march/april 2004 | nevada silver & blue

INSIDEMARCH/APRIL 2004

On the CoverWartime correspondence from Evelyn English’s

husband, George, that inspired an original

musical composition by Alan Smith, music

professor at USC. Photo by Jean Dixon

DepartmentsFrom the President, 3Alumni News, 26The Way We Were, 44

7 Road Trip

Provost Frederick connects with rurals.By Pat McDonnell

13 Internet Pioneer

Tim Casey helped shape global Internet law.By Melanie Supersano

16 Leaders in Literacy

Nevada reading education program amongnation’s best.By Pat McDonnell

18 The Gibson Generations

Nevada family serves state and nation.By John Wheeler

20 Cover Story

Evelyn English’s letter collection is a poignantreminder of loss and love in wartime.By John Trent

37 Stepping Up

Nevada’s track team ready for challenges.By Brandon Stewart

WORKING FOR NEVADAConstruction of a new 1,950-space parking garage continues offNorth Virginia Street, north of Lawlor Events Center. The projectis an important undertaking for mid-campus development andfor increased handicapped parking, part of a larger effort oncampus to meet Americans with Disability Act requirements.The project is scheduled to be open in fall semester 2004 .

Nevada Silver & Blue • March/April 2004 1

2 Nevada Silver & Blue • March/April 2004

PresidentJohn Lilley

Executive editorsJohn Trent • John Wheeler

Assistant to the editorElaine Casey

Graphic designersClaudia Ortega-Lukas • Lucy Walker

Technical AssistantCathy Osterhout

NewswritersJean Dixon — Alumni Relations and Development;Media Relations; Photo Editor • 784-1580 •[email protected]

Patrick McDonnell — Education; Extended Studies;Human and Community Sciences; Library; Students •784-1583 • [email protected]

Melanie Supersano — Agriculture, Biotechnologyand Natural Resources; Business Administration;Engineering; Science • 784-7030 •[email protected]

John Trent — Agriculture, Biotechnology and NaturalResources; Environment; Journalism • 784-1582 •[email protected]

John Wheeler — Graduate School/Research; LiberalArts; School of Medicine • 784-1581 •[email protected]

Board of RegentsMark AldenStavros Anthony, ChairMarcia Bandera, Vice ChairDr. Jill T. DerbyThalia M. DonderoDouglas Roman HillLinda C. HowardDr. Thomas E. KirkpatrickHoward RosenbergDouglas R. SeastrandJack Lund SchofieldSteve SisolakBret WhippleJane Nichols, Chancellor

Jones Visitor Center/108University of Nevada, RenoReno, NV 89557-0129775-784-4945 FAX: 775-784-1422e-mail: [email protected]

ADDRESS CHANGESUniversity of Nevada, Reno FoundationMS162, Reno, NV 89557775-784-1587; [email protected]

EDITORIAL BOARDAmy Carothers • Elaine Casey • Richard Daniel • JeanDixon • John Frederick • Marilyn Johnson • John Lilley •Claudia Ortega-Lukas • John Trent • Lucy Walker • JohnWheeler

NEVADA SILVER & BLUE is published six times a year bythe Office of University Relations, University of Nevada.

Vol. XV, No. 3 © Copyright 2004

www.unr.edu/alumni

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERSJohn Byrne • Ted Cook • Theresa Danna-Douglas •Matt Theilen

LETTERS TO THE EDITORNevada Silver & Blue welcomes your letters but reserves the right to edit for space and clarity. Send your commentsto NSB Editor, Jones Visitor Center/108, University of Nevada, Reno, NV 89557-0129 or e-mail: [email protected].

Serving the households of our 50,000University of Nevada alumni and friends.

Silver & BlueN E V A D A

From the Editor

This is my last issue as editor of Nevada Silver & Blue. A tremendous careeropportunity came my way in February, one that was too enticing to pass up.

Nevadans know Gov. Kenny Guinn well; perhaps not as well known is the fact thata number of notable University of Nevada alumni, including Chief of Staff MichaelHillerby and Press Secretary Greg Bortolin, are key players in the Guinn administra-tion. It will be my distinct pleasure to work with Gov. Guinn, Mike, Greg and anumber of others as Gov. Guinn heads down the homestretch of his career inCarson City.

Leaving here is not easy, though. In many ways I grew up on this campus. Mylate father, John, was a professor in the College of Education for 20 years. On manyweekends, as I was growing up, thiscampus was my playground. I deliveredmock lectures in the dusty basement ofFrandsen Humanities. I chased thegeese at Manzanita Lake. I sprinted upand down the Quad, pretend football inmy hand, imitating the hip-swivelingmoves of the great early 1970s Packrunning back, Earnie O’Leary.

As I grew older, the campus becamemy home. I learned in the mid-1980sthat this wasn’t just a fun place to play;it was a great place to learn. I nevertook a class that I felt was a waste. Inever had a professor that I didn’tadmire. I like to think of myself as apositive person; much of this is directlyrelated to the endless encouragement Ireceived from so many wonderfulprofessors when I was a young man,growing up on our campus.

