelmed with pride when I think about our legacy of leadership and

what it means to every Idaho student and alum, and to the state of Idaho, the nation and the world. I am also excited when I think about where the University is headed and what we will accomplish in this century.

Our points of pride indicate a wonderful future for the University of Idaho.

• Because of our educational quality and opportunities, we attract more National Merit Scholars than all other state institutions combined.

• We lead the state in graduation rates: 54.4 percent of our students graduate in six years. The Idaho average, excluding the University of Idaho, is 24.3 percent.

• A 16:1 student-teacher ratio gives our students an uncommon level of interaction with their professors.

• We are a national research institution with world-class labs

and facilities. The Center for Advanced Energy Studies under construction in Idaho Falls and the planned Idaho Center for Livestock and Environmental Research near Twin Falls, will be advanced research facilities that will serve Idaho and the nation.

• Last year the University of Idaho awarded its 100,000th degree.

The University of Idaho continues to award more degrees each year than any other Idaho college or university.

Our legacy of leaders continues.

I believe Burton L. French would be proud of his University today.

Steve Johnson, Alumni Director

I Want to Shake Your Hand

idaho

By Cheryl Haas

30

When asked what has surprised him the most in his long and distinguished career as a jurist, Michael McLaughlin, ’73, ’76, shakes his head and laughs.

“I never planned to become a judge and to be living in Boise. I thought I’d be practicing law in Mountain Home – the small town I grew up in – for the rest of my life!” he said. “But what has truly surprised me in my career is the passion I’ve developed for mental health advocacy in the court.”

Appointed by then-Governor Phil Batt in 1997 as a judge for the Fourth District, McLaughlin received the prestigious Granata Award this past December. Each year, the Idaho Judiciary bestows this honor on an Idaho judge for outstanding professionalism. McLaughlin’s recognition came, in large part, because of his work in establishing the Ada County Mental Health Court.

“It’s the most fulfilling thing I do,” said McLaughlin. “Typically, the defendants we see are bipolar, schizophrenic or chronically depressed. They make bad choices

and, in the traditional model, would get caught in a vicious cycle in the criminal justice system. In the Mental Health Court, they report weekly to a team. Our goal is to make them take responsibility for their mental health issues, stabilize their living environment and get them back to work. We’ve seen a substantial reduction in recidivism at a fraction of the cost.”

He said that the use of Alternative Dispute Mediation and “problemsolving” courts such as this one represent a paradigm shift in the way civil cases are resolved.

McLaughlin’s interest in governance stems from his student days at the University. He said Syd Duncombe, a political science professor, made a particularly strong impression.

“Dr. Duncombe was passionate about efficient, well-organized governmental entities and he taught me a great deal about that,” said the judge. “Also, I was Sigma Nu and Greek life had a tremendous influence on me. The fraternity experience helped mold this kid from a little community into someone who believed he could achieve.”

Education at the University is a family affair in the McLaughlin household. Both of the judge’s parents

Judge Michael McLaughlin ’73, ’76 and Alumni Director Steve Johnson ’71.

are alums, as are his four siblings, his wife and three children.

“I’ve been a Vandal all my life!” he exclaimed. “The University made a huge difference to us. Moscow is a special, special place.”

1930 Howard M. Ballif ’32 celebrated his 100th birthday on Sept. 28, 2007. Prior to his retirement, he was the business manager for the Idaho Statesman newspaper in Boise.

1950 Thomas J. Summerson ’52, a Spokane, Wash.-based consultant, has received the Francis L. LaQue Memorial Award from ASTM International Committee for his contributions in the development of corrosion control standards for aluminum and its alloys, his outstanding achievements in the application of aluminum alloys in industry, and in recognition of his high level of integrity and fairness, and his technical and leadership expertise.

Dr. John A. Tall ’55 spent the past two years in Hanoi, Vietnam, performing surgery on children who had cleft lip/ palate or facial trauma, and children and adults who were accident victims. He and his wife of 50 years are retired in Idaho Falls. This past summer, they were visited by 58 children from Hanoi.

Dean Wendle ’55 of Grants Pass, Ore., received the Oregon Community College Association Howard Cherry Award in the category of outstanding community college board member. This award is the association’s highest honor and is presented for outstanding accomplishment on behalf of community colleges.

1960 Richard ’61 and Sally ’62 Simundson of Hayden celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary this past summer.

Herman Yates ’63 has returned to his hometown of Kamiah following his retirement after 43 years as a teacher, high school principal, and superintendent in Washington and Idaho.

Doug Doane ’65 is manager of Quality Assurance at Progress Rail Services, Railcar Repair Shops in Amarillo, Texas.

He was previously general manager of the Manitou & Pike’s Peak Cog Railway in Manitou Springs, Colo., from 1991 to 2005.

Evelyn Bulen ’66 celebrated her 80th birthday Nov. 11.

She has lived in the Clarkston, Wash., area all of her life and is married to Robert Bulen.

She has three daughters, nine grandchildren and 11 greatgrandchildren.

Joan Galbreaith Jagels ’68 was appointed by Idaho Gov. Butch Otter to a five-year term on the Idaho State Board of Accountancy. She has a successful accounting practice in Twin Falls, and is past president of the Idaho Association of Public Accountants and currently serves as its secretary/treasurer.

1970 Sterling “Lou” Woltering ’71 is retiring from the U.S. Forest Service. He began his career in the Lincoln National Forest in New Mexico as a range conservationist in 1975 and is retiring as the supervisor of the Lincoln National Forest. During his 33 years with the Forest Service, he held 12 different positions that include working in Washington, D.C., and serving as a deputy director of the Forest Service Wildlife, Fish and Rare Plants division of the Southwestern Region.

Brig. Gen. Thomas M. Gisler Jr. ’72 retired as commander of the 349th Air Mobility Wing. The 349th provides combat-ready crews and support for the C-17, C-5 and KC-10 aircraft on the base.

Michael McLaughlin ’73, ’76 was honored by the Idaho judiciary as this year’s recipient of the Granata Award, presented each year to an Idaho judge in recognition of his or her professionalism.

McLaughlin is a District Judge for the Fourth District.

John Joseph Selberg ’75 of San Diego, Calif., is a retired commander in the U.S. Navy and just celebrated his fifth year with Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. He provides consulting expertise to the U.S. Navy in the area of commercial satellite communications.

Bob Aoki ’77, a 25-year industry veteran and general manager of Microsoft Corp., has joined the Sequiam board of directors. Sequiam improves the convenience of products and solutions of global brands by adding identity management technologies.

Don Ehrich ’77, ’86 left his position with Clackamas County, Ore., as transportation maintenance division manager to join the Bureau of Land Management in the Oregon/Washington State Office. He now leads the BLM organization and program responsible for maintaining the recreation sites, facilities and nearly 30,000 miles of roads in Oregon and Washington.

Rob Oates ’78 was re-elected to a second term on the Caldwell City Council.

