idaho state university magazine

Plus …… and more!

Crowell Takes Helm as Research VP • Campus Conservation EffortsCenter for Advanced Energy Studies Opens

Volume 39 | Number 1 | Fall/Winter 2008-2009

Cover: Three of the ISU researchers who took part in a 12-day wilderness expedition to study the effects of Yellowstone National Park’s epic 1988 fires are shown taking measurements at a Cache Creek study site. From left, are researchers Iraima Verkaik, Rebecca Martin, and Melissa Lamb. Photo by Bill Schaefer, Idaho State Journal

Swanson Hall, constructed in 1902, was the first building at the Academy of Idaho, now Idaho State University. The structure was razed in 1973, but the arch that formed the building’s entrance was saved and now stands on campus. ISU Photographic Services/Susan Duncan

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From the President

A renaissance in nuclear engineering

Sediment gives glimpse to ancient sockeye runsScientists work to revive quail population

Conservation on campus

New leader for ISU researchNew option in the College of Business

Center for Advanced Energy Studies opens in Idaho Falls

A look at toad survival in Wyoming and Colorado

David G. Adler, Ph.D., evaluates the nation’s highest office

Research goes global via the Web

ISU’s building in Meridian saves energy

Yellowstone 20 years after the fire

Earl R. Pond passes away

Trackings

See each story and more at www.isu.edu/magazine

2 Idaho State University Magazine Fall/Winter 2008-092

3Fall/Winter 2008-09 3

In Troubled TimesLook to Education

ISU Magazine goes global with online editionWith this edition, Idaho State University Magazine will include an expanded

online version. Just visit www.isu.edu/magazine, and you will find even more content than the print version has. Best of all, it will be easy to share the magazine’s content with others via e-mail. Stories also will be ac-

companied by live links that will connect you instantly with sources of additional information. In the meantime, the print version will continue to keep alumni and friends connected with the University. You can help us keep ISU Magazine coming free of charge by making a tax-deductible contribution of $25, $50, $75 or more. Just send a check, made out to ISU Magazine, to: ISU Magazine, c/o ISU Founda-tion, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Ave., Stop 8050, Pocatello, ID 83209-8050. Questions? Call the Foundation at (208) 282-3470.

Education is the best investment we can make right now.

It is during times of economic hard-ship that individuals and organizations most hopefully turn to the nation’s colleges and universities to give them the competitive advantage. Many of

our nation’s schools were established with a significant intent to boost economic development.

Education is the great equalizer. It levels the playing field for job seekers, and it

creates greater opportunity for employ-ers to find the workforce they need. Increased credentials and sharpened skill sets can make the difference when candidates seek a position in a tight job market. The abilities and knowledge that are a part of higher education catapult us into global markets and connect us with colleagues and partners throughout the world.

Incubating entrepreneurship, trans-ferring technological developments and partnering with the local business, health care and engineering industries are at the heart of our economic development contributions. We also collaborate with local school districts and government entities to identify and meet the needs of citizens and industry throughout the region and even the world.

Leaders with vision see how the work done at institutions of higher learning can profit the people and organizations associated with them. Access to the ex-pertise and research at a university prove priceless when they need the knowledge to propel them over current obstacles.

Education is the best preventative medicine there is. If we expect to resolve issues of health care, science and tech-nology, civil understanding and cultural appreciation, our best hope is to pursue answers through our colleges and uni-versities. If we understand the physical, economic, political and social environ-ments in which we live, we close the gap between the problems before us and the goals ahead of us.

Our efforts to share and cooperate with one another begin by identifying our common goals and taking inventory of the human and physical resources we can apply toward those ends. The part-nerships that result can address short-term concerns, but are most effective when focused on long-term objectives.

Despite these troubled times, take heart. There is hope for the future. Our economy and our society will be stronger in the long run if we learn the lessons that lean times can offer. Now is the time to take stock of what we truly value, and what holds the greatest prom-ise for prosperity.

Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D.President, Idaho State University

Vailas

www.isu.edu/magazine


921 South 8th Ave., Stop 8265Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8265

(208) 282-3164

Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D.University President

Kent M. Tingey, D.A. ’97Vice President, University Advancement

William Kobus, ’[email protected]

Director, Alumni Relations

Graham Garner, ’02, ’[email protected]

Director, University Relations

Idaho State University Magazine welcomes letters, comments and

story ideas. Direct them to the postal address below, or send an e-mail to

[email protected].

Idaho State University Magazine staff Editor Tony HuegelContributors David Adler, Ph.D. Chris Gabettas Andrew Gauss - ’96 Richard Jacobsen, Ph.D. Nancy Lovgren - ’79 Chris Morgan Andrew Taylor Casey ThompsonDesigner Joey Gifford - ’03Photo Services Susan Duncan - ’91 Julie Hillebrant - ’00

Office of Alumni RelationsIdaho State University

921 S. 8th Avenue, Stop 8033Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8033

(208) 282-3755 or (800) 933-4781 or e-mail: [email protected]

www.isu.edu

PostmasterISU Magazine is published twice a year by the Office of University

Relations at Idaho State University. Send address changes to the Office of Alumni Relations at 921 S. 8th Ave., Stop 8033, Pocatello, ID 83209-8033

or send an e-mail [email protected].

Freelance journalists are encouraged to submit queries for topical stories

with an Idaho State University connection. Please send queries by e-mail to the editor at garngrah@

isu.edu, or call (208) 282-3164.

In response to an urgent need for information-technology specialists in the health-care industry, the College of Business is offering a new four-year academic program leading to the Bachelor of Business Administration in health-care information systems management.

It is the only Idaho program offered by a business school that is accredited by the Association to Ad-vance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). It is offered in cooperation with the Department of Health Care Administration in the Kasiska College of Health Professions at ISU.

Graduates will have earned a minor in computer-information systems in addition to the health-care information-systems management

major. The degree will enable graduates to enter careers in information-systems support in health-care organizations—hospitals, health clinics, physician offices and other health-related organi-zations nationwide.

Information systems are playing an increasingly important role in the burgeoning health-care field.

The program will combine courses in health-care administration, general business and computer information systems.

An April 2008 study by the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) pointed out that a 40 percent hike in the national information technology work-force will be needed to move American health care to a paperless system. That translates to 40,000 additional health IT

professionals, nearly 40 percent more than American hospitals are now estimated to employ.

“Graduates can immediately as-sume general and information-sys-tems management roles at health-care facilities of all sizes,” said College of Business Dean Kenneth A. Smith, Ph.D., C.P.A., “and provide immedi-ate leadership in electronic medical-record keeping and paperless prescrib-ing.”

Complete information about the program is available online at www.isu.edu/academic-info/current/busi-ness.html#HISMMajor. Contact the College of Business at (208) 282-3448, or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Since becoming Idaho State Univer-sity’s vice president for research, Pamela Crowell, Ph.D., has emphasized the three “Fs” of research—funding, faculty and facilities.

She also cites the importance of col-laboration, both inside and outside of the University.

“Idaho State University has a lot of strengths and a good foundation for research, and great potential for growth, especially interdisciplinary research,” Crowell says. “I really see my role here as assisting faculty in reaching their research goals, helping them find the resources they need.”

Crowell came to Idaho State Univer-sity from the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) School of Science. She was associate dean for research and graduate education there since 1995.

Besides her administrative back-ground, Crowell is a tenured faculty member in biomedical and pharmaceuti-cal sciences. She brings an extensive background as a research scientist. Her music background—she plays the piano, flute and clarinet—gives her insight

as well into the value of creativity in scholarship.

“It is important to measure research in terms of its scholarship and creativ-ity,” she says, “and not just in dollars. “

Crowell has three goals as vice president for research at Idaho State University:

• increase research, scholarship and creative activity in general;

• increase external funding and build more research infrastructure; and

• increase national visibility of Idaho State University through research, grants

and conference presentations.Dr. Crowell has identified several

research focuses for ISU, based on the institution’s strengths.

Among them is biomedical research in combination with the Kasiska College of Health Professions, the College of Pharmacy and the departments of bio-logical sciences and chemistry.

Energy research, in conjunction with such entities as the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls and the Idaho Accelerator Center in Pocatello, is another high priority.

Dr. Crowell received her Ph.D. in biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1988. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in chemistry from Minnesota’s Augsburg College.

After completing postdoctoral train-ing in oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and at Eli Lilly & Co., she joined the IUPUI faculty as an assistant professor of biology in 1993.

Her primary research emphasis is in cancer pharmacology. She has received cancer research grants from the National Institutes of Health, private foundations and industry.

New College of Business B.B.A. Degree Opens Doorto Health-Care Industry Opportunities

Pamela Crowell Brings New Leadership to ISU Research

Pamela Crowell

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5Fall/Winter 2008-09

An online, three-dimensional ar-chaeological collection of Arctic animal bones being created at Idaho State University will be an important tool for researchers worldwide from a variety of academic backgrounds.

The project will help “democratize” Arctic research by making knowledge readily accessible, a professor says. And it showcases an unusual, perhaps even unique, interdisciplinary research collaboration between the ISU Depart-ment of Anthropology and the College of Business.

Herbert Maschner, Ph.D., ISU anthropology research professor, and Corey Schou, Ph.D., professor and director of the ISU Informatics Research Institute and associate dean of the ISU College of Business, are teaming up with Matthew Betts, Ph.D., curator of Atlantic Provinces Archaeology at the Cana-dian Museum of Civilization. Betts is a former postdoctoral researcher at Idaho State University.

The trio is working with a $310,605 grant from the National Science Foun-dation for a project titled “The Virtual Zooarchaeology of the Arctic Project (VZAP),” that was awarded to the anthropology department and the ISU Center for Archaeology, Materials and

Applied Spectroscopy (CAMAS).VZAP is developing the world’s first

online, interactive, 3-D virtual verte-brate reference collection. It is expected to have applications far outside the realm of Arctic research.

“It is a great tool for scientists,” Maschner said. “Instead of having to send a bone to a laboratory at some distant university for identification, researchers will be able to sit at their desk or anywhere they have access to a computer and analyze between 3,000 and 4,000 different bones from about 50 different mammals and a variety of birds from the Arctic.”

Demonstrating a partially completed portion of the project, Maschner dis-played how an image of a bone could be called up from the online database and examined. Users can measure a bone’s actual size on the computer screen, and can rotate the image and view it from as many angles as they like.

“Anybody who has done excavation in an Arctic archeological site who digs up a bone and needs to identify it will be able to use this program and get a positive ID on what they’re looking at,” Maschner said. “This, in effect, helps democratize science, taking the identifi-

cation of the these specimens out of the hands of a few specialists.”

Well-preserved animal bones from archaeological sites are important because they can provide a record of human behaviors, climatic conditions and ecological changes. The primary objective of this project is to develop an online resource for the identification of vertebrate material found in polar archaeological sites.

These sites often produce large amounts of diverse remains from fish, terrestrial mammals, marine mammals, and resident and migratory birds. These remains provide a crucial record of the past—of ancient human behaviors, earlier climates and former ecosystems, Maschner said.

For the Arctic virtual collection project, the ISU Informatics Research Institute is building the software infra-structure, including the image database storage and is creating a secure data-base meeting federal requirements.

