Fall 2009

This page gathers blog posts of the major stories from the Fall 2009 issue of the Oregon Stater magazine, which was printed by the OSU Alumni Association and sent on Sept. 8, 2009, to alumni and friends of OSU.

It does not include all of the content from the print version. Full content of the most recent issue – in both Flex Page and PDF formats – is available at www.osualum.com/stater.

The Stater’s main mission in all of its forms is to foster stronger connections among OSU alumni and between the alumni and the university.

Production and mailing costs of the print version of the Stater, and of the three online versions – this blog, the Flex Page Stater and the PDFs – are underwritten mainly through the generosity of dues-paying members of the OSU Alumni Association, with substantial assistance from the OSU Foundation. Membership in the alumni association is open to all; information on joining is available at www.osualum.com/membership. Donors can also support the magazine directly by giving to the Oregon Stater Fund through the Campaign for OSU at the OSU Foundation.

STORIES FROM THE FALL 2009 ISSUE
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(Alternate version for mobile users here.)

Road Worrier: OSU engineer keeps Washington residents moving

… in walks Paula Hammond, boss of Washington’s complex highway system, de facto admiral of the nation’s largest ferry system, and the woman in charge of a 7,100-employee agency aimed at getting Evergreen State residents from here to there and home again despite daunting geographical, meteorological and economic roadblocks.


Joan’s Dream: New resort in Oregon wine country has deep OSU roots

Not far from the modest but well-appointed office Joan Austin keeps on the Newberg campus of A-dec, the giant dental equipment company she and her husband Ken founded in 1964, the matriarch of one of OSU’s best-known and most generous families is watching a dream come true in a grand way.


Snow job: Recent grads convert cool idea to chilly road show

Ryan Kirkpatrick, ’06, and Dan Genco, ’05, started bringing out-of-season snow events to college campuses three years ago because they wanted to be their own bosses and their experience working on the Memorial Union Program Council convinced them that the idea would work with university audiences.


Ed Said: Time to talk efficiency, flatness, dynamite, chocolate

For this edition of Ed Said, we … touched upon differences between the business world and the campus world, a lesson from “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” and the appropriate size for a dynamite-making class.


Focus on OSU’s strengths key to belt-tightening, realignment proposals

OSU will restructure and streamline its administration, cut low-enrollment classes and consolidate many departments under proposals approved over the summer by President Edward Ray.


Director’s Cut: what’s a Beaver to do?

We work with the entire university to bring alumni closer to Oregon State and to one another, and to keep our graduates up to date about the impact their alma mater is having on students, the state, the nation and the world.


From Where I Sit: This is how it happened…

It started as a gentle warning and ended, I think, with a bolder, better looking, more easy to read Oregon Stater. Our printer was concerned that we were placing too much critical content outside the “safety zone” on our page layouts.


Preservers of the ‘pest house’

Former schoolteacher Nancy Bell Anderson, ’60, didn’t plan to spend her retirement as keeper of a “Pest House,” but that’s how things turned out.


Back in the Day: Does OSU lie about its age?

In the more than 23 years I’ve been a student of the history of OSU – the first 20 as editor of this magazine – few tasks have stirred my blood like trying to determine OSU’s true birth year.


OSU family gives back

Even if they’ve never taken a business class, OSU students seem to know a good investment when they see one. Pitching the opportunity to fellow students and their parents, the class of 2009 raised $16,400 as a parting gift to their alma mater.


Endowed faculty positions have big impact on, off campus

A gain of nearly 40 percent with two years to go. That’s the impact of The Campaign for OSU to date as measured by the increase in the university’s endowed faculty positions. Each new endowment – which generates income to support the faculty position – helps OSU recruit and retain top academic talent.


One librarian’s lasting legacy

When OSU librarian Elizabeth Ritchie created the first life income agreement with the OSU Foundation 45 years ago, she could hardly have imagined how her gift would grow – and how much it would benefit Oregon State students and faculty.


Golden Jubilee Class of 1959 donates labyrinth

The Class of 1959 inaugurated a brick meditation labyrinth given to OSU in June to commemorate its Golden Jubilee reunion.


NFL draftees set academic tone

The seven Beavers selected this past spring were the most OSU players taken in an NFL draft; OSU matched Southern California as the school with the second-highest number of players selected in this year’s draft, trailing only Ohio State’s 11 picks … and five of those seven players … arrived at football’s most elite level with their college degrees already in hand.


Athletics works to conserve cash

Having long had one of the smallest athletic budgets in the Pac-10 Conference, OSU is no stranger to stretching a dollar. While fiscal restraint is a new experience for some athletic departments, Oregon State has had a variety of money-saving measures in place for years.


Gutches inducted into hall of fame

Les Gutches, ’96, ’06, became the third man with Oregon State ties to be inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame when he was honored during a ceremony June 6 at the hall’s headquarters in Stillwater, Okla.


Photo: Appealing to the coach in the big skybox

Good recruiting and hard work on the practice field are important to success in football, but could it hurt to seek a little extra help?


Photo: Future starting backfield?

Lisa Hecht Hawkins, ’93, and her husband, Monty Hawkins, ’93, of Beaverton write: “Beaver Nation has been growing! Our 6-month-old triplet boys fit pretty well into their first uniforms!”


Photo: Pharmacy leader in Cameroon

Nkwenti Davidson Achu, ’82, Cameroon, received the Noel B. Flynn Award for Alumni Achievement from the College of Pharmacy this June.


Barrels of paint for Gill; big plans for the area

An extreme makeover for Gill Coliseum and visions of exciting changes in the coliseum’s neighborhood marked a busy summer at OSU athletic facilities.


Volleyballer visits the inside, comes out with new insights

Over the past three years, Rachel Rourke has rewritten part of Oregon State’s volleyball record book. But last spring – with assistance from classmates and Oregon State Correctional Institution inmates – she may have helped some children rewrite their futures.