Brian Allman ’79 has started a golf club design and manufacturing company, Sweet Spot Golf, based in Southern California. Sales from the Think Pink line of clubs for women helps support the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The men’s clubs line will be launched in the first quarter of 2008.

AlUMNI Class Notes

1980 Robert C. Maker ’80 retired after 30 years as the director of Community Education for the school systems in Anchorage, Alaska. He received several awards for his hard work and dedication to the school system.

Sean Richarz ’80, ’85 has been invited to perform music from his work, “The 100 Days of Napoleon,” at the International Napoleonic Congress in Ajaccia, Corsica, which is Napoleon’s birthplace. He also will give a lecture on his work.

Robert L. Dumont ’81 of Kellogg has joined International Gold Resources, Inc. as president and chief executive officer, and as a member of the board of directors. He previously was president and CEO of Atlas Mining Company.

Candy Dale ’82, a Boise attorney, is the new U.S. federal magistrate for Idaho.

She is the first female federal judge in Idaho District history. She has been a trial lawyer in Boise since 1982 and currently is president of the law firm Hall, Farley, Oberrecht & Blanton.

Scott Howarth ’82 of Los Altos, Calif., was elected by the Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. Board of Directors as president and chief financial officer. He served as ISSI's vice-president and CFO since Feb. 2006.

Linda Colleen Hagan Knapik ’82, of McKinney, Texas, was a 2008 finalist for the local Citizen of the Year Award that honors the outstanding McKinney citizen who has made significant contributions to the wellbeing of the community.

Dr. Todd Kuiken ’82, is director of the Neural Engineering Center for Artificial Limbs and the director of Amputee Services at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. He was named by Scientific American magazine in 2007 as one of the top 50 contributors to science and technology innovations that could improve society.

spring 2008

To be profiled, mail information, including graduation year, to Annis Shea, Alumni Office, PO Box 443232, Moscow, ID 83844-3232 or e-mail information to alumni@uidaho.edu. Photos can be e-mailed in a .jpg format.

31

Class Notes

Alumni Wendy Hosman ’83, ’85, ’95 accepted an environmental technician position at POWER Engineers’ corporate headquarters in Hailey.

POWER Engineers is an international consulting firm specializing in engineering for energy, facilities and communication. She will be working in the transmission and distribution department to complete environmental assessments for projects throughout the U.S.

George “Witt” Anderson ’84 has been selected as programs director for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Northwestern Division, headquartered in Portland, Ore. He will direct a nearly $3 billion annual program of water resource projects, military construction, and environmental restoration activities throughout the Columbia and Missouri river basins. He previously served as chief of planning, environmental resources and fish policy for the Northwestern Division with a focus on regional salmon recovery programs.

Ada County Magistrate Timothy Hansen ’84 was appointed by Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter to fill the 4th District judgeship left vacant by the September 2007 appointment of Joel Horton ’85 to the Idaho Supreme Court.

Mary Gruss ’85 has been hired by Washington County, Ore., as its chief finance officer. She previously served as finance director for the city of Hillsboro, Ore., as accounting manager for the city of Tigard, Ore., and as a financial analyst for a computer equipment distributor. She was president of the Oregon Municipal Finance Officers Association and serves on its board.

idaho

Gayle Mansfield Irwin ’86 has published her first children’s book, titled “Sage’s Big Adventure: Living with Blindness.” The book is a trueto-life story of her dog that adapted to blindness. Gayle and Sage regularly appear at schools and libraries to conduct presentations. She

32

has lived in Casper, Wyo., since 1999. In October 2000, she married videographer Greg Irwin, and the couple adopted Sage in 2001 from a Montana animal shelter.

Norm Semanko ’88 was appointed by the mayor of Eagle to serve on the city council through 2009. He also serves as the executive director and general counsel for the Idaho Water Users Association.

Michael A. Langerman ’89 was selected as a 2006-07 ASME Fellow at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He began his career at the Naval Missile Center to develop thermal protection for ordinance.

Later, at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, he made significant contributions to numerical methods for analyzing hypothetical accidents in nuclear systems.

He later joined a consulting firm and developed methods for adapting thermal-hydraulic codes to the analysis of reactors during overpressure transients. His models are still used today. He entered academia in 1992.

1990 Brian Pollard ’90 served a one-year Army Reserve mobilization to Fort Bliss, Texas, as the operations officer for the 3-360th Training Support Battalion.

He supported the training of 6,000 reserve and guard soldiers for their yearlong mobilization in Iraq. He returned to his full-time job in Boise at Micron Technology as a database administrator and continues to serve part-time as a citizensoldier at Gowen Field.

Tim Lynch ’91 has opened his own architectural office, My Architect, LLC, in Lewiston. He specializes in custom homes and light commercial buildings.

Rick Stark ’91 has returned to the CSHQA firm in Boise.

As an electrical engineer, he is working on the Idaho State Capitol Renovation.

He originally joined the firm in 1992 and left in 2006 to

work on various projects for Stanley Consultants, Inc., in Minneapolis, Minn., that include the Minnesota State College and Universities Medical Simulation Laboratory in Austin, Minn.

Greg Tollefson ’94 was named a principal in the Boise office of Stoel Rives LLP. He represents employers and management in race, disability, age, religion and gender discrimination cases, as well as sexual harassment cases, employment contracts, covenants, wrongful discharge cases, workplace torts, labor disputes and wage cases.

J. Michelle Faucher-Sharples ’93 was awarded the Idaho Outstanding Teaching of the Humanities Award for her passion for the humanities and her innovative teaching methods. The award is presented every other year to an elementary and a high school teacher. FaucherSharples has taught fourth grade at Bryan Elementary in Coeur d’Alene for 11 years.

She also received an individual nomination for the Idaho’s Brightest Stars 2006 award.

Sally Chang ’95 is a fabric artist and designer, and experiments with new ways to express the medium. Her work was displayed at the Chase Gallery in the lower level of Spokane (Wash.) City Hall. Her works resemble a painting, but done in silk.

Michael Long ’93 has been appointed vice president of St. Mary's Ambulatory Care Services in Saginaw, Mich. He is responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the St. Mary's of Michigan Towne Center campus, physician practices and Towne Center Surgery Center LLC. He previously worked as CEO/ administrator of Treasure Valley Hospital in Boise.

Steve ’94 and Lin ’90 Abrams opened Abba's Catholic Book Store in Browne's Addition in Spokane, Wash., and are happy with its progress.

David Close ’94 is currently a fisheries research scientist for the Fisheries Program of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon.

Inga Deckert ’94 has been hired by Tonkon Torp in Portland, Ore., as an associate in its government relations and public policy practice group. Deckert previously worked in the office of the Oregon State Treasurer as director of legislative and public affairs.

Gregory Doyon ’95 has accepted the position of city manager for Great Falls, Mont.

He previously was the city manager in Franklin, N.H. Dinesh Kumar ’95 has been hired by DCI Engineers as a structural project engineer.

He is working on the Pacific Dunes Clubhouse in Bandon, Ore. and the Fisher and Singer residences in Portland.