For more information on the “The Virtual Zooarchaeology of the Arctic Project,” visit the Web site http://ivl.imnh.isu.edu/vzapproposal/.

Andy TaylorISU Magazine

‘VZAP’ project making Arctic vertebrate informationaccessible to researchers anytime, anywhere

(208) 282-2150 • www.isu.edu/graduate



Be the

“Elner’s lifelong interest and involvement in children’s literature caused us to endow the Visiting Authors Series. We know how much books have

enriched our own children’s lives and we are confident that this series enriches the lives of countless young people. Walt Whitman had it right when he wrote, ‘The gift is to the giver and comes back most to him.’”

Elner Bellon

Elner C. BellonThe Bellon Visiting Author Series

Endow a scholarship.

named endowed scholarship is a way to honor a special person in your

life, to share the rewards of your own life, and to help ensure that generations of stu-dents can receive the lifelong benefits of an

Idaho State University education. The ISU Foundation can help you easily establish a legacy of learning in the name of your choice. Visit the Foundation online or call Don Colby at (208) 282-3470.

solution.

www.isu.edu/gift

While the public and biologists last summer had the rare opportunity to view hundreds of sockeye salmon migrating toward Redfish Lake near Stanley, an Idaho State University researcher had his sights on ancient salmon runs that were hundreds of times larger.

The runs that Bruce Finney, Ph.D., was focused on happened centuries ago. While tourists stood streamside and watched the fish migrate in the upper Salmon River, Finney had to use a sophisticated scientific instrument to measure the vastly greater numbers that journeyed upstream from the Pacific Ocean as long as 2,000 years ago.

Fishery managers were thrilled by the return of more than 550 sockeye salmon to the Sawtooth Valley last summer. The fish had migrated upstream nearly 900 miles to reach the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery and Redfish Lake Trap.

In the past, however, the run consisted of tens of thousands of fish, Finney says.

Some recent years, there have been only single-digit or zero returns of the sockeye. While this year’s relatively strong run was encouraging to those who want to save the run, its size was a small frac-tion of the runs that previously returned to spawn in the lakes of the upper Saw-tooth Valley, including Redfish, Petit and Alturas Lakes.

Idaho researchers are helping to re-establish a mountain quail population in southern Idaho “that is clinging by its toenails” to survive.

Mountain Quail once thrived in Idaho, but are now nearly extinct in the Gem State. There is a small population reported in the Riggins area as well as sporadic reports of a few sightings of the bird in other parts of the state.

Idaho State University researchers work-ing with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Quail Unlimited, the Bureau of Land Management and private landowners for the last three years have attempted to re-establish a population of Mountain Quail in the Bennett Hills north of Mountain Home.

They have released an average of about 65 birds the last three springs.

Biologists estimate from those releases and from successful breeding the Bennett Hills population is between 50 and 100 birds.

“Our primary goal is to establish a self-sustaining population,” said David Delehan-ty, Ph.D., ISU associate professor of biology.

Through the 1960s, mountain quail were a hunted game bird in Idaho. Their decline was due to habitat change and habitat deg-radation that occurred in conjunction with the introduction of other non-native game birds. Some of those non-native species oc-cupy mountain quail habitat.

Mountain quail only occur in the west-ern mountains of North America. They are the largest native American quail.

The researchers hope to make two more releases of up to 100 mountain quail each time in the springs of 2009 and 2010.


Prior to the 1900s, Finney says, sockeye spawning in Redfish Lake used to number 25,000 to 40,000. He bases this calculation on sediment cores taken from lakes and examined using a mass spectrometer.

Mass spectrometers can measure the masses and relative concentrations of atoms and molecules in chemical compounds and other samples. They accurately measure the different types of isotopes of the same element, such as car-bon or nitrogen in biological or geologi-cal samples.

Finney developed a technique using mass spectrometers to reconstruct the salmon runs in the past. He wrote about the technique in the prestigious journals Science and Nature.

Salmon have a signature type of ni-trogen, recorded by nitrogen isotopes, that scientists can use to positively identify as originating from the salmon.

When salmon die and decompose they release nitrogen, which is taken in by algae that end up in lake sediments. High salmon runs correspond to higher concentrations of these nitrogen depos-its; lower concentrations of nitrogen in deposits represent smaller runs.

The sediments on lake bottoms can be dated using radiocarbon dating, an accurate method for dating materials and by identifying ash layers from known volcanic events.

So far, Finney and his colleagues have studied core samples from some of the larger lakes in the upper Sawtooth Valley, including Redfish Lake, dating back about 2,000 years.

Finney’s mass spectrometer measure-ments confirm anecdotal and eyewitness accounts of what led to the precipitous demise in the Idaho upper Salmon River sockeye population: construction in 1910 of the Sunbeam Dam, about 15 miles downstream of Stanley.

“Its construction just overwhelms any naturally occurring fluctuations that oc-curred previously,” Finney says.


Lakebed Sediment Samples RevealSize of Ancient Idaho Sockeye Runs

Scientists working to reviveIdaho’s quail populations

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Researchers on Redfish Lake in process of taking sample.

An ISU graduate student with a mountain quail bound for the Bennett Hills.


Boreal toad populations have de-clined severely in Colorado, but not in western Wyoming or Montana. Idaho State University researchers are trying to learn why.

Researchers in the department of biological sciences are tracking these nocturnal animals by using tiny radio transmitters that are attached to the amphibians. The transmitters enable researchers to record the toads’ move-ments, temperature and habitat use.

Die-offs of the southern populations of the boreal toad (Bufo boreas boreas), including those from southeast Wyo-ming, Colorado and New Mexico, have been so severe that they were consid-ered for listing and protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The toad has not been observed in New Mexico since 1986, according to Peter Murphy, Ph.D., Idaho State Uni-versity visiting biology professor.

Southern populations of the toad were not considered sufficiently distinct from the northern, and were denied ESA listing in 2005. They are listed as “state endangered” by the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Scientists say the die-offs of the southern boreal toads appear to have been caused by a fungal skin disease, the same disease that has caused die-offs of amphibians worldwide.

ISU researchers are working under a grant from the United States Geologi-cal Survey and National Park Service with colleagues from these agencies and the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The team includes Murphy and fellow ISU biological sciences professors Sophie St.-Hilaire, Ph.D., DVM, and Charles Peterson, Ph.D.

Murphy says it is unknown why the fungus causes death. “We know that in

Grand Teton boreal toads, more than 50 percent carry the pathogen (the fungus), but there are no recent die-offs.”

Tracking toads in the field isn’t easy in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado. Research sites are located in and near Grand Teton National Park, and in the Bears Ears Mountains of Colorado near Steamboat Springs.

Among several hypotheses, the ISU

researchers suggest that because the habitat of toads is at higher elevation in Colorado than in Wyoming, there is a smaller window of opportunity each day in Colorado for toads to achieve high body temperatures and knock back the growth of the fungus. So it may achieve lethal levels more often.


Populations are declining in some Western states but not others; ISU scientists work to learn why


ISU stream ecologists find resurgent stream life amid the ashes of ’88

One sunny day last August, stream ecologist Colden Baxter stood on the rocky banks of Cache Creek deep in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park, where he and other scientists were studying the effects of the wildfires of 1988.

Baxter, director of Idaho State University’s Stream Ecology Center, was encouraged by what the research

expedition was finding amid mountains and meadows where charred pines still stand.

“Things are not degraded here at all,” the Montana native said. “In general, the stream is coming back in a way that was predictable and expected.”

During the summer of 1988, fires of epic proportions swept across 1.2

million acres of the Yellowstone region, including about 793,000

acres in Yellowstone National Park. News

accounts at the time depicted

Story by Andy Taylor, ISU MagazinePhotos by Bill Schaefer, Idaho State Journal


devastation.Two decades later, however,

ecologists are finding positive impacts of wildfire, impacts that support the idea that wildfire is an important component of a natural ecosystem.

Idaho State University stream ecologists began studying the Yellowstone fires literally while the embers still glowed. During the event’s 20th anniversary last summer, an ISU team returned to the park after a long absence. They spent 12 days in the wild, revisiting sites they’d not seen in years.

What they found was not the ruin that some news accounts, written from the front lines in the heat of the moment, seemed to convey. Instead, they found evidence that the ecological systems of streams like Cache Creek are, by some measures, more productive than before the fires.

Baxter, Ph.D., and renowned ISU stream ecologist Wayne Minshall, Ph.D., now professor emeritus of biological sciences and the founder of the Stream Ecology Center, led last summer’s scientific journey into the legacy of fire.

They were joined by former students, current students and some ISU biological sciences seasonal workers

who headed into the backcountry for seven days to Cache Creek, a tributary of the Lamar River in the northeast corner of the park, and then they spent five days studying sites closer to the park’s road system.

Few places in the park burned more completely than did the upper portion of the Cache Creek drainage of which about 80 percent total was charred. On lower Cache Creek, less than 50 percent of the drainage burned. This entire drainage is an excellent area to study the effects of wildfire and the ability of nature to heal itself. The contrasts between the two areas offers fodder for

the researchers to make comparisons on the effect of wildlife in relation to total burn area.

“The most important thing to note is that until we began our studies nobody had documented the long-term effects of wildlife and collected data to evaluate it,” Minshall said. “It was just all speculation, a lot of it terms of the destruction that fire causes, the slow recovery, how it damages the ecosystem and stuff like that. What we’ve shown is that there is considerable recovery soon after the fire and at the 20-year mark that recovery is occurring in a dynamic with

Left: Yellowstone National Park’s Cache Creek burn area.Above: From left, trip co-leader Wayne Minshall and researcher Christina Relyea, orientate themselves at a Cache Creek research site using photographs taken by Minshall on previous trips as Dave Shaw looks on. Below: Researchers found that aquatic organisms are now more numerous in Cache Creek than before the fires.


There’s something about a grizzly bear’s size, claws and teeth that sharpens the senses of a person traveling by foot through Yellowstone’s backcountry.

One afternoon last August, Idaho State Journal photographer and writer Bill Schaefer and I backpacked for about eight miles to upper Cache Creek in Yellowstone National Park.

At Cache Creek, we were to meet up with a group of Idaho State University researchers who were completing a study of the effects of the 1988 wildfires on

stream ecology.About a third of the way in we

noticed what we thought might be bear tracks. Instantly, our “bear-dar” went on high alert. About a mile later, while crossing a small creek, we spotted what was in fact a fresh bear print. But just how fresh?

The prospect of being in the company of Ursus arctos horribilis spurred a lot more banter between us over the next couple of miles. I made sure to keep Bill in view. That was a challenge, since my wide eyes were continuously scanning the landscape.

Then, in the light of late afternoon and early evening, I saw more bear tracks on the trail. They were so fresh that I could clearly see the outlines of the veins in the pads of the bears’ feet.

There was a set of large prints, and a set of much smaller prints. A sow and cubs?

Meanwhile, a few miles farther up the trail, the researchers we were to meet were returning to their base camp. It was about a mile upstream from where the South Fork and main Cache Creek converge.

They were in two groups. One was comprised of the team’s three oldest members, all in their 70s. Among them was Wayne Minshall, Ph.D., co-leader of the group, his wife, Judy, and volunteer Jim Morris.