In 1998 I returned to the university,joining the staff of the Office of Communications. It’s been a great place to work. Iwill be forever indebted to the woman who encouraged me to join her staff, SandyRogers, and the many talented writers, editors, designers, office staff and studentswho have worked in our office over the past six years. In particular, I’d like to singleout Communications “alumni” Sandy, Greg, Carmen Jeschke and former NSB editorMike Sion; as well as current staffers Elaine Casey, John Wheeler, Jean Dixon, PatMcDonnell, Louise Eikleberry, Melanie Supersano, Cathy Osterhout, Lucy Walker,Claudia Ortega-Lukas, Brandon Stewart, Amanda Gango and Jennifer Sanzi fortheir hard work and goodwill.

Silver & Blue has become a total team effort, and I’m indebted to all of the abovepeople for their enthusiastic commitment to this magazine.

It’s been a great run, and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. My life will now befocused on Carson City, but don’t be surprised if some fall afternoon you see abalding, middle-aged man running down the middle of the Quad with a pretendfootball in his hand. True success, as Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, is always in thelabor, the hope of travel and change, rather than one’s final destination. All of ourjourneys never truly end; and happily for many of us, they often intersect here, onour beautiful campus on The Hill.

— John Trent

Saying goodbye to ‘The Hill’

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From the President

New era of marketingand communications

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John M. Lilley, President

During my time here at Nevada, I have constantlypreached to our faculty,

staff, students, alumni and friendsthat our story is one of the best-kept secrets in the nation.

We know we have a greatinstitution. We know that throughstrategic planning our universitywill become an even strongercenter of excellence. Yet being a“best-kept” secret is hardlysomething to make the hearts ofour faculty, staff, students, alumniand friends collectively sing.

Nevada recently entered a newera in marketing and communica-tions with the hiring of CynthiaPollard as our vice president formarketing and communications.Cindy’s experience in marketingand communications is extensive, and her accomplishments are noteworthy.

Since joining Tufts University in 1998, she and her public relations teamhave more than doubled media coverage of her institution, in major outletssuch as The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe and TheTimes (London). She has provided top-level communications strategy andsupport for Tufts’ development division, which achieved two history-makinggifts during its most recent capital campaign.

Another of her early innovations — a daily “E-News” Web site and electronicnewsletter — now reaches more than 50,000 subscribers worldwide and hasbeen recognized as a “site to watch” in higher education.

But perhaps more than anything else, Cindy brings with her a reputation ofbeing an agent of change. She talks often of “possibility thinking” here on ourcampus — the notion being that our faculty, staff and students see notbarriers, but rich potential for Nevada. My hope is that through her consider-able communications and marketing acumen, Cindy will help take us to thenational audience that our university so profoundly deserves.

In the coming weeks and months, Cindy’s charge will be to develop athoughtful and cohesive integrated marketing plan for our entire university.She will be looking to competitively position our university by finding theattributes that differentiate the Nevada experience from other highereducation options. She has a clear understanding that successful competitivepositioning must be credible, consistent and compelling — and, interestingly,these are personal characteristics that Cindy possesses in great abundance.

Please help me welcome Cindy as we begin this new era of marketing andcommunications at Nevada.

Cynthia Pollard,director of publicrelations at TuftsUniversity inMassachusetts,has been namedVice President forMarketing andCommunications.She is a graduateof the Universityof Missouri Schoolof Journalism andholds a master’sdegree in interna-tional communica-tion from AmericanUniversity inWashington, D.C.


On Campus

On hand for a recent gala concert at the Miragefeaturing the Eagles to benefit the Nevada CancerInstitute: (left to right) Master of Ceremonies LarryKing, University of Nevada President John Lilley andGerrie Lilley. The gala, “Rock for the Cure,” raised $2.6million toward the institute, which is currently underconstruction in Las Vegas. Eight Nevada facultycurrently hold adjunct positions at the institute, whichaims to eventually have facilities in both Las Vegas andReno. When built, the non-profit institute will be thestate’s first comprehensive cancer research andtreatment center.

— John Wheeler

Rockin’ for a good causein Las Vegas

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David Antonuccio, professor ofpsychiatry and behavioral sciences.

By John Wheeler

David Antonuccio has some remark-able things to say about the drug

industry and, in particular, the efficacy ofits number one product: antidepressants.In a nutshell, the University of NevadaSchool of Medicine professor of psychia-try and behavioral sciences says: antide-pressant drug effects may be far smallerthan touted and side effects far greater;there’s no persuasive evidence that adeficiency of brain serotonin causesdepression (the rationale for using mostantidepressants); financial and politicalinterests have biased research andmedical education; and psychotherapyappears to be as effective as antidepres-sants in treating depression and evenbetter at preventing relapse.

In an article in the December issue ofthe journal American Psychologist, co-written with School of Medicine colleagueWilliam Danton and Terry MichaelMcClanahan of Permanente MedicalGroup, Antonuccio details the extent ofthe pharmaceutical industry’s influence onmedicine and proposes practical steps thatcould be taken to preserve the credibilityand integrity of scientific research.

“I don’t think the word has gotten outabout this wealth of data showing thesmall advantage of these medications,”Antonuccio says.

For example, Antonuccio says some-where between 20 percent and 35

Antonuccio challenges antidepressant hypepercent of antidepressant studies are notpublished, and of those, it looks like asmany as 90 percent may have unfavor-able or neutral results.