Kent Anderson ’96 of Boise passed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional Exam. As a licensed professional engineer, he is responsible for mechanical engineering design and construction documents for various types of commercial projects.

John Eckert ’98 was promoted to associate with NAC|Architecture. He works on multiple projects for Holy Family Hospital in Spokane, Wash., and Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d’Alene.

Kevin McCaleb ’98 was hired

by Lake Oswego, Ore., as the city's water conservation manager. Much of his job involves public education on water conservation and quality.

AlUMNI Class Notes

Travis Feldner ’99 has been hired as a state wildlife enforcement officer for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. He is assigned to Pend Oreille County and will be stationed in Newport, Wash. He previously worked for the Idaho Fish and Game Department for seven years, most recently in the Burley area, and served as a reserve officer for the Moscow Police Department.

JoyAnn Riley ’99 works as a youth director at First United Methodist in Moscow and is a stay-at-home mom for her two sons, Teagan, 5, and Tamren, 14 months.

2000 Amy Miriam Hixon ’00 celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary to her husband, Jason Slusser, in November 2007.

Jared Phay ’00 is in his fourth year as the head men’s basketball coach at North Idaho College. Two of his former players are now on the Vandal men’s team; Darin Nagle and Mac Hopson.

Yusuke Saito ’00 is a government officer working on issues related to the protection of the Antarctic for the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. He is stationed at Syowa Station in Antarctica and is involved in environmental impact evaluations. If you would like to contact him while he is in Antarctica, please send e-mail to j49saito@nipr.ac.jp.

Greg Ferney ’01 of West Linn, Ore., has been hired

by Samuels Yoelin Kantor Seymour & Spinrad to assist individuals and businesses in estate, tax, business, trust and real estate law. He is a member of the Oregon, Washington and Idaho state bars.

Sheila Valerie Gates ’01 is an architect intern at Zeck Butler Architects P.S. in Spokane, Wash.

Matthew McLaughlin ’01 completed his education at the Creighton University School of Dentistry. He and his wife, Hollan Hardy ’01, a dental hygienist, both work at his private practice in Eugene, Ore. Kite Faulkner ’02 is an Army captain and worked with an Iraqi Army unit near Kirkuk last Christmas. His Christmas wish was to give shoes and blankets to the local children before winter set in. His parents and family decided to forego their Christmas presents in order to send him money to help ensure that Kite got his wish.

Jonathan Parker ’02 is the district director for Congressman Bill Sali ‘84. Based in Boise, he oversees the Boise, Caldwell, Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene congressional offices.

Lindsey Joy Roberts ’02 and B. Seth Wheeler, both of Hampton, Va., were married in June 2007. The bridegroom serves in the Special Forces unit of the U.S. Army stationed at Kingwood, W. Va. Lindsey is an investigative television reporter for WRECTV in Virginia Beach, Va. Jacob Montgomery Church ’03 is a planning supervisor at Schweitzer Engineering Labs in Pullman, Wash.

Jenifer E. Clawson Harris ’03 works in Grangeville for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Jeremy R. Harris ’03 works in Cottonwood for the Bureau of Land Management.

Sara Biddinger ’04 and Bradley Smith ’03 announce their engagement and upcoming marriage on July 12.

Andrew Clifton Forth ’04 is a financial examiner for the Idaho State Department of Finance in Boise.

Jana Leachman ’04 is a second-year law student in the College of Law. She was awarded the Goldmark Equal Justice Internship for the summer of 2008 and will work at the Northwest Immigrant rights Project in Granger, Wash.

Stephanie Lenox ’04 had her manuscript selected as the winning chapbook in the Slapering Hol Press’ annual chapbook competition. The collection of poems is titled “The Heart That Lies Outside the Body” and looks at the unusual people and actions that are chronicled in the “Guinness World Records.”

Darren Owsley ’04 and Cecilia Wilkerson were married in Orofino in July 2007. Darren is a software developer in Moscow for the University of Idaho.

Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton ’04 not only teaches visual art in Pagosa Springs, Colo., but also is the photographer for a book titled “Broken Cycles.”

Thirty-three poems are dynamically paired with 44 black and white photographs dealing with themes of brokenness, man’s depravity, hope and redemption.

Adam Phillabaum ’04 and three friends have launched postacrime.com. The Web site posts photos and videos of people suspected of committing crimes. Half search site and half online police blotter, postacrime. com wants to become an early warning system for people worried about crime in their neighborhoods.

Cassandra Tyler ’04 has joined the staff of Sera Architects in Portland, Ore..

She is junior job captain on the Development Services Building and other facilities on Clackamas County's Red Soils Campus. She is also working on the Lewis & Clark Residential Hall renovation.

Christina Browning ’05 has been promoted by Bradshaw Advertising in Portland, Ore., to assistant account executive.

She previously did public relations for United Cerebral Palsy of Idaho and Friends of the Clearwater.

Kristin Kaufman ’05 has established Element Interior Design. The Boise-based design firm specializes in commercial and high-end residential projects. She also achieved Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP) status. She also donates her time as the Ada County Vandal Scholarship Fund secretary.

Christopher McConnell ’05 joined Olsson Frank Weeda, a USDA and FDA law firm in Washington, D.C., as a legislative assistant.

Chris McNeil ’05 works as Wyoming’s Trails and Safety Education coordinator. He invented and built an ATV safety simulator and is using it to educate youth in ATV safety. The simulator and trailer will be featured in the November ATV magazine.

Summer Smith ’05 has been hired by Steele Associates Architects in Bend, Ore., as a designer. She is working on an office building, a warehouse and several small projects.

Peter D. Stegner ’05 has been hired by Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo as a staff assistant in the North-Central Regional Office in Lewiston where he will assist with casework and constituent services.

Omar Gomez ’06 is a trainer at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories in Pullman, Wash.

Mark Kockler ’06 was appointed by Atlas Mining Company in Osborne as the company's vice president and chief operating officer. He will be responsible for managing the company's Atlas Fausett Mining Services Division, as well as oversight and management of the company's ongoing evaluation of the Dragon Mine halloysite clay deposit in Juab County, Utah.

spring 2008

Chris Shipley ’98 was named senior accountant – audit services at Magnuson, McHugh & Company, P.A., a Coeur d’Alene certified public accounting firm.

33

Class Notes

Alumni Charlie Miller ’06 is the manager of the Coeur d'Alene Centennial Trail Foundation. He races road bikes in the spring and summer, does cycle-crosses in the fall, and skis and snowboards in the winter.

April Ellen Montney ’06 and Brad Ernest Codr ’04, ’06 announce their engagement and upcoming marriage June.

Neal Richards ’06 was hired as a financial representative with Northwest Mutual Financial Network in its Bend, Ore., office.