The trio had started back early and were across the valley on the west side of Cache Creek. The remaining group was on the east side of the creek, about a quarter-mile away.

“From where we were, we could see

Close encounters

the landscape.”For the first five years following the

fires, Minshall and other ISU faculty, graduate students, undergraduate students and volunteers studied a number of sites in the park each year. Then, over the next five years, they studied Cache Creek sites annually, and visited other sites irregularly, before studying the bulk of the sites again in 1998. That was the last year they visited the majority of the sites.

“Whatever is done here is new ground, a new piece of the puzzle because no one else has obtained long-term data sets on this type of a natural disturbance,” said Minshall, part of the field team last summer. “This will give us the opportunity to reflect on the last 20 years, to confirm changes we predicted, and discover unexpected things.”

The most striking and obvious feature the researchers found at Cache Creek was how many of the partially burned trees from 1988 had fallen.

“We were struck by the amount of wood that has fallen down into and across the stream that is both potentially and already providing a lot of habitat,” Minshall said. “We expected it, but it was still striking to see. In some places 95 percent of the burned timber had fallen over, is lying on the ground or in the stream. This provides a lot of cover for the stream itself, and on the land it stabilizes the soil.”

Although trees and shrubs have reseeded and are growing back again in the Cache Creek drainage, they’re not coming back as quickly or growing as fast as the researchers expected.

Still, the health of the stream is robust.

Minshall’s studies have focused on the status of the aquatic organisms in the streams, checking which species are present and their abundance. He focuses on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, including various insect species that spend a large portion of their lifecycle in the stream. These little

Whatever is done here is new ground,

a new piece of the puzzle because no one else has obtained long-term data sets

on this type of a natural disturbance. …Dr. Wayne Minshall

Research in bear country comes with risk

Iraima Verkaik, foreground, and other researchers take measurements near a tributary of Cache Creek.


across Cache Creek and see Doc (Wayne Minshall) and the other group heading down the trail back to camp,” recounted Colden Baxter, Ph.D., who was with the trailing group. “Suddenly, we see the brush moving above them, and out charges a sow grizzly with two cubs, heading up-slope from our folks, who were completely unaware that the bears were there.”

Fortunately, the bears sprinted up the hillside and away from Minshall’s group.

“Seeing the bear move so quickly was nerve-wracking,” said Melissa Lamb, a former ISU graduate student who helped organize the research trip. “It reinforced making sure we did all the little things you’re supposed to do while in bear country, like hang your food, and not keep anything scented in your tent.

critters, and what sustains them, are a big window through which to view the health of a stream.

What ISU researchers found last summer was that the two major food sources for these aquatic organisms, algae and leaf litter, were in high supply.

“There’s plenty of sunlight, a lot of nutrients and the algae are doing well,” Minshall said. “At the same time, the riparian plants are coming back and contributing more quantities of leaves. This benefits the fast-growing

organisms, such as the insects and the fish, in this case native cutthroat trout, that feed on them.”

Cache Creek is now more productive for creek-dwelling organisms than it was prior to the fires, the scientists say.

Baxter said he has found that several years the after fire, severely burned watersheds also supported a higher density of fly-catching birds, bats, and riparian spiders, among other species.

Minshall and Baxter are quick to note that the fire studies in Yellowstone

are occurring in a pristine, natural environment. In a less natural environment, they say, recovery would most likely be much different.

For example, the fallen logs that are now providing streambed habitat and erosion control on the slopes of Yellowstone might have been cleared away in a less-protected environment. In a setting where roads exist, they might have increased the negative effects of post-fire erosion.

“Revisiting the park has fortified in our minds that you have to have a natural reference base like Yellowstone from which to work, to compare it to areas where humans have had a more dramatic effect on the land,” Minshall said. “Without that, you can’t really appreciate how much we’ve done to upset natural balances. Yellowstone provides that vantage point.”

And from that vantage point, ISU researchers have collected valuable data that has many applications.

“No matter what we find—whether our predictions hold true or are disproved—we further the knowledge on this topic,” Minshall said. “And the power of these long-term data sets is that they can be used to make predictions on future events. The power of long-term data sets cannot be overstated.”


And it’s funny how things can get into your subconscious.”

Lamb was one of two members of the trip, along with Spanish visiting postdoctoral student Iraima Verkaik, who said they’d dreamed of the encounter that night.

“The bears were a little too up-close and personal in our dreams than we wanted,” Lamb said.

Baxter focused on how special it is to see a grizzly in the wild.

“This is something you’re treated to,” Baxter said. “When you do wilderness research, these types of memorable experiences happen routinely.”


Tim Mihuc, a former Minshall student now teaching at the State University of New York Plattsburgh, and coordinator of the Lake Champlain Research Institute, takes a water sample from Cache Creek.

Grizzly track in the mud on the way into base camp.


It is mid August 2008 and the group of 11 researchers, a journalist and a university public information officer, is in the Yellowstone National Park 20 years after the famous fires of 1988. The researchers and the entourage aren’t exactly celebrating the anniversary – they’re working hard.

The group ranges in age from 20 to 73. Younger and older alike are showing dexterity negotiating the terrain of a small tributary of Cache Creek, in an area burned by the epic Yellowstone fires of 1988.

On the August 2008 expedition the researchers (sans the journalist and the PIO) had backpacked in, accompanied by seven pack mules and two handlers carrying scientific equipment and various supplies, about eight miles up to a base camp on Cache Creek. That creek is located in the upper Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park. That day the group set up base camp for the start of their 12-day study and the pack team left.

The second day they had spent 12 to 14 hours doing fieldwork on South Fork Cache Creek.

Today, the third day of the trip, the researchers have traveled a couple miles cross-country from the base camp to a different set of research sites to do more fieldwork.

The group has split up into four loose teams and all are scrambling around “stream monkeying,” as defined by Kevin Donner, a new ISU biological sciences master’s student. His colleague, Dave Shaw, a retired science teacher from Nampa and another former Minshall graduate student from 38 years ago, describes the area as a “bungee stick obstacle course.”

The teams are taking measurements, broad and small, expansive and minute, in a comprehensive and efficient manner. One team’s job is to locate the survey pins that mark where the research sites are located. Each study site is 250 meters and has pins every 50 meters, a subset of five study sites.

Finding the pins is not easy, as a stream channel may have moved, a half-burnt tree may have fallen down or new growth may hide a marker.

Once a marker is found, Minshall, using photographs taken of the site on every trip since 1988, orientates the group and takes new photographs from the exact same spot to further document changes visually that aren’t apparent through the other means, by which data is collected.

With the site established, one crew gets in the stream and collects insects, invertebrates and algae, recording data and meticulously preserving specimens.

Meanwhile, a pair of researchers wades through the stream taking a series of measurements on rocks and stream velocity.

The last crew completes 50-meter wide transects using long measuring tapes and meter sticks to create a cross-section profile of the stream and the streambed to measure changes.

As the three latter teams are finishing their duties, the first team moves to find the next pin and the pattern is repeated until all five spots within a specific site are hit. The group then moves on to the next set of sites, hitting two to three sets of sites in a day, before returning to camp and starting the process over the next day.


Stream Monkeying: (Verb) – The act of climbing on top of, under and over partially burned, 20-year-old, sometimes crisscrossed deadfall timber, crossing and wading through a stream repeatedly and scrambling up and down steep hills sides covered with deadfall and new growth to take scientific measurements.

Top: Trip co-leaders Colden Baxter, left, and Wayne Minshall, examine a study plot.Left: A bright moon and campfire at camp.Right: Hanging food and supplies from the camp bear pole.


The U.S. Department of Energy’s 10-year contract with Battelle Energy Alliance for the management and operation of the Idaho National Laboratory required BEA to establish the Center for Advanced Energy Studies. CAES, as the center is called, is located in a new, highly energy-efficient building at University Place in Idaho Falls.

The objective, in part, was to engage national universities and Idaho’s universities in INL research. Included is Idaho State University, the largest higher-education provider in Idaho Falls. The motivation was to support

the lab’s new mission — nuclear energy — and increase the number of Ph.D.s working in the lab’s energy-research activities.

By engaging these universities, CAES can be a cornerstone in the future of the INL, and in the future of higher education in Idaho Falls.

When CAES was conceived, it was believed that students would graduate with educations that are relevant to the INL. Also, the nuclear-power industry now believes that new commercial plants are inevitable in the United States. There is renewed interest in alternative energy systems as well.

Thus, Idaho State University launched the renaissance of its nuclear science and engineering programs, a pivotal development for Idaho Falls. ISU has established a new B.S. degree program in those fields in Idaho Falls and Pocatello. That builds upon the university’s longstanding M.S. and Ph.D. programs in the same fields, also available at both locations. The B.S. in

computer science also is offered. Five Idaho State University faculty

members live in Idaho Falls, supporting programs in nuclear engineering and related fields. Several new ISU research faculty in Idaho Falls work in areas that support nuclear research at INL. In the study of the nuclear fuel cycle, ISU’s director of the Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (INSE) in Idaho Falls, Michael Lineberry, Ph.D., ranks among the top ten. Pocatello’s George Imel, Ph.D., who teaches at University Place, is chair of the ISU Department of Nuclear Engineering and associate director of CAES. He was previously with Argonne National Laboratory at the Cadarache Center in France, where he worked in one of the most successful nuclear-research laboratories in the world.

The business of the INL is energy research; the business of ISU is education. The intersection is graduate research, performed jointly by INL staff and ISU students and directed by research-active faculty. At the College of Engineering, it is believed that the strategic direction at University Place must include cooperation — not competition — among Idaho’s universities and Idaho National Laboratory.

Richard Jacobsen,Ph.D.Dean, College of Engineering

Idaho State University’s commitment to engineering education in Idaho Falls will yield tangible benefits for students, the Idaho National Laboratory and the city itself, writes Richard T. Jacobsen, Ph.D.

Richard Jacobsen, Ph.D., is dean of the Idaho State University College of Engineering and professor of engineering. Previously he was chief scientist and associate laboratory director of the Idaho National Laboratory, and dean of the University of Idaho College of Engineering. (Photo by ISU Photographic Services)


One Monday last October, Idaho State University nuclear engineering undergraduate Bryon Curnutt was quietly gazing at a computer monitor in the Center for Advanced Energy Studies building, which had just opened at University Place in Idaho Falls.

Suddenly, around the corner came a line of VIPs and their aides, who were on a tour of the $17 million, 55,000-square-foot state-of-the-art research complex.

The group included many of the most influential individuals in Idaho’s political, scientific, economic and higher-education circles. Among them were Governor C. L. “Butch” Otter; ISU President Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D., and Pamela Crowell, Ph.D., ISU’s vice president for research; Steven B. Daley-Laursen, Ph.D., the University of Idaho’s interim president; John Grossenbacher, Idaho National Laboratory director; and others.

The group embodied the public-private partnership that is at the core of CAES, which will provide opportunities not only for scientists and engineers, but for students as well.

The procession paused as Governor Otter stopped to chat with Curnutt about his studies, and his CAES internship. The internship is giving the 25-year-old Bonneville County native important insights into the workings of a research institution, including how to answer questions from visiting VIPs.

Although an undergraduate, Curnutt represents an integral component of CAES’ mission: enhancing educational opportunities, particularly for doctoral-degree students involved in the cross-disciplinary, energy-related research programs on which CAES is focused.