In other words, many studies showantidepressants are no better than aplacebo and get buried by the drugcompanies. Antonuccio is able to trackthese unpublished studies through theFood and Drug Administration’s data-base. The FDA requires submission of allresearch data, but doesn’t requirepublication. Data analysis such as this isAntonuccio’s stock in trade. His conclu-sions, although based on meticulouslydocumented analysis — often drawnfrom drug companies’ own data — arenot always welcomed, even within hisown profession.

“One of the reasons might be that thebeliefs that are challenged by the data Ipresent are strongly held and it’supsetting that things might be differentthan people have believed for so long,”he says. “Fortunately, I work in a depart-ment and at a medical school thatcelebrates scientific curiosity andintellectual diversity.”

Antidepressants are the top sellingdrug category, with as many as one ineight adult Americans having taken onein the last 10 years.

“One of the theories is that depressionis a chemical imbalance,” Antonuccio says.

“But ... there’s no convincing data thatshow any sort of biological imbalancecauses depression. That’s not to say thereare not chemical changes associated withdepression and there may be immunesystem changes. We have to carefullythink about making the logical leap thatbecause something is associated withdepression or anxiety, it is actually thecause of it.”

An expanded version of this story can befound on the university Web site: http://www.unr.edu/nevadanews/detail.asp?id=800


On Campus

The New World may be considerably newerthan experts previously thought, accordingto Associate Professor of Anthropology Ted

Goebel. New evidence discovered by a jointAmerican/Russian team led by Goebel andreported in Science journal, calls into question thecommonly held theory that the first Americanscame from Siberia across the Bering Land Bridge.

By analyzing evidence from a key site on UshkiLake on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, Goebel’s teamhas determined that the site is 13,000 years old —nearly 4,000 years later than previously thought. Thatdifference is important because it rules out the UshkiLake inhabitants as the ancestors of the so-calledClovis people, believed to be the first Americans.Archeologists are able to identify sites inhabited bythe Clovis because they left distinctive flutedprojectile points, which were first discovered nearClovis, N.M. — hence their name.

“It’s a unique technology that these Clovis peopleused to prepare spear tips,” Goebel says. “Humansnever did that anywhere else in the world and atany other time, so it’s a highly distinctive quality.”

Goebel’s research shows Ushki Lake wasn’toccupied until about 600 years after the Clovispeople were already busy hunting mammoths inNorth America.

The Siberian site has long been considered acrucial link in the theory that Asian big-game hunterscrossed Beringia — the Bering Land Bridge linking

NEW, NEWER WORLD?

Siberia with Alaska — during the last ice age. Ushkiwas thought to have been a stopping off pointbefore departure. While the new research challengesthat assumption, it doesn’t rule out the possibilitythat the migrants departed from other sites.

— John Wheeler

Goebel challenges theories about origins of first Americans

Ted Goebel, associateprofessor ofanthropology, and partof the department’scollection of casted skullsfrom around the world.

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Innovations in “smart,” ultra-fast,controllable shock absorbers for

vehicles and large structures have wonProfessor Faramarz Gordaninejad the2003 Rudolf W.Gunnerman SilverState Award forExcellence inScience andTechnology. Theaward, establishedby Reno areaindustrialist andinventor RudolfGunnerman,includes a minted medal and $25,000prize and recognizes scientific andtechnological achievements that arebased on work conducted primarilywithin the state of Nevada. The

Gunnerman Award program is adminis-tered by the Desert Research Institute.

Gordaninejad’s work has led to thedevelopment of new quick-reacting,controllable shock absorbers thatprovide fail-safe vibration control foraircraft, HMMWVs (High-MobilityMultipurpose Wheeled Vehicles), autos,motorcycles and bicycles. The advancesare also used for controllable, smart slip-differential clutches for sport utilityvehicles, shock and vibration absorbersof submarine weapons systems, as wellas high force smart dampers for bridgesand buildings to protect them fromearthquakes and strong storms.

In addition to his research andteaching at Nevada, Gordaninejad ispresident and CEO of Advanced Materialsand Devices, Inc., a Nevada corporation

Gordaninejad wins Gunnerman Awardhe co-founded and which has receivedmajor Department of Defense contractsto improve the safety and performance ofnuclear submarine operations and landvehicles carrying heavy payloads.

Gordaninejad, a Foundation Professorof Mechanical Engineering, has been onthe College of Engineering faculty since1984. He is a Fellow of the AmericanSociety of Mechanical Engineers.Gordaninejad has more than 150publications in the areas of smartmaterials and structures and advancedfiber-reinforced composites. He receivedfour patents and has nine more patentspending. He is the director of theinternationally recognized Compositeand Intelligent Materials Laboratory atNevada.

— John Doherty

Gordaninejad


On Campus

After running a motel at Lake Tahoe for 25 years,Mike and Robin Catherwood escaped from the

hustle and bustle and purchased their own 5-acreslice of heaven at thebase of a beautifulrange in the CarsonValley. Robin took uphorseback riding, andhas three horses.

There is an increasingdesire in the West to own1-acre to 40-acre parcels,like the Catherwoods’. Yet,many of us don’t knowmuch about managingthese properties. And,research shows that

good land stewardship is directly related to goodwater quality. Needs assessments have shown thatmore landowner education of landowners is neededto improve water quality in the Carson River, which ison the EPA’s 303(d) Impaired Waters List because of itsturbidity, temperature and phosphorus levels.