Peter Hawley Rogers ’06 is in his second year of medical school at Des Moines University in Des Moines, Iowa.

idaho

Clancy Childs ’38, San Luis Obispo, Calif., Oct. 20, 2007

Theron Levi Blaisdell ’41, Malad, Dec. 3, 2007

Glenn A. Coughlan ’36, ’38, Boise, Nov. 7, 2007

John M. Boisen ’42, Renton, Wash., Oct. 4, 2007

Betty Pomeroy Dyer ’37, Grand Junction, Colo., Jan. 2, 2008

Corine Gay Williams Brandt ’44, Tremonton, Utah, Dec. 24, 2007

Arval L. Erickson ’37, Madison, Wis., Sept. 26, 2007

Benton W. Buttrey ’47, ’49, Ames, Iowa, Dec. 30, 2007

Tara Dawn Baker to Nathan Robert Allen ’03

Stanley W. Erickson ’38, Pocatello, Jan. 27, 2008

Mary Louise Scott Camp ’47, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 19, 2007

Jenifer E. Clawson ’03 to Jeremy R. Harris ’03

Viola C. Weidman Evans ’30, Topeka, Kan., April 19, 2007

John L. Chamberlin ’42, ’43, Boise, Jan. 9, 2008

Kayla Constable ’06 to Joshua Lavigne ’04

Zelma McCarroll Gray ’39, Boise, Aug. 26, 2007

Byron Cochrane ’49, Nahcotta, Wash., Jan. 15, 2008

Tiffany Nicole Faylor to Andrew Clifton Forth ’04

Anders Benjamin Hultman ’35, Veradale, Wash., Oct. 11, 2007

Richard K. Driscoll ’47, Honolulu, Hawaii, Dec. 22, 2007

Margrethe Kjosness Husom ’36, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 2, 2007

Ruth Petersen Fisher ’48, Pocatello, Nov. 24, 2007

Marriages

Sheila Valerie Gates ’01 to Frank Charles Joseph Ping Michele Griffin ’07 to Robert Wilmonen Holly M. Jericoff ’05 to Ryan D. Caudillo ’02

Brigham Dallas Murdoch ’33, Shelley, Jan. 17, 2008

Thomas F. Harland ’43, Jacksonville, Ore., Oct. 23, 2007

Julie Davis Northrop ’37, Boise, Nov. 14, 2007

John R. Ireland ’49, Midland, Mich., Nov. 23, 2007

Ella Loretta Smith Passic ’39, Seattle, Wash., Aug. 28, 2007

Hugh C. Kirkpatrick ’42, Everett, Wash., Sept. 20, 2007

Paul H. Poulson ’38, Boise, Jan. 4, 2008

Anton “Tony” Kramer ’48, Mount Vernon, Wash., Sept. 29, 2007

Alyssa Jean Kistner ’03 to Noah Hartford

Jannelle Marie Zenner Gibbs ’07 is a preschool teacher at Learning Tree Day Care in Iowa City, Iowa.

Brittany Oliver ’07 to Mark Sawyer ’05

Michele Griffin ’07 is employed by Alternative Nursing Services in Lewiston.

Jillian Tara Phillips ’06 to Cory Robert Cano

Charmion Helen Childs Schroeder ’37, Longmont, Colo., Oct. 30, 2007

Janel Rosenbaum ’03 to Michael Papadakis

Paul F. Taylor ’38, Hillsboro, Ore., Oct. 17, 2007

Tara Talbott to Alexander Gibson ’99

Elizabeth Proctor Tiegs ’32, Nampa, Dec. 28, 2007

Jannelle Marie Zenner ’07 to Marshall Farnell Gibbs ’07

1940

Bridget Pitman ’07 has accepted a position as marketing director for Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) based in Bozeman,

Jana Leachman ’04 to Omar Gomez ’06 Kindra Joy Levien to Jacob Montgomery Church ’03 Alyson Mai ’03 to Michal Kresser Tasha Marcum ’06 to Trevor Brittsan ’04 Chelsey Morss ’07 to Joel Alberts ’07

In Memory 1930 Allan W. Bacheller ’34, Boise, Nov. 17, 2007 Ethel M. “Susie” Hanson Brown ’35, Redmond, Wash., Jan. 18, 2008 Catherine Bjornstad Johnston Chace ’37, Salem, Ore., Oct. 29, 2007

Duane A. Hansen ’43, Burley, Sept. 29, 2007

Alcie E. Ingle Nethken ’36, Lewiston, Nov. 16, 2007

Megan Thompson ’06 and Chris Dockrey ’05 announce their engagement to be married.

Both received their master’s degrees from the University of Wollongong, Australia. Megan received a Master’s of Social Change and Development, and Chris received a Master’s of International Relations.

Mark Magee ’07 is an engineer technician with NAC| Architecture in Spokane, Wash. He is working on Whitworth University’s generator replacement and Pathology Associates Medical Laboratories’ site survey.

34

Mont. Project WET is a non-profit water education program and publisher with a mission to reach children, parents, educators, and communities of the world with water education.

AlUMNI Class Notes

Lucile “Nell” Nelson Robertson ’37, Puyallup, Wash., Nov. 15, 2007 Edna L. Scott Sandmeyer ’34, Grand Forks, N.D., Oct. 26, 2007

Freda D. Eyestone Alkins ’49, Olympia, Wash., Sept. 21, 2007 Donald R. Andrews ’45, Tyler, Texas, Nov. 27, 2007 Anton R. Aschenbrener ’42, ’47, Portland, Ore., Dec. 1, 2007

Donna Trueblood Landes ’48, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 20, 2007 Herbert W. Larsen ’44, Pocatello, Aug. 23, 2007 Elvin L. Lindsay ’42, Mesa, Ariz., Aug. 20, 2007 Robert W. Metlen ’49, Ontario, Ore., Oct. 31, 2007 Pauline E. Frei Miller ’42, Cashmere, Wash., Nov. 4, 2007 Charles Thomas Morbeck ’41, Kennewick, Wash., Dec. 30, 2007 Otto A. Nelson ’40, Santa Rosa, Calif., Sept. 21, 2007 Elmer K. Nesbitt ’41, Richland, Wash., Oct. 26, 2007 Glenn F. Nogle ’47, Spokane, Wash., Jan. 1, 2008

Virginia Johnson Baldus ’45, Lewiston, Jan. 25, 2008

Albert N. Palmer ’49, Yreka, Calif., May 2, 2007

Ronald Bird ’43, ’47, Columbia, Mo., Oct. 14, 2007

Bette Lee Isenburg Roper ’48, Burley, Nov. 6, 2007

AlUMNI Class Notes

brazier

madsen

Ray

brittsan

may

sasso

schroeder

Morgan Elizabeth, daughter of Jason and Jeannine Korus ’00 Apt Nicholas Chakri, son of Bruce ’86 and Ning Thammachataree Brazier Taylor Ann Marie, daughter of Trevor ’04, ’06 and Tasha Marcum ’06 Brittsan Berkeley Susan, daughter of Brian and Katie Egland ’97 Cox