Idaho National Laboratory established the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in 2005. CAES, as it is known, is a partnership of the U.S. Department of Energy, Idaho State University, University of Idaho, Boise State University, Battelle Energy Alliance and other industry entities. Battelle manages INL under contract with the Department of Energy.

Center for Advanced Energy StudiesNew Idaho Falls complex will focus on energy, but also will bolster science, engineering educationat Idaho State University-Idaho FallsBy Tony Huegel, editorISU Magazine

The CAES building

Photo by Chris Morgan,INL


The new CAES building at University Place in Idaho Falls, which opened in September under Idaho State University management, was built in accordance with the voluntary Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System.

LEED is the U.S. Green Building Council’s nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of buildings that have less impact on the environment, are healthier for those who work or live in the buildings, and are more profitable than conventional structures.

It is anticipated that the CAES building will receive LEED “Gold” certification. Gold is the second-highest level of certification. Platinum is the highest.

QuickFacts• $17 million construction cost• Built with support from the State of Idaho, Battelle

Memorial Institute and URS Corporation• 55,000 square feet• Designed by GSBS Architects of Utah and Texas;

constructed by Utah-based Big-D Construction• Idaho National Laboratory occupies 70 percent; Idaho

State University, University of Idaho and Boise State University each occupy 10 percent

• 10 laboratory areas, expected to be completed in December 2008.

• Rooftop solar panels and a wind-turbine tower• 90 percent of spaces provide natural daylight and views• East-west orientation maximizes natural lighting, and

facilitates greater light- and heat-gathering in winter• Central three-story atrium• Computerized HVAC controls• Use of indoor materials that minimize gases that

compromise indoor air quality• Zinc exterior siding is recyclable and needs no

additional coating• Uses recycled, regionally available materials; no

construction waste to landfills• Water-efficient systems reduce waste and the need for

potable-water landscape irrigation• Exterior light pollution reduced• Storm-water management plan• Protection and restoration of natural habitats• Parking spaces for fuel-efficient and low-emitting

vehicles and bicycles.

The building includes offices and laboratories for projects involving chemistry, radiochemistry, hydrogen, carbon management, material science, computer simulation and advanced visualization.

In addition to its energy-research mission, the new building will accommodate scientific and technical conferences, educational programs and policy forums.

Although Idaho National Laboratory, the nation’s lead laboratory for nuclear-energy research, created CAES, the two are distinct. CAES offers a more open and accessible academic and research environment, where leading minds from around

Battelle Energy Alliance agreed to guarantee $10 million in bonds to help fund the project. Additional funds came from URS Corporation, the State of Idaho INEEL Settlement fund, and a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grant.

The purpose of the CAES partnership is to collaborate in developing sustainable solutions to global energy challenges through scientific and policy research into the full range of energy options—nuclear, fossil and renewable.

For Idaho State University science and engineering students, CAES is a world-class opportunity right in their backyards.

“You have the institutions. You have the school. You have the Idaho National Laboratory,” said Curnutt. “It’s all right here.”

Involvement with CAES gives ISU students access to INL expertise and resources that universities without proximity to a national laboratory can’t match. Examples include INL’s Advanced Test Reactor, and its high-performance computing center.

“It gives us the opportunity to be part of the national programs with other major universities throughout the world,” Vailas said.

Vailas has been putting greater emphasis on expanding science and engineering education in Idaho Falls, where the University serves more than 2,000 undergraduate and graduate students at University Place. That makes CAES and ISU-Idaho Falls a hand-in-glove opportunity.

As important as ISU’s involvement in CAES is for science and engineering education, Vailas sees a broader picture. He looks beyond Idaho’s historic and future role in nuclear-energy research and development to the role that Idaho—and ISU—will play in developing the full spectrum of sustainable energy resources and policies.

“Idaho is an energy capital,” Vailas said. “This is where major things are happening.”

He points often to the value of the Idaho Accelerator Center at ISU in Pocatello, and to the College of Technology’s leading role in the new Energy Systems Technology and Education Center. The latter, also a partnership with Idaho National Laboratory, is designed to educate energy-industry technicians.

Idaho State University has three full professors, three assistant professors and one lecturer in nuclear science and engineering at CAES. Research, however, will often be performed by doctoral students and supervised by faculty, as it typically is in a university setting.

Lyle Castle, Ph.D., a professor of chemistry and dean of academic programs at ISU-Idaho Falls, says proximity to CAES will expand opportunities for faculty-directed student research in the city, headquarters for the Department of Energy’s Idaho Operations Office.

“It brings national laboratory research, academic research and student research under one umbrella,” Castle said. “Proximity and engagement with CAES over time will enable ISU in Idaho Falls to realize its potential in science and engineering.”


Idaho, the nation and the world can meet and collaborate creatively outside the high-security confines of the national laboratory.

“The whole purpose of CAES is to get the three universities and the national laboratory together outside the security fence of the INL,” said CAES associate director George Imel, Ph.D., chair of the Idaho State University Department of Nuclear Engineering. “What we’ve done is bring the three universities in the state into a center for energy research.”

The CAES partnership is expected to promote collaboration and sharing of resources while engaging private-industry entities that promote economic development. An example of the latter is the Blackfoot firm Premier Technology. It is working with CAES to develop advanced capabilities, and to promote technical education.

Harold Blackman, Ph.D., the director of CAES, emphasizes the value of the partnership. “Self-interest and parochialism,” he said, “are being set aside to do something bigger than all of us.”

CAES research will be driven by millions of dollars in research grants, money from outside Idaho that might not otherwise find its way into the state’s economy. CAES has already brought in $2 million in grants from outside Idaho.

“This is a sound investment in our future, both in terms of jobs and economic activity and in terms of developing cleaner, more efficient energy,” Governor Otter said last summer when he announced that the state would provide $2 million from the 1995 nuclear-waste settlement agreement with the Department of Energy to help complete CAES laboratories, information-technology systems and to purchase furnishings.

ISU President Vailas often speaks of Idaho as an “energy corridor.” Recalling that the desert west of Idaho Falls was the birthplace of nuclear power, he points as well to the array of energy sources being developed in the region—from wind power and biofuels to fossil fuels and INL’s research on the Next Generation Nuclear Plant.

“Here’s where we solve problems,” Vailas said. “We have the right expertise to provide solutions.”

University of Idaho’s Daley-Laursen cites the mutual benefits each partner will reap. “There are very few large agendas like energy that we can afford to pursue if we’re

not in partnership and collaboration,” he said.Idaho National Laboratory will occupy 70 percent of the

space in the CAES building. INL Director John Grossenbacher spotlighted the opportunity that CAES represents.

“I view CAES as a marriage of university and lab capabilities that will produce extremely high-quality work,” he said. “I think it’s a huge deal.”

Blackman says Idaho State University’s experience in nuclear science and engineering education—and President Vailas’ emphasis on expanding the University’s research component—are essential to the CAES partnership.

“ISU has a long history in nuclear science,” Blackman said, “and engineering education is an important piece of what ISU does.”

1. President Arthur Vailas with Gov. Butch Otter during a tour of the building.2. CAES Director Dr. Harold Blackman

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3. Government, media and community leaders tour the CAES facility.Top: Angles and material help the CAES building utilize energy well.

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When natural light beams through the windows of Idaho State University’s new health-sciences building in Meridian next year, the interior lights will automatically dim. If it’s cloudy outside, the lights will brighten.

“It’s called daylight harvesting,” says Ed Daniels, the building’s principal architect and an owner of Hummel Architects PLLC of Boise.

Daylight harvesting is just one of numerous energy-efficiency features that Daniels and his team are incorporating into the design and renovation of the 102,000 square-foot building.

The building, located north of I-84 between Locust Grove and Meridian roads, is scheduled to open in late summer of 2009. It will house ISU’s Treasure Valley health-professions programs, science laboratories, administrative offices and clinics. Importantly, it also will accommodate expansion of the pharmacy program.

In daylight harvesting, photo sensors detect the amount of natural light in a space and adjust the level of electrical lighting to create a balance. The process conserves electricity and lowers energy costs, says Daniels.

Another energy-saving feature is a direct digital-control management system—or DDC—that will allow maintenance workers to monitor and adjust interior temperatures from an off-site location.

A 2006 international study conducted by China’s Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture found that a DDC system can cut gas and electrical consumption rates by 20 to 50 percent in some buildings.

The new building also will include a high-performance HVAC—or heating,

ventilation and air conditioning system—that will control the amount of fresh air entering the building, limiting the unnecessary heating and cooling of outside air.

New carpet and floor tiles will be made of recycled materials that meet green initiatives established by the construction and architectural industries.

Daniels and ISU senior campus architect Denton Dance agree that the building’s most sustainable feature is the fact that Idaho State University is adapting an existing building—the electronics manufacturing area of the former Jabil Circuit building—and adapting it to serve ISU’s higher-

education mission in the Treasure Valley. An alternative would have been to construct a brand new building on a plot of bare land.

“Not only have we saved money on demolition costs, we’ve limited the amount of debris added to landfills and been able to recycle or salvage materials from the original structure,” says Daniels. “That’s important when you talk about sustainability.”

ISU has recouped approximately $92,000 from the salvage of materials that couldn’t be used in the renovation. The savings may be applied to other project costs, says Dance.

Chris GabettasISU Magazine

ISU’s New Meridian Centera Model of Efficiency


Quietly, efficiently and without much fanfare, Idaho State University has engaged in a wide assortment of energy- and environmental-conservation programs on the Pocatello campus.

The result has been substantial savings in energy, water and money.

Some examples:• Conservation efforts at ISU save

more than 3.2 million kilowatt hours of electricity annually.

• Air-particle emissions on the main campus in Pocatello have been reduced by 99 percent.

• Water-conservation measures save more than 27.2 million gallons of water annually.

• Beginning with fiscal year 2007, utility cost savings have exceeded $540,000 annually.

“We are good environmental

stewards within the constraints we operate under,” says Syed Hashim, ISU environmental specialist for Facilities Services.

ISU achieves these conservation feats through small programs, like the Vending Miser-brand motion detectors that power-down refrigerated vending machines when no one’s nearby.

The University also participates in an Energy Savings Performance Contract, a conservation-incentive program with Chevron Energy Solutions, which saves more than $500,000. Under the 16-year contract, ISU is implementing multiple energy- and water-conservation measures. They include lighting upgrades, heating and cooling control modifications, a steam turbine, complete heat-plant upgrades, low-flow toilets and computerized energy management.

Additional conservation programs on the ISU Pocatello campus include:

• Xeriscaping: Landscaping at 15 campus buildings incorporates native plants that do not need supplemental irrigation. This saves more than 2.7 million gallons per year.

• Low-flow water devices: Low-flow faucet aerators and low-flow toilets save the University approximately 24.5 million gallons of water per year and provide annual utility-cost savings of about $79,000.

• Vending Miser: In partnership with Idaho Power Co. under its Industrial Incentive Program, ISU installed Vending Miser-brand energy-saving devices on cold-drink vending machines. That saves 165,194 kilowatt hours of electricity per year, and provides utility cost savings of $9,581.