The Catherwoods and more than 900 other CarsonValley residents are learning how better to managetheir properties with the help of University of Nevada

Mike and RobinCatherwood havelearned many bestmanagement practicetechniques for their 5-acre Carson Valleyparcel thanks to theefforts of University ofNevada CooperativeExtension educators.

Carson Valley residents learn value of ‘Living on Land’Cooperative Extension’s “Living on the Land” program.Cooperative Extension’s Susan Donaldson andcolleagues from eight other states collaborated todevelop a curriculum with 15 lessons on topics such aswell and septic care, pest and pasture management,and efficient irrigation, many of which directly affectour water quality. The curriculum is being used all overthe West. Donaldson and Cooperative Extensioncolleagues Steve Lewis, John Cobourn and MarkO’Farrell have taken the program to the Carson Valley,providing 19 workshops to 924 participants last year.Nevada Division of Environmental Protection provided$91,328 to fund the two-year program, and CarsonValley Conservation District and Western NevadaResource Conservation and Development are alsopartners in the program.

Is it making an impact? Although it’s too early tomeasure the effects on water quality, Carson Valleyresidents like the Catherwoods are definitely takingthe lessons to heart. They have implemented severalof the best management practices (BMPs) taught inthe workshops. “Fortunately, the same land manage-ment practices that lead to healthy landscapes andproductive pastures also help to protect our valuablewater resources,” O’Farrell says.

— Claudene Wharton

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Presentations are shown in the GetchellLibrary, Projection Room 5 • All arewelcome on a “space-available basis”

Wednesday, March 3■ YIDL MITN FIDLIntroduction by Deborah Acthenberg,Department of Philosophy

Wednesday, March 10■ STRUCTURES OF EVERYDAY LIFEIntroduction by Peter Goin,Department of Art, and Pam Henning

Wednesday, March 24■ BLUE VELVETIntroduction by Jeongwon Joe,Department of Music

Wednesday, March 31■ DAUGHTERS OF THE DUSTIntroduction by Ann Keniston,Department of English

Wednesday, April 7■ EAST IS EASTIntroduction by David Fenimore,Department of English

Wednesday, April 14■ FAST RUNNERIntroduction by LaVerne Jeanne,Department of Anthropology

Wednesday, April 21■ HI, ARE YOU ALONE? (Hola, Estas Sola?)Introduction by Joseba Gabilondo,Center for Basque Studies

Wednesday, April 28■ Film TBAIntroduction by Susan Chandler,School of Social Work

The Women’s Studies Program presents

Wednesdays at 2:30-5:15p.m. ■ Presented by: Professor Mary White Stewart

GENDER & IDENTITY IN FILM 2004


On Campus

Nevada’s agriculture is oneof the top three industriesfor many of the state’s

counties. Agricultural-relatedissues — weed infestations,drought, pests, grazing debatesand water rights — are at theforefront of discussions inNevada’s rural areas, but theimportance of these issues oftengoes unnoticed in Nevada’slargely urban areas.

To the University of Nevada,the realities of Nevada’s ruralcommunities were conveyedrecently to the university’sprovost and executive vicepresident, John Frederick, as hetoured Nevada to get a firsthandlook at what issues the regions arefacing as the state becomesincreasingly more urbanized.

“The intention of visiting some ofthe communities was to achieve abetter understanding of rural Nevadaand the ways in which the universityinteracts with rural Nevada,”Frederick says. “I learned an awfullot about stewardship of the landand a lot about the people in thestate who care about the state’sfuture, its economies and the futureof agriculture and education.”

Frederick traveled with adminis-trators from the College of Agriculture,Biotechnology and Natural Resources and metwith local University of Nevada CooperativeExtension faculty in Lyon, Churchill, WhitePine and Eureka counties. The visits left animpression on Frederick, that he says affirmsthe need for the university to continue reachingout to each county.

“I was really impressed with the willingnessof some people to drive hundreds of miles insome cases to come to our meetings,” he recallsof the visits. “I was also impressed with theintercon-nectedness of the people who wouldknow each other well sometimes three countiesaway. People may live miles apart but theyclearly keep in touch.”

The provost visited with high school admin-istrators and Native American tribal leaders,and held meetings with ranchers and other

Frederick visits with a student in Yerington HighSchool’s DNA class, possibly the only high school

DNA class in the country. The class is conducting DNA analysisof sage grouse. The research helps determine the hen’spopulation, which is believed to be in decline. Efforts havebeen made to have sage grouse listed under the EndangeredSpecies Act, a listing that would have significant economicconsequences for rural Nevada.

At the Duckwater Shoshone IndianReservation, nursery manager KipMcAlexander is helping to cultivate sagebrushseedlings in the tribe’s greenhouses. Sagebrushis used by mines for reclamation projects and,as a commodity, helps to generate income tothe tribe. L-R: The College of Agriculture,Biotechnology and Natural Resources’ RangesanNarayanan, associate dean of outreach, looks onwith the college’s dean David Thawley, andProvost John Frederick.

Provost tours Nevada’s rural communities

agricultural producers to discuss the role of theuniversity in Nevada’s communities.

“My lasting impression is that there is anincredible amount of intellectual talent in theseareas, and the university needs to do a betterjob of communicating the opportunities ofhigher education to the students,” Fredericksays. “As Nevada’s land-grant institution, weneed to continue to make efforts to reach out tothe rural areas.