Tijanna and Jorga, daughters of Aaron ’06 and Kristin Dupont Chloe Elizabeth, daughter of Trevor and Dorothy Shreffler ’06 Elison

crowley

McIver

Future Vandals

Vince, Owen, and Will, sons of Peter ’98, ’05 and Amber Hougen ’99 Crowley

cox

smith

mercer

stockton

Kennedy Jade, daughter of James ’97 and Suzanne Pinard ’97 Fullmer, granddaughter of Paul ’69 and Diana Beck Pinard

mulberry

nau

otto

thompson

troute

williams

Madeline and Sam, daughter and son of Matthew ’01 and Hollan Hardy ’01 McLaughlin

Nicholas, son of David and Kelly Stephens ’96 Sasso Grant Nathan, son of Nathan ’99 and Melissa Schroeder

Dylana Tate, daughter of Tim ’91 and Desirie Lynch

Jace Russell, son of Justin ’99 and Jodie Lanting ’99, ’04 Mink

Dane and Dallan, sons of Hans and Mindy Rice ’96 Madsen

Kyle James, son of Steve ’97 and Shelley Mulberry

Nicholas Morgan and Zachary Sayre, sons of Jon and Tari Aldrich ’91 Stockton

Chloe, daughter of Jacob ’99 and Lindsay Lorain ’01 May and granddaughter to Mary and Garwin ’68 Lorain

Isabella Marie, daughter of Christopher ’05 and Ashley Brook Nau

Hadley Marie, daughter of Steve ’96 and Jill Gaylord ’96 Thompson

Issac Douglas, son of Doug ’04 and Rebecca Simmons ’04 Otto and grandson of Richard ’76 and Gayla ’75 Otto and great-grandson of W. Horland Simmons ‘27

Stella Katharine and Emily Rose, twin daughters of Maurice and Amy Boyd ’95 Troute

Nathan, Nicholas, Marcus, Kieran and Kelsey, children of Jeremy ’00 and Bernadette Hughes ’99 McIver and grandchildren of Dr. William (Bill) Hughes ’81

Robert R. Schnurr ’42, Coeur d’Alene, July 2, 2007

Joseph M. Trigueiro ’46, Boise, Dec. 27, 2007

George B. Shipman ’40, Moorpark, Calif., Oct. 25, 2007

Alice Bastida Tullis ’48, Boise, Dec. 2, 2007

Lois M. Harnett Thomas ’43, Albuquerque, N.M., Dec. 17, 2007

lynch

Dawson Michael, son of Adam ’98, ’00 and Cyndi Hankins

James G. Towles ’46, ’48, Spokane, Wash., Oct. 3, 2007

Genevieve Willson Spiegel ’41, San Francisco, Calif., Sept. 20, 2007

mink

fullmer

Addison Christine, daughter of Jason ’90, ’95 and Kathy Heimerman ’94 Mercer

Helen Kornher Sampson ’49, Reno, Nev., April 15, 2007

Elmer E. Soniville ’48, Boise, Sept. 19, 2007

dupont

Jean Marie Wilkins ’44, Great Falls, Mont., Nov. 23, 2007 Horace J. Woodworth ’40, ’42, Clarkston, Wash., Nov. 28, 2007

1950 Dale L. Becker ’57, Idaho Falls, Oct. 11, 2007

Mackenzie Marie, daughter of Michael ’04 and Marlene Jerwers ’01 Ray Gerald H. Buhler ’58, Salt Lake City, Utah, Sept. 23, 2007 Donald Howard Bundy ’57, Twin Falls, Nov. 1, 2007 Neil P. Caudill ’52, Clarkston, Wash., Dec. 28, 2007 Carolyn Clark Chandler ’54, Sequim, Wash., Jan. 23, 2008 Joseph Louis Clegg ’50, Spokane, Wash., Aug. 30, 2007 David A. Craner ’53, Burley, Dec. 18, 2007 Russell V. Cromwell ’57, Boise, Oct. 7, 2007

Kendal Ashley and Reilly William, children of Jason ’01 and Karen LaDow ’97 Smith

Jacqueline Teresa, daughter of Scott ’04 and Marci Musgrave ’04 Williams

Walter Ralph Dean ’53, ’60, Fontana, Calif., April 29, 2007 Anna Maire Dixson ’58, Spokane, Wash., Jan. 16, 2008 Eugene E. Garmer ’59, ’61, Logan, Utah, Aug. 30, 2007 James A. Goller ’51, Garden Valley, Dec. 20, 2007 Ronald J. Grove ’57, Twin Falls, Oct. 4, 2007 Guy H. Hafer ’58, Cove, Ore., Oct. 29, 2007 Kenneth S. Hall Jr. ’59, Newark, Del., Nov. 15, 2007

spring 2008

Apt

35

Class Notes

Alumni In Memory continued from page 35

David L. Harris ’59, Sandpoint, Oct. 23, 2007

Frank Ryset ’50, Lewiston, Nov. 4, 2007

Richard “Dick” J. McBride ’62, Potlatch, Jan. 16, 2008

Eileen M. Lyden ’73, Morris Plains, N.J., Nov. 11, 2007

James A. Hatch ’55, Cheney, Wash., Nov. 4, 2007

Theodore R. Scheihing ’53, Springfield, Ohio, July 3, 2007

Ellen A. Roose McCoy ’60, Silverton, Dec. 18, 2007

JoAnn “Jody” Hanson Miller ’79, Moscow, Oct. 12, 2007

Doris G. Bonner Iverson ’59, Moscow, Jan. 12, 2008

Betty J. Roberts Slaybaugh ’58, Clarkston, Wash., Dec. 31, 2007

John James Mincks ’65, Portland, Ore., June 26, 2007

Raymond Arnold Newton ’76, Potlatch, Oct. 10, 2007

Dan R. Pilkington ’60, Nampa, July 30, 2007

James Leon Rock ’72, Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 13, 2007

John L. Pulliam ’62, ’87, Council, Jan. 10, 2008

Rob R. Spafford ’79, ’90, Coeur d’Alene, Oct. 7, 2007 Terry G. Vanderwall ’72, Grangeville, Jan. 6, 2008

Lawrence “Swede” Johnson ’54, Centralia, Wash., Jan. 29, 2008 Darrell Lee Kuelpman ’55, Coolin, Sept. 22, 2007

Lee Ray Thurber ’56, ’59, Champaign, Ill., Dec. 21, 2007

Renee Mathews Langley ’53, Rigby, Feb. 28, 2007

Charles W. Totten ’54, Longview, Wash., Jan. 3, 2008

Kenneth Dean Randall ’61, ’63, Williams, Calif., Dec. 11, 2007

Robert M. Liberg ’50, Scottsbluff, Neb., Dec. 2, 2007

Margaret Ann Trefren ’55, Auburn, Calif., Dec. 4, 2007

Daniel Carl Riley ’66, Riggins, Dec. 5, 2007

Rolly L. Lincoln ’54, Parma, Jan. 17, 2008

C. Robert Yost ’50, Boise, Nov. 26, 2007

Otto E. Sackman ’68, Boise, Aug. 4, 2007

Vaughn Eugene Mathers ’51, Portland, Ore., Nov. 30, 2007

1960

William J. Simpson ’68, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 16, 2007