• Scheduling HVAC Building

Pictured are Shawn Barnby, ISU geosciences student, measuring solar intensity, supervised by Syed Hashim, ISU environmental specialist in Facilities Services.

ISU Facilities Services and the GIS Center are conducting a solar energy investigation, mapping areas on campus to determine the feasibil-ity of solar power for the campus.

Similarly, wind power is being investigated at various locations on campus such as Red Hill, and behind the Idaho Accelerator Center on the land bordering Alvin Ricken Drive in Pocatello.

Photos by ISU Photographic Sevices/Susan Duncan


Controls: ISU built heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls. HVAC systems operate fewer hours, saving 1.8 million kilowatt-hours and $68,500 annually.

• Lighting upgrades: All campus buildings are using more energy efficient fluorescent bulbs and electronic ballasts. These upgrades were performed under the Energy Savings Performance Contract with Chevron Energy and Green Lights Program. These efforts earned a lighting rebate of $24,000 from Idaho Power under its Industrial Incentive Program. These measures are estimated to save ISU nearly 1.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and $67,650 annually.

• Baghouse Pollution Control: The Heat Plant prevents particulate emissions from escaping into the atmosphere by routing all emissions from a coal-fired boiler through a device—called a baghouse—before reaching the stack. The baghouse traps 99 percent of particulates. It has reduced emissions from 44,000 pounds to 880 pounds annually.

• Recycling: ISU’s recycling program kicked off in February 1990. By May that year, recycling pickup was taking place at 32 buildings on campus. The program is now carried out by ISU Recycling and S.A.V.E. (Student Action Volunteers for the Environment), which is under the ISU Students’ Community Service Center. The group’s advisor, Linda Burke, says ISU now recycles about 12,000 pounds of materials weekly.

A unique aspect of the ISU recycling program is that it is a joint venture with Belmont Management, a Pocatello group that provides care to persons with developmental disabilities in facility and residential settings. Belmont residents receive all revenues collected for the recyclable materials, about $12,000 to $15,000 annually, providing them with a revenue source.



RogeR WilliamsFebruary 14, 2009

His blend of show-stopping piano magic combined with his warmth and humor delights audiences around the globe. His immense repertoire showcases the best in jazz, classical, pop and Roger’s signature songs. “Autumn Leaves” still stands as the greatest selling piano recording of all time and is the only piano instrumental to ever reach #1 on the Billboard singles chart.

ailey iiMarch 4, 2009

Ailey II is universally renowned for merging the spirit of energy of the country’s best young dance talent with the passion and creative vision of today’s most outstanding emerging choreographers. Ailey II has become one of the most popular dance companies in the country, combining a rigorous touring schedule with extensive community outreach programs.

BeaRfoot BluegRassMarch 3, 2009

Bearfoot is deeply American music. Airy Northern ballads are tempered by back-alley Southern blues, while jazz stomp meets Appalachian breakdown, the whole fused with a signature sexy bluegrass passion. Boasting five distinctive lead voices, the group showcases a remarkable breadth of rich, original songs.

For ticket information visit www.isu.edu/tickets

or call (208) 282- 3595

L. E. and Thelma E. StephensPerforming Arts CenterA Seasonof NoteA Seasonof Note

Gift certificates now available

Of all the great challenges facing President-Elect Barack Obama, few will be as important as the restoration of a constitutional presidency. The tremendous concentration of power in the modern executive—built atop presidential aggrandizement and usurpation, congressional abdication and judicial acquiescence—is pregnant with menace. It has left in its wake a long list of casualties, including the doctrines of separation of powers, checks and balances, and enumeration of powers.

So it is little wonder that many leading scholars are concerned that the presidency—an overgrown office swollen with power yet subject to few limitations—represents a permanent threat to the Republic.

Presidential government finds its highest expression in the presidency of George W. Bush, for he has strip-mined the Constitution, and reduced the trumpet sound of the rule of law to the tinkling of crystal.

Bush’s former attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, for example, declared that in a war on terror, constitutional principles are “quaint.” The president, Gonzales claimed, possessed the authority to designate, seize and imprison any American citizen as an “enemy combatant,” indefinitely, without access to legal counsel and a judicial hearing. The courts, Gonzales added, had no authority to review the president’s decision.

The Bush Administration, moreover, has maintained that the president could suspend the Geneva Convention and the federal laws that prohibit torture, and order domestic surveillance of Americans’ e-mails and telephone calls, initiate preventive war and create military tribunals, all without congressional authorization.

With the possible exception of Richard Nixon, no American president has asserted such a thoroughly Cromwellian view of executive power. And that may be unfair to Nixon. In the title of his 2005 book, former Nixon White House Counsel John Dean, a Bush Administration critic, justly characterized the behavior of the Bush White House as “Worse than Watergate.”

The mushrooming growth in executive power has its roots in the presidencies of both parties, Republican and Democratic, conservative and liberal alike. The Imperial

Presidency took flight in the season of Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. It has remained aloft, even if it has, on occasion, flown at a somewhat lower altitude under such relatively modest presidents as Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter.

In the hands of more aggressive executives—Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton—the embrace of unilateralism and the chorus of expansive claims of presidential power were undeterred by constitutional restraints. It was of no moment, apparently, that assertions of executive power found no support in the text, structure, history or architecture of the Constitution. This was the condition of the presidency that George W. Bush inherited when he assumed office. It was imperial when he came to it, and it will be imperial when he leaves it.

The rise of Presidential Government is a reflection of the fact that Congress has lost the interest, courage and foresight to defend its constitutional powers and position. A Congress bent on curtailing presidential power could do so. But that requires political will. Congress has lost its institutional pride; as a result, the various legislative checks

David Gray Adler is professor of political science at Idaho State University. This essay is drawn from a lecture he recently delivered in Boston (and which aired on C-Span) and a talk he presented to the City Club of Idaho Falls on July 8, 2008. He is writing a book on the subject.

Expanding presidential power threatens the Republic, writes political scientist David Gray Adler, Ph.D.

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on presidential power lie prostrate. Indeed, there are good reasons to question the viability of Congress as a co-equal branch of government.

The Framers of the Constitution were entitled to believe that they had succeeded in their historical quest to subordinate the executive to the rule of law. It was surely one of their most ambitious, if not lasting, goals. In America today, government by executive fiat is in full sprint.

In the name of Washington and Madison and Jefferson, how might a constitutional presidency be restored? We might look to the resuscitation of constitutional mechanisms, but that would require reliance on the very institutions that have failed us. There seems very little wrong with the constitutional blueprint; the principal problem, rather, lies in the unwillingness of the men and women in positions of power, those at the helm, duly to perform their responsibilities and duties.

We may have reason to believe, or at least the “audacity to hope” (to borrow a phrase), that an Obama Administration will restore to Congress powers that have been usurped by the executive, but history casts doubt on the emergence of presidential humility since power acquired is seldom returned. And should Obama rebuke the claims to power asserted by his predecessors, what about the next President?

There is, moreover, little likelihood that we can rely on our representatives in Congress to reclaim their institutional pride.

In the Virginia Ratifying Convention, the great orator Patrick Henry told his fellow citizens: “If you depend on your President’s and Senator’s patriotism, you are gone.”

In a Republic, there is no substitute for a vigilant citizenry. The remedy we are seeking is to be found in the American people. It is to be found in a citizenry, from Main Street to Wall Street, that summons the will to nurture and nourish the virtues and values of constitutionalism. It is to be found in a body of Citizen Patriots who demand governmental adherence to the Constitution.

Restoration of a constitutional presidency will pivot on a heightened public awareness about presidential usurpation of power and subversion of the Constitution. It may help if Americans summon the ghosts of 1776—those harpies of power that compelled a generation to answer the trumpet call: an imperious executive, oppression, assaults on liberties, absolutist pretensions, disregard for constitutional principles and limitations, and the assertion of arbitrary power.

The rule of law is fleeting. It remains within our grasp, however tenuous, but we must seize it. If we do not, we have only ourselves to blame.

David Gray Adler, Ph.D.

Maxwell Smart, James Bond and other tinsel-town spymasters have noth-ing in the way of tricky gadgets over Idaho State University researchers who are trying to determine which predators are eating the eggs of sage grouse.

Sage grouse are a species of “great conservation concern in the West,” says David Delehanty, Ph.D., Idaho State University associate professor of biology. He says the birds’ range, distribution and overall population have declined drasti-cally.

Sage grouse are large, ground-dwell-ing, chicken-like birds that are heavily dependent on sagebrush habitat. Land managers in Western states are collabo-rating to protect and manage sage grouse populations to keep them from being listed as “threatened or endangered” under the Endangered Species Act.

A major factor in their decline in some areas is predation of their eggs.

The ISU researchers are employing miniature, camouflaged infrared cameras to gather irrefutable evidence of which predators are eating sage grouse eggs, and to study a variety of sage grouse nesting behaviors.

One finding of their research is that ground squirrels may have been unfairly linked to the predation of sage grouse eggs. Ravens, on the other hand, have turned out to be a major predator of eggs.

Delehanty and Peter S. Coates, Ph.D., believe they are the first to use the cameras in sagebrush ecosystems. The cameras film continous footage of the animals enabling researchers to study the interactions. Coates, a former ISU graduate student, works as a research scientist for the United States Geological Survey.

The scientists first radio-collared sage grouse and then located their nests at various sites in southern Idaho and northeast Nevada. They mounted the cameras for around-the-clock monitor-

ing of the nests.Three major presumed predators of

sage grouse eggs are ravens, ground squirrels and badgers. Some species of ground squirrels were suspected of being predators of eggs because of the remains of eggshells found in their scat and their occurrence near nesting sites.

Video recordings repeatedly show ground squirrels trying to bite through eggs in nests.

The ISU biologists have noted a dramatic increase in the predation of sage grouse by ravens. Raven numbers are increasing near Western sage grouse habitat by 200 to 500 percent due to the expansion of roads, power lines, landfills and agriculture.


‘Spy Cams’ Put Lens to Declining Sage Grouse Populations

Images sumitted by David Delehanty


Earl R. Pond ’49, for whom the Idaho State University Pond Student Union is named, died July 21 from a sudden illness. He was 84.

“We are truly grateful to Earl Pond for his leadership and commitment

to Idaho State University and our community,” said Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D., University president. “He will truly be remembered for his accomplishments and contributions to student life.”

Pond held a variety of positions at Idaho State University, where he worked for 33 years. The longtime Pocatello City Council member served more than three years as mayor.

“Everybody on campus knew him, and he was just a great guy to be around,” said Babe Caccia, former ISU athlete, coach and athletics director. Caccia met Pond in 1946, when Caccia was head ISU football coach and Pond was a player.

“He was a great guy for jokes and stuff, and he always brought laughter and a little sunshine to the group,” Caccia said. “We’re going to miss him.”

A native of Filer, Pond’s affiliation with ISU began in 1941, when he

enrolled as a student. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II, he returned to ISU in 1946. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting and pre-law in 1949.

He was manager of the Student Union for 23 years. The Union was named for him in 1985.

“He was always looking for ways of improving what we were offering and doing things for students,” said ISU development officer Ernie Naftzger, whose relationship with Pond went back to 1966.

Pond was inducted into the ISU Sports Hall of Fame in 1960. He received the University’s prestigious William J. Bartz Award in 1979. Boise’s Idaho Statesman newspaper named him a “Distinguished Citizen.”