“We have an obligation to serve them as wellas the urban populations. Sometimes thatmeans driving those extra miles to see people.”

— Bob Conrad

DRIVING THE EXTRA MILES

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On Campus

The study of High Energy Density (HED)matter, recently dubbed “the X games

of modern science” by the NationalResearch Council, is one of the mostexciting frontier areas in modern physics —and one in which the University of NevadaDepartment of Physics is determined to bea major player.

“We have assembled a world-leading teamof HED researchers, including two of the toprecognized experts in advanced computersimulation worldwide: Dr. Hartmut Ruhl andDr. Yasuhiko Sentoku,” says Tom Cowan,director of the physics department’s NevadaTerawatt Facility (NTF). “Their expertisecomplements the unique experimentalcapabilities of the NTF, which has a high-power-pulsed power machine that will becoupled to an ultra-high intensity, short-pulse laser presently under construction.”

The NTF will pursue a broad program ofadvanced HED science including high-

Terawatt Facility assembles ‘world-leading’ teamintensity laser-matter interactions, creationand study of astrophysical plasmas in theterrestrial laboratory, fusion energy research,and the development of the next generationof particle accelerators for research andmedical applications.

“Under the direction of Dr. Ruhl, the NTFhas begun developing a massively parallelsupercomputer, and has made a break-through in the computational efficiency ofcomputer codes that simulate complexplasma phenomena,” Cowan says. “This hasled to research collaborations with manyinternational and national laboratories forthe University of Nevada to provide state-of-the-art computer modeling for theirresearch programs.”

These collaborations include workingwith Lawrence Livermore National Labora-tory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratoryand Osaka University, Japan.

— John Wheeler

It was déjà vu for the200 4-H alumni, leaders,

youth and friends whogathered on the shores of theState 4-H Camp at Lake Tahoein October at the firststatewide Nevada 4-HReunion. The attendees had,collectively, more than 1,000years of 4-H membership,representing youth educationin eight states. Some of thefamilies boasted severalgenerations of 4-H members.

A big drawing card was theopportunity to revisit thehistoric camp where manyalumni spent childhoodsummers, dating back to the1930s when the camp wasacquired by the university. Inthose days, the sleepingfacilities were outside.

“The 4-H program hasgrown from several hundredmembers in the early 1900s tomore than 63,000 today,” saysKaren Hinton, a former 4-H’erand dean of University ofNevada Cooperative Extension,

4-H alumni return to the scenic shores of Tahoe

which develops a wide array ofprograms at camp, in clubs,and during and after school.

The 4-H experience hasshaped thousands of lives,producing many notableNevadans who have becomestate leaders and importantcontributors to their communi-ties. Nevada Attorney Generaland alumnus Brian Sandoval, a“farmer at heart” who raisedsheep as a youth, proudlyshowed his son and nephew thecabins he occupied duringsummer camp in the 1970s.

— Alice Good

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Nevada Terawatt Facilityresearchers Yasuhiko Sentoku,left, and Hartmut Ruhl.

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A group of 4-HReunionattendees whowere 4-Hmembers in the1940s.

Attorney General BrianSandoval shows off the 4-HCamp to his son, James (top)and nephew, Tanner.

A group of 4-H Reunion attendees who were 4-H members inthe 1950s.


On Campus

Geography Professor Gary Hausladen’sbook from the University of Nevada

Press, Western Places, American Myths:How We Think About the West, received ahighly favorable review in the booksection of the Los Angeles Times.

Hausladen’s book includes 13 writerswho contributed essays about theAmerican West. The Los Angeles Times

review, written by Jonathan Kirsch, aregular contributor to the Times’ BookReview section, states that Hausladen’swork helps define an essentially unde-fined West: “The point of this collection isto explore the different, often conflictingideas that arise when we utter the word‘West.’”

One of Hausladen’s contributingwriters, University of Nevada Departmentof Geography colleague Paul Starrs, alsoearned high marks from Kirsch.

Kirsch notes that Starrs’ essay, “AnInescapable Range, or the Ranch asEverywhere,” is a “brilliant example of thealchemical blend of geography andmythology. (Starrs) reminds us thatranching has always been confined to theleast desirable stretches of the Westernwilderness — ‘a sizable void where nightlights illumine not.’”

Hausladen, throughout a distinguished16-year career at Nevada, has proven tobe equally adept as a classroom instruc-tor or writer. Western Places, AmericanMyths, is the latest in a series of publishedworks that have focused on a widevariety of topics, from Russia to the senseof place in murder mysteries.

Hausladen has earned the RegentsTeaching Award, the Alan Bible Teaching

Geography professor’s book receives good review

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Excellence Award (top instructor in theCollege of Arts & Science), and theTibbitts Award (awarded to theuniversity’s top teacher). His interests —and teaching and writing content — runthe gamut from geography to literatureto film.

Western Places, American Myths, is 360pages, $49.95, and is published by theUniversity of Nevada Press.

— John Trent

Gary Hausladen, professor ofgeography, continues winning honorsfor both his teaching and writing.