Robert D. Mays ’51, Boise, Dec. 27, 2007 Carl P. McCrillis ’52, Dewey, Ariz., July 16, 2007 Clay Young McCulloch Jr. ’53, Fredonia, Ariz., Jan. 21, 2008 Francis “Frank” McGough ’59, Spokane, Wash., Oct. 26, 2007

Howard M. Bruns ’63, Rupert, Nov. 10, 2007 Cary W. Bush ’65, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 14, 2007 Patricia M. Beaudoin Campbell, Lewiston, June 20, 2007

Julian C. Skaggs ’62, Victor, W.Va., Aug. 16, 2007 Dale L. Smith ’68, Boise, Oct. 30, 2007 James H. Taubman ’61, Idaho Falls, Nov. 13, 2007 Larry E. Williams ’61, Pinehurst, Nov. 8, 2007 Kenneth N. Winkler ’69, Boise, Oct. 24, 2007

Margaret P. Sundstad Chugg ’60, ’61, Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 3, 2008

Richard “Dick” Merrill ’52, Rio Verde, Ariz., Nov. 9, 2007

Dale Defrancesco ’66, Boise, Nov. 7, 2007

Rae S. Mills ’52, Vancouver, Wash., April 21, 2007

Melvin L. Gates ’61, ’67, Port Ludlow, Wash., Dec. 30, 2007

Clark R. Noble ’50, Longmont, Colo., Oct. 3, 2007

Rudy J. Hatcher ’68, Boise, Nov. 12, 2007

Robert L. Beitz ’71, Thompson Falls, Mont., Sept. 24, 2007

Clancy Olson ’57, Moscow, Oct. 22, 2007

Judith J. Evans-Hindman ’61, Flagstaff, Ariz., Sept. 3, 2007

William E. Dahlberg ’72, Coeur d’Alene, May 8, 2007

Donald E. Papineau ’51, Moscow, Oct. 17, 2007

Estelle Schwendiman Hollibaugh ’64, Orofino, June 11, 2007

David C. Frazier ’76, Coeur d’Alene, Sept. 29, 2007

Denece Jones Peterson ’55, Everett, Wash., Nov. 27, 2007 William C. Reed ’57, Mesquite, Nev., Nov. 2, 2007

idaho

Archie Beighley ’67, La Crosse, Minn., Nov. 26, 2007

Philip W. McRoberts ’59, Sandpoint, Nov. 5, 2007

Patricia Barnes Patterson ’50, Boise, Nov. 11, 2007

36

Anne Mays Thatcher ’56, Idaho Falls, Oct. 18, 2007

George Irving ’61, ’66, Houston, Texas, Oct. 29, 2007 Ronald R. Jordan ’66, Lenoir, N.C., Sept. 14, 2007

Eugene R. Robertson ’56, Bruneau, Oct. 5, 2007

William Bernard Laakonen ’63, Spokane, Wash., Nov. 21, 2007

James Leon Rock ’56, Las Vegas, Nev., Dec. 14, 2007

Mary Jane McLeod Leitch ’61, Nezperce, Dec. 26, 2007

Dale E. Roske ’58, Cle Elum, Wash., Sept. 20, 2007

Gene P. Livingston ’66, Pleasant Hill, Calif., Nov. 17, 2007

Jerry L. Webb ’74, Reubens, Dec. 20, 2007

1980 Charles P. Becker ’88, West Richland, Wash., May 13, 2007 Vic Lillquist ’80, Ellensburg, Wash., Dec. 26, 2007 Frank P. Palermo ’89, Lewiston, Sept. 27, 2007

1990 Christofer C. Bertels ’98, Salem, Ore., Nov. 6, 2007 Alexander M. Hart ’98, Missoula, Mont., Nov. 29, 2007

1970

Beverly J. Green Kathanimane ’92, Moscow, Oct. 16, 2007

Claude T. Bagley Jr. ’72, Vicksburg, Miss., Nov. 25, 2007

Carl N. Kiewert ’93, Deer Park, Wash., Jan. 6, 2008

John A. Hendrickson ’72, Kamiah, Oct. 8, 2007 Thomas A. Johnson ’79, Post Falls, April 29, 2007

Dianne Cazier Shinn ’94, Boise, Nov. 18, 2004 Clark A. Strain ’91, Moscow, Nov. 30, 2007

Alumni Association Board of Directors 2008-09 National Officers:

Donald D. Joslyn ’72, Eagle Point, Ore., Dec. 29, 2007

President Tom Limbaugh ’79

Mary Douthit Kawula ’73, Chapel Hill, N.C., Oct. 29, 2007

Vice President Wayne Wohler ’77

Michael W. Luke ’74, Middleton, Dec. 15, 2007

Treasurer Kristen Ruffing ’93 Past President Andrea Niehenke ’96

Idaho Outlook

Univer sit y of Idaho | Financi al and E state Pl anning News | spring 2008

Dear Friends of Idaho

D

uring the years 2000 to 2002, while stock values declined, real estate values held steady and in fact, in most regions of the U.S., increased. Although stocks rebounded in 2003, they still have generally underperformed real estate over the past five years.

Take a moment and consider your own net worth. I would suspect that for many of you, the majority of your net worth consists of fixed assets such as real estate. If you purchased the real estate some time ago, you likely have a great deal of tax liability associated with capital gain if you ever sold your real estate or estate tax at your passing. You may have a number of personal hopes and goals for your real estate that you have not accomplished yet because of this tax liability.

In this edition of Idaho Outlook, will describe a few methods that you can use to: • avoid the transfer taxes described above, • receive a tax deduction that you can use to reduce your ordinary income tax liability, • receive a cash payment each year for the remainder of your life, and • help the University of Idaho.

There is even a way to accomplish all of this and conserve the natural beauty of your farm, ranch or forest land.

The gift of real estate can be simple or complex in order to tailor the gift to your special family situation. This article will start with the most simple and end with a gift of land for conservation. These are by no means the only ways that real estate gifts can be completed.

They are just a small sample. We have completed hundreds of real estate gifts and can help answer any of your questions and concerns to determine if a gift of real estate is right for you.

Pete Volk, Director of Gift Planning Services

Robert Scholes, Associate Director

spring 2008

Please feel free to give us a call with any question you may have.

37

Idaho Outlook University of Idaho retreat overlooking Moscow.

Outright Gift of Real Estate

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News idaho

C

2 38

onceptually, an outright gift of real estate is a simple transaction that is completed by you, the donor, when you sign and record a deed to transfer the real estate to the University of Idaho.

There are a number of due diligence steps which will be undertaken by our office prior to accepting the gift. These steps are the same for any gift of real estate and undertaken by our office to simplify the gift process for you.

After making an outright gift of real estate you will no longer own the land. The benefit you receive is a tax deduction for the fair market value of the land which you can apply toward your income tax liability without any recognition of capital gain when the land is transferred.

Other benefits include reduced estate tax and simplified probate of your estate. You may even eliminate the expense of probate.