Pond also was a past president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. He met his wife, the former Mary T. Fogg, while she was a student at the College of Pharmacy. They raised four children, three of whom graduated from ISU.

In January 2009, the Earl R. Pond Student Union at Idaho State University will celebrate 50 years of providing an interactive campus gathering place with student services, educational opportunities and entertainment to enrich student life.

The Student Union has undergone many additions and renovations to accommodate students’ needs. The building continues to host a growing number of diverse programs and services, including the award-winning Outdoor Adventure Center, Students’ Community Service Center, New Student Orientation, Leadership Program and Craft Shop, among others.

Staff and friends of the Union invite all who made the Union part of student life to celebrate 50 years of gathering, and to help the Union for the future.

The celebration program follows.

Thursday, Jan. 29Union Birthday Bash11 a.m. – 1 p.m., Pond Student Union Main LobbyBirthday cake and party favors. A

commemorative time capsule will be buried, to be opened at the Union’s centennial.

Friday, Jan. 30Dance Through the Decades9 p.m., Pond Student Union BallroomHosted by the Greek Council, this

dance will kick off 2009 with a bang. Dress will be from the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

Saturday, Jan. 31Campus tours.2–5:30 p.m.Participants will see new program

areas and newly renovated spaces in the Union. They will also tour the Rendezvous Complex, where a collegial atmosphere integrates upper and lower campuses. A rare backstage look

at the L. E. and Thelma E. Stephens Performing Arts Center will be included as well.

Formal Reception5:30 p.m., Pond Student Union Transition GalleryEnjoy special selections from the

ISU Art Collection, a no-host bar and light hors d’oeuvres.

Formal Gala Dinner7 p.m., Pond Student Union Ballroom“Celebrating 50 Years of Gathering”

will be the theme of this gala event, which will include a dinner, program, music and dancing. All proceeds from this event will go to student-leadership scholarships and programming.

More information, including registration details and alumni-networking opportunities for each of the Union’s five decades, is available online at http://www.isu.edu/union/anniversary.

Pond Student Union to Celebrate 50th in 2009

Earl R. Pond Leaves Lasting Legacy

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Editor’s note: Send Trackings information to the Office of Alumni Relations, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Ave., Stop 8033, Pocatello, ID 83209-8033; or e-mail to [email protected]; or fax to (208) 282-2541. Or you can call (208) 282-3755 locally, or toll-free (800) 933-4781.

In Memoriam

Clifford M. Peake, BA gen bus ’50, a past district governor of Rotary International, was recognized for his

service with the Rotary Foundation Citation for Meritorious Service. He led his club to become a 100 percent Paul Fellow Harris club in 2003, and became the fifth-known 100 percent benefactor in the world. His club earned “Triple Crown” recognition, and became only the fifth such Rotary club to achieve such a position. Peake was also cited for his decade long leadership in two Rotary districts and specific service on the “Polio Plus” committee. Peake and his wife, Jo Johnson Peake, celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, and reside in Sanford, North Carolina.

Carol Seddon, BS sec ed/biology ’63, was named Outstanding Educator of the Year by the ISU College of Education

chapter of Kappa Delta Pi. She taught biological sciences, health information and communication at both the secondary and college levels for more than 40 years. She was a professor in the College of Health Sciences at Boise State University until her retirement in 2003.

Barbara J. Roberts, BA elem ed ’69/MTS biology ’72, was conferred membership in the John R. Park Society, an honorary

organization of benefactors of the University of Utah who support its mission through planned gifts. Roberts was laboratory materials supervisor for ISU’s Department of Biological Sciences for 19 years. She lives in Salt Lake City.

Fannie Lee Lowe, BA psych ’70, of San Francisco, California, made her directing debut with Medea at the School of Arts in Oakland. She will be assistant director for the musical Once on This Island. Lowe received a master’s degree from the University of San Francisco in 1978.

Richard Mollerup, BBA mktg ’70, of Boise, was selected for inclusion in 2008 Mountain States Super Lawyers. He is a partner of Meuleman Mollerup LLP, and was recognized for his accomplishments in real-estate law.

Gary Edgerton, BBA finance ’71, is senior vice president for the D. L. Evans Bank Mortgage Department. with branches in Nampa, Boise, Hailey, Twin Falls and Burley. He is involved in the Idaho Mortgage Lenders’ Association, Building Contractor Association of Southwest Idaho, Ada County Realtors Association and the Women’s Council of Realtors.

Franklyn Rash, ’71, Pocatello, is vice-president of sales for Gem State Distributors for the Pocatello and Albuquerque, N.M., regions. He currently serves on the advisory board of Dot Food Distribution Co. and was elected to the Board of Trustees for School District No. 25 in 2007.

Susan Mason, MA speech/drama ’73, professor of theatre arts at the University of California, Los Angeles, was recently presented an Outstanding Professor Award. In spring and summer 2009, she will teach as a Fulbright lecturer at Tsuda College and Kyoritsu University in Tokyo. Mason received her doctor of philosophy degree in theatre from the University of Oregon in 1980.

Mark Buckalew, ’74, has been named to the board of directors for the Idaho Community Foundation, Idaho’s only statewide foundation. He is branch manager and vice president of A. G. Edwards, a division of Wachovia Securities LLC, in Pocatello and Twin Falls.

W. James Johnston, alumnus ’74, was selected as regional vice president of the National Association of Realtors at its midyear meeting in Washington, D.C. He is a real-estate sales agent with Home Specialists Real Estate Company in Pocatello. Johnston is a past president of the Greater Pocatello Association of Realtors, where he was selected by the association as Realtor of the Year three times in his 35-year career.

J. Michael Purce, BA soc ’75, is a housing counselor for Pocatello Neighborhood Housing Services in Pocatello. He recently retired from the Social Security Administration.

50s

60s

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Alec Alenskis, BS gen engr ’70, died of cancer May 25, 2008. He was born April 15, 1922. He was a nuclear/electrical engineer for Westinghouse in Idaho Falls, retiring from the International Division after building nuclear-power plants in Yugoslavia and the Phillipines. He was awarded the Professional Achievement Award for the College in Engineering in 1987. He and his family lived in the Pocatello area for many years. He is survived by his wife, Joyce, of Sun City, Arizona; son, Brian, of Richmond, Indiana, and daughter, Anne (BA journ ’70), of Eagle.


Patricia Jory, BS nursing ’76, Henderson, Nev., was named the Nevada State College part-time instructor of 2008 for excellence in service, in the role of educator in the School of Nursing. She has been a psychiatric-nursing clinical instructor for two years. She was both president of the local district of the Idaho Nurses Association and state president of the Idaho Nurses Association in Idaho.

Cindy Mesko, BS psych ’77, is vice president of agency development for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa. She is responsible for leading the nationwide support and services Big Brothers Big Sisters provides to its over 400 agencies. Previously, Mesko was director of service delivery systems; she also served as the chief executive officer of Big Brothers Big Sisters of southwest Idaho for 18 years.

Shannon McCarrel, BS radiog sci ’78, of Sisters, Ore., was among a team of health care professionals who traveled to Tanzania to establish the East African Breast Care Project in July. Holigic Inc., a women’s health care provider, donated 11 mammography machines; McCarrel provided instruction to technologists in setting up and reading the machines. The East African Breast Care Project is a nonprofit, nongovernmental humanitarian project that strives to

organize the first early detection program in Tanzania.

Ray Polzin, BBA mgmt & org ’79, is vice president of infrastructure services for Home Federal Bank in Boise. He has more than 11 years’ experience in information-technology management. He was director of information technology field services for the intermountain retail west for Supervalu Inc., in Boise.

Alan C. Frantz, Ph.D., BS ed/German ’80, ISU professor of higher education

administration, was elected vice-chair of the executive committee of the ISU

Faculty Senate. He will serve as chair during the academic year 2009-2010.

Susan Gibbens, BBA mktg ’80, is vice president of marketing for Citizens Community Bank in Pocatello. She has 29 years’ experience in the banking industry and served as commercial loan officer for Citizens Community Bank for eight years.

Darrell Buffaloe, BA psych ’81/MED occup train mgt ’97, who had a 26-year career at ISU, has retired as associate vice president for facilities services. He was an adjunct faculty member of the ISU Human Resources Training and Development Department in the College of Technology for 10 years. He currently is chairman of the Department of Trade and Industrial Education at the College of Southern Idaho in Twin Falls.

Tom Cushman, BBA mktg ’81, was presented with the Knight of the National Order by the Minister of Energy and Mines in Antananarivo, Madagascar. His career includes 18 years in the gemstone industry. He is the Madagascar project manager of Artminers, The Institute for Sustainable Mining. Cushman was instrumental in the founding of the Institute de Gemmologie de Madagascar in 2003 and is the International Colored Gemstone Association Ambassador in Madagascar.

Mike Hill, BBA mktg ’81, is vice president of sales and general manager for MSI Systems Integrators in Boise. He is responsible for an extensive sales team that covers a seven-state region in the West. Hill’s career includes 23 years at IBM. He was most recently regional sales manager for the Intermountain West.

Steve Beckley, BA speech ’82, celebrated his 50th birthday on June 20, 2008, with a 60-mile bicycle ride on Stove Prairie Road and Rist Canyon near Fort Collins. Joining Steve were fellow ISU alumni Doug Butler, BA pol sci ’81, and John Fry, MBA bus admin ’82. They overcame the 12-percent grade at the summit of Rist Canyon with ISU Tiger Power and frequent shouts of “Grrrrrrr!” Steve wore an ISU jersey and his special

Working together to strengthen regional health care

In IdahoBear Lake Memorial HospitalBingham Memorial HospitalCaribou Memorial HospitalFranklin County Medical CenterHarms Memorial Hospital

651 Memorial Drive • Pocatello, Idaho 83201(208) 239-2384 • www.hospitalcooperative.org

Lost Rivers Medical CenterMadison Memorial HospitalMinidoka Memorial HospitalOneida County HospitalPortneuf Medical Center

Connecting Health Care in the Intermountain West

St. Benedicts Family Medical CenterSteele Memorial Medical CenterTeton Valley HospitalIn WyomingStar Valley Medical Center

80s


tiger-ears-and-tails helmet. Steve is owner of Stephen L. Buckley & Associates, Inc., which specializes in health care management and benefit consulting for higher education. Beckley and his wife, Stephanie, celebrated their 23rd anniversary in June. They have two daughters, Rachel Virginia, 18, and Julia Nicole, 14.

R. David Moore, BS law enf ’83/MED occ train mgt ’95, was appointed by Gov. C. L. “Butch” Otter to the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. The council is a 15-member advisory panel that offers oversight for the Idaho POST Academy. Moore has been the chief of police for Blackfoot for 11 years.

Rena Carlson-Lammers, BS zoology ’85, received the 37th Annual Veterinarian of the Year Award from the Idaho Veterinary Medical Association. She is the owner of Alpine Animal Hospital in Chubbuck. She was named staff veterinarian for ISU in 1991, and oversees the Animal Welfare Facility. Carlson-Lammers graduated cum laude with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Washington in 1989.