• Noted Presidential Historian; Author: The ConquerorsThe ConquerorsThe ConquerorsThe ConquerorsThe Conquerors

• Contributor to PBS’ “News Hour with Jim Lehrer” and ABC News

Election Year ��The University of Nevada invites you to join in the dialogue

THE NEW COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS PRESENTSTHE NEW COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS PRESENTSTHE NEW COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS PRESENTSTHE NEW COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS PRESENTSTHE NEW COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS PRESENTS

Tickets:Tickets:Tickets:Tickets:Tickets: Box Office in the Church Fine Arts Building� �� a�m� to � p�m�

Monday�Friday� Remaining seats go on sale one hour prior to the event�

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members� KNPB members and faculty*�

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MICHAEL BESCHLOSS


On Campus

A dirt floorclassroom

The Arts


On Campus

This classroom flooris hardened dirt nestled

by a scattering of pineneedles. Not only that,but students had to

bring their own chairs.A varied lot of chairs it was, too: somechaise lounges and other hard-backbeach chairs combined with a coupleof camping stools, and one studentforgot to bring a chair, or didn’t haveone. And this classroom had no wallsbut it did offer a ceiling of stars,shining brightly through the thin

mountain air.Our class-room lightwas providedby flashlightsand by thelight of thewarming fire,necessary byitself giventhe crisp air

after sunset. While it was late June inthe Hoover Wilderness, heavy Aprilsnows, including one last significantsummer snowstorm the week before,made this mountain workshop a placefor the telling of stories.

Let the stories begin! Like the wind,the speaking weaves through the forest:Imagine for a moment swimming insnow-melt lakes that are sufficientlycold that Chris claimed after screamingat the top of his lungs “...I’m worried

The Arts

Story by Peter Goin

A full service classroom — Lona Cavallera greets theday.

ABOVE: A must-havewilderness item: insectrepellent.

DETAIL, FAR LEFT: A tapedtoe shows the perils of longhikes.

OPPOSITE PAGE: PeterGoin’s time exposure of theclass campsite at the eastend of Green Lake in theHoover Wilderness has an‘other world’ feel.

Peter Goin, professor of art,uses body language in

telling a nighttime story.

Continues next page

All the b/w photos were exposed,processed and scanned by CourtneyGresham-Green


On CampusOn the Move

about having children after that colddip....” or Kami, who nearly hallucinatedfrom the myriad of mosquito attacks,artfully turning the experience into adance around the fire, and, too, aphotographic project. Then Emma hikedevery mountain, accepting the compli-ments of Eric and Mat, who weresuitably impressed and tired in pursuit.If wilderness is defined by that areawhere a cell phone doesn’t work, Markwill crack open a satellite phone andthen later prove his acumen at publicperformance. Kellyn, a steady, firmhiker, discovered a strategy of visualliteracy in the mountain, almost as if itwere a spiritual quest. Rebekah, Amberand Courtney learned the coyote yell,and felt it reverberate across the valleys.Janine documented pathways as if eachstep marked a new beginning. Lonatalked along the trail, speaking to thetrees and the animals. Julie became partof nature, and made photographs asevidence of the spirit of the place.

Amy Chatowski organized the packtrip, working with Matt Taylor and theVirginia Lakes Pack Outfit, where 13students, one professor, 12 or moremules and as many horses rode into oneof this country’s eldest wildernessareas. Amy was camp goddess, mommawilderness, and right-hand camp girl,and her stories electrified the classroom,trees, mosquitoes, squirrels, deer andall. If you want to hear all of thesestories, you will have to visit theclassroom where wild things roam.

(Editor’s note: This brief article derivesfrom Professor Peter Goin’s summer 2003fieldwork workshop in photographyconducted within California’s HooverWilderness, next to the Yosemite Wilder-ness area. Students were required toparticipate in telling stories and perform-ing, while during the light of day,photographing. These photographs derivemostly from Courtney Gresham-Green’sfocus on the classroom itself. The exhibitof a few of everyone’s photographs was heldin Interim Dean Eric Herzik’s College ofLiberal Arts office in the Ansari BusinessBuilding. The work of Goin and hisstudents is an ongoing feature this year inNevada Silver & Blue.)

Nevada researcher thrilled to be part of

More information and photosof Calvin can be found at:www.unr.edu/ur/calvinrelease.htm

More information about the Mars rovermission is available on the Internet:http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/index.html

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This image, captured by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's camera,highlights the puzzling rock outcropping that scientists are eager to investigate.These layered rocks measure only 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall and are thoughtto be either volcanic ash deposits or sediments carried by water or wind.

By Melanie Supersano

She doesn’t have a Mars clock,but Wendy Calvin, University of

Nevada Arthur Brant researchassociate professor of geophysicsand one of 50 scientists on the MarsExploration Rover (MER) mission’sscience team, is living on Mars time.

Calvin is currently bunkered downat the Jet Propulsion Laboratory inPasadena, Calif. with her MER missioncolleagues, shifting back to Earthtime when she comes back to Renoevery two Martian weeks (a Mars dayis about 40 minutes longer than anEarth day) to check in at home andtake care of graduate students.

Calvin is also mentoring a recentgrad, Alicia Fallacaro (’03 MSGeology), who is among about 100science affiliates with the MER program.“Alicia is doing a downlink role and iscovering for me when I’m not there,”Calvin says.

Since Spirit and Opportunity, the twinrobotic rovers that landed on differentsides of the Red Planet in January, startedsending back data, scientists haveconfirmed that Martian soil includeshematite, an iron ore associated withwater. If Mars once had water, it’s possibleit once had life.