In most cases, the University of Idaho will immediately market the property so that the proceeds from the sale can fund your goals here at the University. However, that is not a requirement. If you have specific requirements, the University is open to that discussion.

For example, the land may be retained by the University and used as part of its programming. Also, if you have a favorite farmer tenant leasing the farm we can make sure that your tenant has the first chance to purchase the gifted farm and can even consider long term leasing arrangements with that special tenant.

Here are a couple of real life examples of outright gifts of real estate that were not immediately sold, but instead, held for University programming or leased to a long-term farm tenant to allow the tenant a chance to purchase the farm when commodity prices are up; like right now.

The University of Idaho has many needs that require land. These needs include the construction of new classrooms and labs at the main campus and campuses around the state, and research farms, forests and ranches, to name a few. Over the years, these critical parcels of land either have been purchased with gifted funds or deeded directly to the University by a gift.

An example is a gift of a parcel of land on Moscow Mountain. While the donor wishes to remain anonymous, it was his desire that the University have a place near campus where the administrative and academic leadership could gather for focused discussion of the pressing issues facing the University. This parcel with associated structures is now being used as a retreat center, and its out-of-the-way location has proven to be a great asset to the University of Idaho leadership when it needs to get away from the distraction of day-to-day business to resolve key issues.

Perhaps you also own a parcel of land that you feel offers a unique opportunity for the University for years to come. Perhaps it is farm or rangeland near one of the University research and extension centers.

Or perhaps it is forestland near one of the University experimental forest location. Finally, consider a gift of real estate near the main campus in Moscow or one of the University campuses in northern Idaho, Boise or Idaho Falls.

Idaho Outlook

A Gift of Real Estate to be Used by the University of Idaho

Malcolm ’32, ’34 and Carol Campbell ’35, Renfrew

spring 2008

The University of Idaho can accept gifts of the family farm and hold the land until the farm tenant is able to purchase it. The University also can hold the farm as an income-producing asset to fund the programming you desire with annual crop sales.

In 2007, Malcolm and Carol Renfrew made an outright gift of a quarter section –160 acres – of tillable farm land located in northeast Whitman County, Wash. This was not simply a farm asset for the Renfrew’s. It has been owned by Carol’s family since the early 1930s. The farmer tenant currently on the land had been the tenant for three generations and it was important for the Renfrew’s that this long-standing relationship be honored.

The gift was made with the understanding that the longtime farmer tenant would be given the first chance to purchase the farm and the proceeds would be used to fund the creation of the Renfrew/Campbell Science and Humanities Endowment.

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News

An Outright Gift of the Family Farm

393

Idaho Outlook Gift of a Life Estate Donate Your Farm or Residence and You Continue to Live on the Land for Life

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News idaho

I

4 40

f you would like to make sure you know who is going to own your farm or home after your passing, but would like to continue living there just as you always have, then this may be the gift method for you.

The IRS allows you to donate your farm, which includes timber and rangeland, or your residence, which includes a vacation home, to the University of Idaho. You also are permitted to continue farming the land, taking the income from that operation and living in your home; just as you always have.

The major benefit of this type of gift is that it results in no changes to your life. After completing the deed, you may avoid the future expense of probate, and will have the peace of mind knowing that your estate is in order with regard

to the gifted real estate. You don’t recognize any capital gain at the time of the gift, and you substantially reduce your potential estate tax. In addition, you will receive a tax deduction for the fair market value of the land minus the present value of the life estate that you keep.

The gift documents and due diligence will be completed by our office to insure your gift is completed in a professional and affordable manner. We also will cover the expense of the due diligence steps. Then, a deed that transfers your property to the University of Idaho Foundation will be drafted for your review and the review of your counsel. When the deed is approved, it is recorded and the gift is complete. It really is that simple.

Property • Office Building • Commercial Property • Farmland • Rental Property

→

Charitable Trust Benefits: • Bypasses Gain • Increased Income • Charitable Tax Deduction

→

Charity • Trust to charity at end of lifetime(s) or term of years

Idaho Outlook

Charitable Remainder Trust

→

Income for Lifetime(s)

Property Owner(s) (Or Other Beneficiaries)

As with all gifts of real estate, we will complete all due diligence steps at our expense. To complete the gift, you will simply deed the land into a trust in which the University of Idaho Foundation acts as trustee. The gifted land is then sold by the trust and the proceeds are invested on your behalf. The payout to you from the investment in the trust is made at a rate and frequency agreed to by you and specified in the trust document.

The payment can continue for the life of both spouses, so you have the peace of mind knowing that your spouse will continue to receive the income from the trust after your passing. You also should feel good knowing that the gift of land will provide an estate tax deduction and eliminate the need and expense to probate this asset.

At the end of both your lives, the remaining value of the invested proceeds will be endowed at the University of Idaho to accomplish your stated goals, that also are agreed to, and reduces to a written document binding the University.

spring 2008

This may be a gift that fits you if • you are faced with the prospect of selling a highlyappreciated parcel of real estate to make an investment that provides a better annual rate of return, or • you want to simplify your daily work load so you can retire.

If you simply sell the real estate, the capital gains substantially reduce the principal amount of your next investment and your cash return each year.

Why not make a gift of that same real estate to the University of Idaho? We can invest the proceeds of sale and pay you a rate of return for life that is agreeable to you.

The gift avoids capital gain; the University invests the proceeds of sale, and the entire sale amount is invested as principal without being reduced by the capital gains tax.

This means more annual income for you. You also will receive an income tax deduction for the value of the gifted land.

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News

A Gift That Provides a Cash Return to You for Life

415

Idaho Outlook

Gift of Land for Conservation

W

hether you are a farmer, a rancher, a logger, a conservationist or a combination of all the above, you understand our open spaces are under extreme development pressure. Those of you who have owned and made your living on the open lands have a deep understanding of the legacy you can pass on not just to your own children and grandchildren, but to all Americans.

There is a way your land can stay largely open and wellmanaged in its current use for generations to come while also funding your special programs here at the University of Idaho.

This is accomplished by a gift to the University of Idaho subject to a document called a conservation easement.

Perhaps the best way to describe this gift is with an actual example.

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News idaho

The Hansons’ Gift

6 42

David and Vivien Hanson live in Seattle, but David grew up in northern Idaho on a farm located on the banks of the Coeur d’Alene River. His father was a farmer and a logger. While David remembers his father using the land for production he also remembers Idaho being an open place with a feeling of wilderness. His own words describe his perspective best.

“From our small farm in the Coeur d’Alene River valley our family could see remnants of the vast 1910 fire that had swept across Idaho two decades before my birth. Tall snags still stood in the devastated burn areas but we could also see islands of old growth forest that had been skipped by the fire. Those had served as refuges from the fire not only for animals but also for the many species of plants, and vast numbers of small organisms that then were able to reclaim the burned lands. I came to recognize that conserving islands of older forests might serve many purposes because a forest is a complicated community.”