Rod Hansen, BA drama ’85/BFA drama ’85, is director of exhibitions at the Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls. He will work with collectors and other institutions and coordinate the installation and removal of exhibits. Most recently, he taught at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts in Florida.

Lisa Higbee, BS dent hyg ’85, received the 2008 Sunstar/GUM “Healthy Gums, Healthy Life Award of Distinction.” In practice for more than 23 years, Higbee is a dental hygienist with Dr. D. Michael Sutton in Pocatello. She received the Professional Achievement Award for the Kasiska College of Health Professions in 2007 and was named the 2006 BreathRx Hygienist of the Year.

Stacey L. Romberg, BA pol sci ’85, is celebrating her 20th year practicing law. Her Seattle law firm focuses on business law, estate planning and probate. Stacey is a 2008 finalist for the Women Business Owners “Excellence Award,” which is based

on “entrepreneurial spirit, ethics and community spirit, financial management skills and risk and difficulty of business.”

Alesha Churba, BS home econ ’87/cert mach draft ‘01/AAS design draft tech ’01, of Pocatello, is a project manager with Interior Design Studio within the firm of Myers Anderson Architects, PLLC. She has more than nine years’ experience in practical interior design and project management. Churba has allied member status in the American Society of Interior Design and the American Institute of Architects.

Sheryl Brockett, MED occ train mgt ’88, is principal of Century High School in Pocatello. She has more than 15 years’ experience as a middle school and high school administrator and most recently was principal of the Alameda Center.

Harold E. Jones, BBA mgmt & org ’88, is chief compliance officer for Phocas Financial Corporation in Alameda, Calif. He was compliance officer for Countrywide Financial and First California Mortgage Co. for the past five-and-a-half years. Jones lives in

Windsor, California, with his wife, Kristen, and two young sons.

Evelyn Robinson, EDS ed admin ’88, was featured on the cover of Alpha Delta Kappa magazine as recipient of the 2007 International Excellence in Education award. She has more than 40 years’ experience in both and public education and is in her 21st year as principal of Lewis and Clark Elementary School in Pocatello.

Helen Keezer, MA Engl ’89, was awarded a Fulbright Teacher Exchange grant for 2008-2009 to teach in Pazardzhik, Bulgaria. Keezer teaches English at Century High School in Pocatello and has also taught English at ISU.

Greg Newberry, BBA finance ’89, is a commercial lending relationship manager with Home Federal Bank in Nampa. He has more than 16 years’ experience in bank management, commercial lending, and credit analysis. Most recently, Newberry was chief financial officer and general manager of White Cloud Communications in Twin Falls.


David A. Scott, BBA mgmt & org ’89, is loan officer of the Bank of Idaho in St. Anthony. He worked in financial management and planning and real estate in Las Vegas.

Anza Ketterman, BS ed/bus ed ’90/MED curr/instrct emph ’92,

whose career as an instructor in the College of Technology encompasses 17

years, has retired. She taught in the Office Technology/Business Information program and in the Web-site design and management program. She was presented the Outstanding Achievement Award from the College of Technology in 2003.

Eric Dayley, AA crim just ’91/BUS ’96, was named captain of Region Five of the Idaho State Police Department. He began his career with the state police in 1984 and served as lieutenant over both patrol and detectives from 2002 to 2004.

Sue Ringquist, MHE health ed ’91, is principal of the Alameda Center in Pocatello, which includes New Horizons High School, Kinport Academy Middle School, Teen Parent Center and Turning Point Elementary School. She has worked for School District No. 25 as a high school and middle school administrator and implemented the Virtues Project, a character education program, at Pocatello High School.

Daniel Markowski, PharmD. ’92, was honored by the Idaho State Pharmacy Association as Pharmacist of the Year at its annual tri-state convention. He is a pharmacist at Medicine Man West in Pocatello and is chairperson for the Idaho Panhandle Pharmacy Association.

Debra Larsen, MS psych ’93/Ph.D. clin psych ’02, is president-elect for 2008-2009 for the Idaho Psychological Association. She will serve as president in 2010 and 2011. She has served as academic representative on the IPA board of directors for two years. Larsen is a research assistant professor at the Institute of Rural Health and has worked on statewide and national research for child traumatic stress, youth suicide prevention and family drug court outcomes. She also maintains a private part-time practice in Pocatello.

Trisa Clemons, BBA acct ’93/MBA bus admin ’95, is a partner at KPMG, a public accounting firm, in Seattle. She has eight years’ experience in public accounting and has also worked for Arthur Andersen, LLP, and Microsoft.

Dona Applonie, BS elem ed ’94, is principal at Tendoy Elementary School in Pocatello. She has 15 years’ experience in both general and special education at elementary and secondary levels.

Don Furu, BS corp train ’94, who served over 33 years with the Pocatello Police Department, has retired. His career included time as a patrolman, detective, an undercover officer, hostage negotiator, and in the narcotics division. Furu will continue to teach law enforcement classes around the country in suicide intervention, hostage negotiations and advanced law enforcement dispatch.

Andrea Gower, BS voc teach ed ’94, owner of Massage Solutions in Pocatello, recently completed advanced training in myofascial release therapy. She teaches ethics and chair massage at BMH College of Massage in Blackfoot. Gower also provides palliative care for hospice clients under the direction of Hospice Alliance.

Gary Pflueger, M.Ed. ed admin ’94, is principal of Friday Harbor Elementary School in Friday Harbor, Washington. He served as principal of Salmon Middle School and St. Anthony Catholic School in Pocatello.

Cory C. Phelps, BBA pol sci/finance ’94, is commercial portfolio manager at Zions Bank in Pocatello. He is responsible for underwriting commercial and agriculture loans and assisting commercial loan officers and branch managers in the credit-approval process. Phelps began his career in the banking industry 14

90s

THE ALUMNI & VISITORS CENTERAT IDAHO STATE UNIVERSITY

The new Alumni & Visitors Center will be a treasury of alumni accomplishments, University history and memorabilia rec-ognizing the tradition of Idaho State, its faculty, staff and alumni.

The vision for a new Alumni Center includes a magnificent, 20,000 square-foot, two-story building, centrally located upon the beautiful landscape that extends past the north side of Holt Arena.

If you would like to be a part of this project, call the ISU Foundation at (208) 282-3470.


years ago, and was branch manager of the Yellowstone branch of Zions Bank.

Mikki Nuckols, BA elem ed ’95/MED literacy emph ’06, a teacher at Rocky Mountain Middle School in Idaho Falls, was among 75 outstanding teachers for grades K-12 and received a Miliken Educator Awards Program. The Miliken Educator Awards, first presented in 1987, is the largest teacher-recognition program in the U.S.

David Young, PharmD. ’95, is associate professor and coordinator of student affairs at the University of Utah College of Pharmacy. He was appointed by Governor Jon M. Huntsman to the Utah Board of Pharmacy in 2007.

Julee Leavitt, ME occ train mgt ’96, of Idaho Falls, earned a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Idaho. She is an engineer at the Idaho National Laboratory overseeing the behavior-based safety program for the 4,000 employees and subcontractors of the INL. Leavitt is also an affiliate faculty member for the University of Idaho, and instructs operations, construction and project management.

Ryan Ward, BBA mktg ’96, is senior vice president and real-estate loan manager for Citizens Community Bank in Pocatello. He also serves on the loan committees for both senior officers and board of directors. Ward graduated from the Pacific Coast Banking School in Seattle, Wash., in 2005.

Michelle Decker, BBA finance ’97, of Scottsdale, Ariz., was promoted to partner for Stoker Ostler Wealth Advisors. She joined the company as an investment analyst in 1997 and has served as portfolio manager since 2004. Decker also received an MBA from Arizona State University.

Shawna Engen, BS biology ’98, is finance manager for Pocatello Neighborhood Housing Services. Previously, she worked for DDC, LLC, a local design, development and construction company.

Batter up!

Photos by ISU Photographic Sevices/Julie Hillebrant

Idaho State University President Arthur C. Vailas, Ph.D., takes to the pitcher’s mound to throw the “first pitch” July 18 at ISU Day at an Idaho Falls Chukars baseball game. Vailas joined a crowd of ISU alumni at Melaleuca Field to celebrate the University’s longstanding presence in Idaho Falls.


Robert McMinn, BS zoology ’98, is branch manager at the Yellowstone branch of Zions Bank in Pocatello. He began his banking career 10 years ago and was commercial loan officer at Zions Bank.

Josh Mercaldo, BA mass comm, ’98, is a branch manager with Drake Cooper, an integrated marketing firm in Boise. He works primarily on the agency’s tourism, commerce and recreation accounts. Mercaldo co-owned Gold Link Media in Eagle.

Garra Allen, BA French/Spanish ’99/DPT phys ther ’05, is a doctor of physical therapy at Guardian Home Care in Pocatello and has completed wound certification training. She

has responsibility for assessing individuals’ therapy needs and now includes wound assessment, prevention and skin care.

Annie Kiesau, BS zoology ’99, graduated from the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Arizona School of Medicine and is now assistant professor of clinical anesthesiology. She received her doctor of medicine degree from the University of Washington School of Medicine in 2004.

Michael P. Brennan, AA crim justice ’00, has retired from the Pocatello Police Department. Of his 28-year career with

Janet C. Anderson, Ed.D., namesake of Idaho State University’s Gender Resource Center and a retired dean of student affairs, died July 29 at her home in Newport, Washington. She was 71.

“I really believe she loved the University, loved working with students and, even after all of these years, some of our programs and services still bear her stamp,” said Lee Krehbiel, Ph.D., vice president for student affairs.

Anderson hired Krehbiel in 1996 as assistant dean of student affairs.

The Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center’s mission is to be the focal point on campus for consideration of gender issues.

“She did so much for us, the students,” said Shane Ostermeier, former Associated Students of Idaho State University president during the 1997-98 academic year. He proposed the Gender Center be named after Anderson.

“What was neat about her was that every student felt that even though she was a very busy lady, with a thousand things to do, she always had time to stop for you and talk,” Ostermeier said. “She just made you feel important and cared about you.”

Anderson spent the last nine years of her career at ISU as dean of student affairs, supervising more than 200 employees. She counseled thousands of students, and advised hundreds of student leaders.

Anderson was a 1958 honors graduate of the University of Wisconsin. She earned a master’s in counseling in 1965, and a doctorate in counselor education in 1967, both from the University of Wyoming.

She came to ISU in 1967 to be a counselor and assistant professor of counselor education.

Anderson’s positions at ISU also included director of the Center for Health and Counseling Services, and interim dean of the College of Education.

Awards she received included the Women Helping Women Award, from Soroptimist International; the Association of Counselor Education and Supervision’s National Distinguished

Influence of Janet C. Anderson, Gender Center namesake,continues on Pocatello campus

Mentor Award; the Associated Students of ISU’s Award of Appreciation; Woman of the Year, at Zonta’s Annual Women’s History Month Women of Achievement Luncheon; grand marshal of ISU homecoming parade; and the ISU Achievement Award.

After her retirement, she continued to support the programs and activities of the gender center.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center (www.isu.edu/andersoncenter) through the ISU Foundation at www.isu.edu/alumni/foundation/gift.shtml; or The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.leukemia-lymphoma.org/hm_lls).

the force, he worked 21 years in the detective force. Brennan is now employed as a salesman at Courtesy Ford in Pocatello.