“It’s why we went there,” Calvin says. “Wewould have been surprised it we didn’tfind it.” Calvin, whose specialty is infraredspectroscopy using the “mini-TES” orThermal Emissions Spectrometer onboardboth rovers, explains that a larger TESinstrument on the Mars Global Surveyorsatellite orbiting Mars had alreadyidentified hematite on the surface.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,Calvin says being part of the MER team is“ a career highlight.”

Wendy Calvin spent 10 hours assembling aLEGO version of the Mars explorationrover. She is a participating scientist on theMars Exploration Rover Mission team. Youcan purchase a LEGO rover at lego.com.

MARS MISSION

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“I’ve worked for 15 years on data setsfrom other planets. To actually be therewhen the data is coming down is reallythrilling.”

Spirit and Opportunity are larger, moremobile and better equipped than the1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Each carries asophisticated set of instruments. Bothrovers were launched from CapeCanaveral Air Force Station, Fla. last year.

In Pasadena, a watchmaker has madeMars watches for some of the missionmembers. Calvin, however, is using asoftware program to keep track of herinterplanetary schedules.


On Campus

For a guy who changed majors to avoidhaving to take a foreign language, TimCasey hit the international diplomatic

scene without breaking stride, shaping globalInternet law and helping determine the futureof intellectual property law in the United Statesas a primary author and negotiator of theDigital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

“I started out as a pre-med major, butdecided that wasn’t the thing for me,” Caseysays. “I was very bad at foreign languages. Idecided I was better off moving to a major thatdidn’t have a foreign language requirement,”he recalls.

So he switched to electrical engineering,graduating from Nevada in 1984.

It was this degree that ultimately led Caseyto become a leader in high-tech law, bothnationally and internationally. Now a partnerand chair of Intellectual Property & TechnologyLaw in the Washington, D.C. office of FriedFrank, an international law firm based in NewYork City, Casey remembers the route thatstarted in Nevada and landed him in Geneva,lobbying United Nations world leaders toimplement fair copyright protection laws and,ultimately, save the Internet as we know it.

The College of Engineering first helpedCasey find an internship with a local company,Lynch Communications, which made PBXsystems. Unfortunately, the demand for itsproducts wasn’t strong and Casey and anumber of other employees were laid off,which made a strong impact on the buddingelectrical engineer.

“Getting laid off was very disturbing. I wasvery concerned — is this what it’s going to belike in the real world?” he remembers.

But Casey wasn’t a typical student on asingle career path. He ran for office and becamea student body senator for engineering. Heinterned with a state senator and found himselfworking the halls of the legislature in CarsonCity, both for the senator and in his capacity asa student representative for the university.

“I would have my intern badge on and aneducation bill would come up; I’d put on mylobbyist badge and go and testify. Only inNevada could this have happened,” he muses.

Tim Casey spearheads Web law evolutionInternet PioneerBy Melanie Supersano

On the Move

Through his legislative connections, he wasgranted an interview with E.M. “Al”Gunderson, chief justice of the Nevada Su-preme Court. Gunderson was an adjunctprofessor at University of the Pacific, McGeorgeSchool of Law in Sacramento and offered Caseythe chance to apply to McGeorge with hisrecommendation.

But the transition from engineering to lawwas still difficult. “Law school exams are allessay exams. I hadn’t written an essay exam ina long time.”

After a disastrous first two quarters, “Ithought for sure I had flunked out,” he remem-bers. Work seemed like the only alternative.

Casey landed a job at a disk drive companyin San Jose. The job was an eye-opener, show-ing him what an exceptional education he hadreceived at Nevada.

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Tim Casey’s electricalengineering degree ledto a high-poweredcareer as an intellectualproperty lawyer.

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“There were recent grads from MIT, Stanfordand Cal-Tech — some of the well-knownengineering schools. I found that I knew asmuch or more than they did. I certainly had abetter grasp of the practical things that youneeded to know as an engineer. I realized,‘Wow!’ my education at Nevada was really firstrate.”

Casey was enjoying his work as an engineer,but as it turned out, he not only recovered fromhis difficult start at McGeorge, he managed toplace in the top 20 percent of his class.

“I had to make a decision,” he recalls. On theone hand, he wanted to pursue a law degree,on the other, he wanted to keep his engineeringjob. So he worked out a transfer to Santa ClaraUniversity School of Law that allowed him tobe a full-time engineer and a part-time student.

“I didn’t go to law school with the intent ofbecoming an intellectual property attorney, Ijust thought my background would be a goodcombination,” he says. “I saw all these hightechnology companies with lawyers withpolitical science and English majors —wouldn’t it be a good idea to be an engineerand a lawyer who could understand both thetechnology and the law?”

A good idea it was. While in lawschool, he studied for and passed the patentregistration examination, a federal requirementto represent inventors before the Patent Office.Passing this exam led him to leave his engi-neering job for a full-time job clerking andwriting patent applications for the law firmRosenblum, Parish & Bacigalupi. After graduat-ing, Casey worked for the firm, then for leadingSilicon Valley companies such as Apple andSilicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI), working with someof the best engineers in the world and stayingat the forefront of the latest in high-techinnovations.

“At Apple, I worked on numerous advancedtechnology projects, such as handheld comput-ers, software technologies, and the Power PCmicroprocessor, which was a joint developmentproject between IBM, Apple and Motorola. Iwas one of the attorneys who put that dealtogether,” he says.