The appreciation for wild open lands is shared with his wife, Vivien, and together they have preserved some of that feeling through a proposed gift of a portion of their land to support research or as Vivien writes: “Starting in 1972 we purchased several pieces of forest land in Idaho, with the goal of preserving them as eventual “old growth” trees and natural habitat, to give shelter/ support for wildlife, and to help retain the groundwater and

spring 2008

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News

Idaho Outlook

pure streams. Just as our children should be cherished and loved, we should protect the land in which they are to grow and thrive.”

Their gift addresses both conservation and support of higher education. Because the University of Idaho is not a conservation organization it cannot hold conservation land in perpetuity. But the University can do a great deal of research and teaching if it is funded with the gift of a parcel of land that is subject to a conservation easement which is later sold by the Foundation.

The steps for the gift are complex but can be summarized as follows: 1) The gifted land must be farm, range, timber or recreation land.

2) The donor must be willing to encumber the land with what is called a conservation easement that will be held by a conservation organization. This conservation easement will need to allow one residential structure of very limited size to ensure that there is a resale value. There are many conservation groups that are nonprofit corporations which enforce the easements to ensure the land is never developed beyond the one structure. The donor, Gift Planning Services and the conservation group would work out the details of the easement to custom fit it to your land.

3) Gift Planning Services will conduct the due diligence which protects both the donor and the Foundation. In most cases it includes a title report, environmental assessment level one, market analysis, multiple site visits and a survey, if needed to confirm boundaries.

4) Assuming that the due diligence steps and the easement can be worked out then the land is gifted subject to the easement.

5) The donor (you) would receive a tax deduction for the gift of the conservation easement and a second deduction for the gift to the University of Idaho.

6) The University of Idaho then sells the land subject to the easement, the conservation organization enforces the terms of the easement and the proceeds of sale are endowed at the University to support the programming that you, the donor, desire.

For the Hanson’s, this conservation gift worked because it helped ensure that a portion of their land holding in northern Idaho will remain largely unchanged and they can support the University’s academic and research efforts in higher education.

If you are interested in a gift of land for conservation, please contact our office for more details.

437

Idaho Outlook

Ways to Give Through Your Estate Plan

Idaho Outlook • Financial and Estate Planning News idaho

There are many ways you can support the University of Idaho in addition to an outright gift. Below is a brief listing of how you can participate in this vital component of the University of Idaho’s mission.

8 44

Type

What is it?

What are the tax benefits?

What are some other benefits?

Bequest in Will or Revocable Living Trust

A gift you make by naming the University of Idaho in your will for a certain dollar amount, percentage or the residuary.

Reduces size of taxable estate.

Gives you flexibility in providing for family needs first. You become a member of our Heritage Society.

Charitable Gift Annuity

A contract in which the Foundation agrees to pay you back a percentage of your gift annually for your lifetime.

Immediate income tax deduction for part of gift’s value, capital gains spread out over life expectancy, a portion of the income is tax-exempt.

Gives you and/or another beneficiary a set income for life. Heritage Society membership.

Life Insurance Gift

A gift of an existing or new policy with the Foundation named as beneficiary and owner.

Immediate income tax deduction for gift’s value, plus possible estate tax savings.

Provides a way to make a significant gift with minimal capital outlay. Heritage Society membership.

Retirement Plan Gift

A gift made by naming the Foundation as remainder beneficiary after your death.

Heirs avoid income tax and possible estate tax.

Preserves 100 percent of plan’s value and allows you to leave heirs other, less costly bequests. Heritage Society membership.

Retained Life Estate

A donation of your home or farm, but with the right to remain there.

Immediate income tax deduction for the charitable value of the gift, plus no capital gains tax due.

Allows you to live in your home or farm and still receive charitable deduction; assures immediate passage of title on your death. Heritage Society membership.

Charitable Remainder Trust

A trust that pays a set or variable income to you or those you name before the University receives remainder.

Income tax savings from deduction, no capital gains tax liability, possible estate tax savings.

Provides guaranteed annual income that could increase if trust value increases. Heritage Society membership.

Charitable Lead Trust

A trust that pays the University an income for a period of years before you or heirs receive the trust remainder.

Gift or estate tax savings for value of payments made to a charity.

Allows you to pass assets to heirs intact at reduced or even no estate or gift tax. Heritage Society membership.

Wealth Replacement Trust

Life insurance for your heirs to replace the asset funding your charitable gift.

When properly established through a trust, the insurance passes to heirs estate-tax free.

Tax savings and cash flow from a life income plan may be enough to pay the premiums. Heritage Society membership.

Please let us know if you have remembered the University of Idaho in your estate plans.

Office of Development Gift Planning Services PO Box 443201 Moscow, ID 83844-3201 Phone: (208) 885-1201 Toll Free: (866) 671-7041 Fax: (208) 885-4483

Pete Volk Director E-mail: pvolk@uidaho.edu Office: (208) 885-5760

Robert Scholes Associate Director E-mail: rscholes@uidaho.edu Office: (208) 885-5371

www.uidaho.edu/givetoidaho

Upcoming EVENTS

April 25 Engineering Design Expo April 25-27 Alpha Gamma Delta Reunion April 30 Commencement, University of Idaho – Boise

May May 1 Commencement, University of Idaho – Idaho Falls May 5 Commencement, University of Idaho – Coeur d’Alene May 9 Alumni Association Hall of Fame Induction Luncheon

May 10 Commencement, University of Idaho – Moscow

June 21 Idaho Repertory Theatre Midsummer's Eve dinner and auction

May 15 Thirsty Thursday in Boise

June 26-Aug. 2 Idaho Repertory Theatre season

june

June 27-29 Reunion Weekend

June 19 Thirsty Thursday in Boise

july

June 19 Vandal Night with the Portland Beavers, Portland, Ore. June 20 Vandal Night with the Spokane Indians, Spokane, Wash.

Events are in Moscow unless stated as elsewhere. For more information on alumni events, go to www.supportui.uidaho.edu

July 17 Vandal Night with the Idaho Falls Chuckars, Idaho Falls July 19 Fourth annual Vandal Picnic in Boise. The Bookstore will have Vandal Gear on sale.

July 24 19th annual Vandal Scholarship Fund Governor’s Gala in Boise

august August 7 Vandal Night with the Boise Hawks, Boise August 9 Vandal Night with Colorado Rockies, Denver, Colo.

August 21 Thirsty Thursday, Boise

Plan now October 4 Dads’ Weekend October 25 Homecoming

SAE Reunion and Celebration Alumni and friends of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will host a reunion this fall to celebrate of the completion of a renovation and expansion project to the 75-year-old chapter house.

All SAE brothers not currently receiving project information, Little Sisters of Minerva and Violet Queens are invited to contact either: Gary Garnand at garnmkt@garnand.com, (208) 734-5744; or Jim Mottern at jwmottern@cox.net, (949) 878-3322; to receive an invitation to this once-in-a-lifetime event.

spring 2008

April

37 45

Non-Profit Org.

Moscow, ID 83844-3232

idaho

Change Service Requested

46

US POSTAGE PAID University of Idaho