Ryon Butterfield, BA soc ’00, MCoun health couns ’03, and his cycling partner won the Open 80+ division in the Seventh Annual Trans-Rockies Challenge in British Columbia in August. Butterfield and his teammate defeated 67 other teams in their division; the category required the team members’ combined ages to be at least 80. He is a mental-health counselor and project coordinator at Square One Youth Project in Pocatello. 00s

Submitted photo

Janet C. Anderson baiting her hook outside of her home in Washington.


*Other fees may apply. Personalized plates have an additional fee.

Drive proud.Idaho State University Bengal license plates are now available. Show your pride as you drive and they’re only $35*. Know you are helping the Bengals because $25 of that goes to ISU scholarships. Keep helping year after year with a $25 renewal fee, $15 of that going to scholarships.

To drive up the level of your school spirit, see your county motor vehicle licensing bureau where you can apply to get your Bengal plate today. Or visit idt.idaho.gov/dmv to find applications for num-bered and personalized plates.

Missouri. He is now enrolled in a postdoctoral residency in internal medicine at Grandview Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

Jamie Fairchild, BS biology ’04, received her Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She was awarded the Dean’s Award for academic and clinical excellence. Fairchild is enrolled in a pediatric dental residency program at Primary Children’s Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Travis Nielsen, BS zoology ’04, graduated with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Midwestern University in Glendale, Arizona. He is completing his residency at ISU Family Medicine.

Valaine Palmer, BS zoology ’04, received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. She was a member of the Phi Zeta Honors Society of Veterinary Medicine and is in practice in West Haven, Utah.

Sherry Deiter, BS health ed ’05, is health and education manager for Head Start of School District No. 25. She was awarded a $5,000 oral hygiene grant through the Ronald

Stephen W. Holm, ’00, has established an oral and maxillofacial surgery practice in Pocatello. He graduated with a doctor of dental medicine degree from the University of Kentucky and completed a four-year residency program in oral and maxillofacial surgery.

Tim McLaughlin, BBA mgmt & org ’00, is senior vice president and business-banking sales leader for the South Puget Sound District of KeyBank. He has more than 20 years’ banking experience, and served as area retail leader for KeyBank’s East Pierce County team. He graduated from the Consumer Bankers Association’s Graduate School of Real Bank Management at the University of Virginia in 2006.

Bryan Johnson, ’01, captain in the U.S. Air Force, is currently serving a general-surgery fellowship at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, in San Antonio. He is assigned to the 59th Surgical Specialties Squadron and served as a physician assistant with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan.

Ryan Hadlock, BS speech comm ’02, is president of the Greater Pocatello Lodging Association. He has worked in the hospitality industry for nine

years and is currently general manager of the Red Lion hotel in Pocatello.

Brandon Bloxham, BS zoology ’03, earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from the University of New England College of Ostepathic Medicine in June. He is continuing training in the emergency medicine residency program at Oklahoma State University Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Alex Armour, BS biology ’04, graduated with his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Midwestern University Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. Upon completion of a residency in internal medicine at Lutheran General in Chicago, he plans to pursue a specialty in cardiology.

Tyler Bair, BS psych ’04, is an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice. He graduated from the University of Idaho College of Law and was editor-in-chief of the Idaho Law Review.

Kendall Bennion, BS zoology ’04, graduated with a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City,


McDonald House; the Head Start program will use the funding to implement the “Head Start to a Healthy Smile” program. She will use funds to buy oral hygiene products and finance dental care for children of low-income households.

Amy Hartman, cert nail tech ’05/cert cosmet ’08, is a cosmetologist with At Your Fingertips in Pocatello. She has been employed as a nail technologist the past three years.

Mandee Tysor, adv cert prac nurs ’05, is a practical nurse with Family First Health Centers South in Pocatello. She has worked at Portneuf Medical Center for the past 10 years. Mandee is currently enrolled in the registered nursing program.

Thor Conley, BBA finance ’06, is a mortgage loan originator at the Yellowstone branch of Bank of Idaho in Pocatello. He has 10 years’ experience in real estate and loan mortgage processing, underwriting and funding.

Heidi Holloway, BBA finance ’06, is manager of the Yellowstone branch of Ireland Bank. She served as the new account representative and assistant manager for two years.

Janice I. Nelson, M.Ed ed admin emph ’06, is principal of Tyhee Elementary School. She has 18 years’ professional-education experience, including work with various student populations and instructional interventions.

Georgia Meacham, M.P.H. pub health ’07, was named Idaho Realtor of the Year for 2008 by the Idaho Association of Realtors. She is an agent with Century 21 Advantage in Idaho Falls and represents Blake Jones Construction. Meacham also was elected as a state representative to the National Association of Realtors board of directors.

Chace Mickelson, BS micro ’07, appeared on an episode of The Price is Right and won more than $45,000 in cash and prizes. The show was filmed on June 25 and aired July 9.

Tal Sampson, BFA art ’07, was commissioned by the City of Pocatello to paint a portrait of Chief Pocatello. “In the Shadow of a Giant,” was used as the chief’s image as posthumous grand marshal of the 45th Annual Shoshone-Bannock Indian Festival Parade. Sampson is working on three additional paintings featuring Chief Pocatello. The owner of Tal’s Plumbing, he was selected as the Outstanding Student Achievement recipient in Fine Arts and Humanities for the College of Arts and Sciences in 2007.

Rebecca Treasure, BBA acct ’07, is an assistant comptroller officer for Ireland Bank in Malad. She is responsible for managing the bank’s funds, securities portfolio, wire transfers, general ledger entries, reconciliations, board reports and federal reports.

Editor’s note: Send Trackings information to the Office of Alumni Relations, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Ave., Stop 8033, Pocatello, ID 83209-8033; or e-mail to [email protected]; or fax to (208) 282-2541. Or you can call (208) 282-3755 locally, or toll-free (800) 933-4781.

Ryan Gilmore ’08, is director of marketing and promotions of Eastern Illinois University. His responsibilities include corporate sales, marketing and promotion efforts of the 21-sport intercollegiate program. Most recently, Gilmore worked as marketing/game management assistant at ISU.

Ashley Peterson, BBA mktg ’08/BBA mgmt ’08, is a management trainee at the Poleline branch of Ireland Bank in Pocatello. She works in all aspects of the banking industry from operations to lending.

Huma Rizvi, BS comp sci ’04, is a software design engineer for Microsoft in Fargo, North Dakota. She worked for Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Fargo.

Lisa Rodriguez, cert nail tech ’08, is a nail technician and co-owner of At Your Fingertips in Pocatello.

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DAVID G. ADLER, Ph.D.Pocatello

[email protected]

J. BRENT BERREY, D.M.D.Pocatello

’67, BS, [email protected]

TOM R. CURTIS, D.D.S.Boise

’68, [email protected]

PATTI BENNION EATONBoise

’76, [email protected]

GERALD JOHN HEELANOlympia, Wash.

’58, BA, political [email protected]

PHIL LUCKEYPocatello

’65, BA, physical education’75, MPE, athletic administration

[email protected]

WALTER (WALT) LUHRNampa

‘59, BS, [email protected]

DIANA MCLAUGHLIN, Ed.D.Pocatello

’64, AS, dental hygiene’79, BS, nursing’93, MS, nursing

’01, EdD, educational [email protected]

TED MESSMOREPocatello

’70, BA, [email protected]

CHUCK MOLLERUPBoise

’70, BBA, management and [email protected]

CASSANDRA “SANDEE” MOOREHenderson, Nev.

’03, BS, health care [email protected]

ROBERT MYERSPocatello

‘68, BBA, management and organization‘82, MEd, educational administration

[email protected]

MIKE NESBITTFlagstaff, Ariz.

’68, BA, physical [email protected]

STEPHEN M. RHODESPocatello

’77, Cert., Merchandising’82, Mid-Management

[email protected]

GEOFF RANEREPocatello

’74, CERT, electrical technology’88, AA, electrical technology

’88, BBA, management and organization’93, MEd, occupational training management

[email protected]

PAUL RONANTexarkana, Texas

’76, BA, American [email protected]

JAYSON RONKMeridian

’02, BS, Political [email protected]

CARISA K. SCHULTZIdaho Falls

’82, BA, Secondary Education’92, MED, Occupational Training Management

[email protected]

KIRK SHULERSumner, Wash.’71, Alumnus

[email protected]

STEPHEN A. STOKES, J.D.Pocatello

’01, BA, [email protected]

DEB GRAVES-STONEPocatello

’73 BS, physical education’82, MEd, occupational training management

[email protected]

SANDRA THOENBlackfoot

’03, Health-care [email protected]

SUSAN DELANA (GODFREY) WALKERBoise

‘81, BBA, [email protected]

NANCY WHEELERPocatello

‘81, BA, ‘86, MEd, early childhood [email protected]

RON D. STEPHENSON, PRESIDENTBoise

’65, BBA, management and [email protected]

ISU ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONBOARD OF DIRECTORS

www.isu.edu/alumni.shtml

JANUARY 200929 ISU Day at the Capitol, Boise30 Alumni Board of Directors Winter

Board Meeting, Boise

MARCH 2009TBD Grapes & Growls Wine Tasting

Event, Idaho Falls

APRIL 200924 Alumni Board of Directors Spring

Board Meeting, Pocatello24 Outstanding Student Achievement

Awards Banquet, Pocatello

MAY 2009TBD Professional Achievement Awards

for 20099 Commencement, Holt Arena

JUNE 2009TBD Grapes & Growls Wine Tasting

Event, Twin FallsTBD J.B. Smith Memorial Golf Tournament, Twin Falls

JULY 200918 Treasure Valley Summer Picnic,

Ivywild Park, BoiseTBD ISU Night with the Idaho Falls

ChukarsTBD ISU Night with the Boise Hawks

For more information on these events, call the ISU Alumni Relations Office: (800) 933-4781, 282-3755 or visit our Web site www.isu.edu\alumni.shtml.


www.isu.edu

Study hard. Play hard.


www.isu.edu

Study hard. Play hard.

After class, we used Idaho mountains as our laboratory.

In class, we studied materials and processes of soil — texture, classifications, engineering properties and interaction with other elements.

Idaho State University MagazineIdaho State University921 S. 8th Ave., Stop 8033Pocatello, Idaho 83209-8033

NON-PROFITU.S. Postage

PAIDLebanon

Junction, KYPermit No. 547CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

“The impact Babe Caccia has had on our lives was the ‘trigger’ for our decision to fund a scholarship endowment in his honor. This led to our

support of additional ISU initiatives. Walt Whitman had it right when he wrote, ‘The gift is to the giver and comes back most to him.’”

Jerry J. Bellon ’51The Italo Babe Caccia Scholarship Endowment

The Jerry J. and Elner C. Bellon Scholarship Endowment

gift to Idaho State University is a way to honor a special person in your

life, to share the rewards of your own life, and to help ensure that generations of students can receive the lifelong benefits of an Idaho State

University education. The ISU Foundation can help you easily establish a legacy of learning in the name of your choice. Visit the Foundation online or call Don Colby at (208) 282-3470.

www.isu.edu/gift

Be the

Jerry Bellon and Babe Caccia

Endow a scholarship.Or two.

solution.

idaho state university magazine

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