SGI was a startup company known forinventing graphics technologies used to create thespecial effects in movies, design cars and predictweather when Casey became its head intellectualproperty counsel. Through SGI, Casey becameinvolved with the White House InformationInfrastructure Task Force, the Clintonadministration’s response to the nascent Internet.

“The Internet was becoming something andthanks to the World Wide Web, it became easyto use and began to grow significantly. Alongwith that growth came concern that copy-righted content would be easily copied anddistributed over the Internet. The contentcompanies — the movie industry, the recordingindustry — were very worried about theimpact the Internet would have on theirbusinesses,” Casey recalls.

SGI was, at that time, working on an interac-tive television project with Time Warner, one ofthe top content companies.

“Time Warner was pressuring SGI to supportthem within the Task Force for legislation thatwould modify copyright law to make Internetservice providers (ISPs), the access andnetwork operators of the Internet, liable forinfringing material put on the Internet byusers.”

Then Casey took a job at MCI — the domi-nant ISP. “So suddenly, I went from a companythat wasn’t going to have liability as a result ofthis legislation, to a company that was going tohave most of the liability.”

But MCI, along with other communicationscompanies, was busy concentrating its lobby-ing efforts on the Telecommunications Act,which eventually passed in 1996. Caseyseemed to be the only person concerned aboutthe pending copyright bill.

“This bill will kill the Internet,” Caseyremembers thinking. If ISPs were held liable foranything that their customers put on a Webpage or sent in an e-mail, the price of using theInternet would skyrocket to offset the litigationand liability the ISPs would surely face.

Taking the lead from a case in which theChurch of Scientology convinced an ISP toremove infringing customer material when thechurch complained, Casey formulated anamendment to the legislation based on aconcept he dubbed “notice and take down.”

A lobbyist at MCI introduced Casey to U.S.Rep. Rick Boucher from Virginia, who acceptedthe amendment and connected Casey with agroup of people interested in supporting noticeand take down. As a result, Casey became theco-founder of the Ad Hoc Copyright Coalition, agroup sustaining this effort on behalf of all ISPs,telephone and software companies, universitiesand a variety of other entities. One of theCoalition’s hardest tasks was explaining topeople what the Internet was and how itworked. As the only engineer involved, this tasklargely fell to Casey. “We fought like mad andreally worked the issue,” says Casey, recalling

SIDE NOTES:• As a result of TimCasey’s global effortto affect Internetlaws, publisher JohnWiley & Sons askedCasey to write a book,ISP Liability SurvivalGuide: Strategies forManaging Copyright,Spam, Cache, andPrivacy Regulations,which it published in2000.

• Casey was a SigmaNu fraternity brotherwhile attendingNevada.

• While at Santa ClaraUniversity School ofLaw, Tim Caseydistinguished himselfby publishing anaward-winning paperabout trademark lawand becoming thefirst part-timestudent to serve aseditor-in-chief of theSanta Clara Computer& High TechnologyLaw Journal.



the David vs. Goliath struggle. This effort led tothe bill’s defeat — a victory in itself.

But, as the bill lost steam, the contentcommunity started working on an end runaround Congress that involved the WorldIntellectual Property Organization (WIPO), astanding body of the United Nations. WIPOhad spent years working on an internationaltreaty intended to update copyright laws toprotect digital works around the world, andthanks to the content community’s last-minuteefforts, it did so without regard for ISP liability.

WIPO’s treaty would undo, on a global scale,everything Casey and his coalition had achievedin the U.S. But the treaty was in its eleventh hourand Casey’s coalition didn’t even have thenongovernmental organization (NGO) statusthat was required to attend WIPO meetings.

“What can we possibly do?” Casey remem-bers thinking.

Moving quickly, Casey and two colleagues flewto Helsinki to meet with the Finnish governmentofficial responsible for drafting the final treaty.

The official had sympathy for the ISPs, butwould only put a vague reference to thecoalition’s concerns in the draft.

It was enough. Now the coalition only neededto get enough countries to support its positionduring negotiation of the treaty at a diplomaticconference to take place in Geneva in late 1996.

The coalition received NGO status, but toolate to attend or make progress at the Asian,American and European regional conferences.That left the African conference.

“The Africans usually splinter alonghistorical lines; they rarely vote as a block,”Casey remembers, so his goal was to urge themto support the coalition and try it one time. Inreturn, the coalition promised to help Africansuse copyrights to protect their oral histories,their folklore, which the content community,ironically, had been stealing.

In the end, after almost a month of negotia-tion, all African countries attending theconference and a number of other countriesstepped up to support the coalition’s amend-ments to the treaty and it passed.

Back in the United States, Casey then helpednegotiate and write the DMCA, which waspassed in October 1998 in response to the treaty.

Casey also worked with the EuropeanCommission to help draft language for their E-Commerce Directive, extending the notice andtake down concept to any content on theInternet, not just copyrighted works, whichwas passed by the European Union. Noticeand take down has now been widely imple-mented around the world.

Casey lives in McLean, Va., with his wife,Jacquelyn Fuzell-Casey, and son, Skyler.

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Tim Casey andJacquelyn Fuzell-Caseyrecently celebratedtheir 16th weddinganniversary. They meton a blind date 20years ago and sincethen “she has been mykey adviser andpartner,” says Casey.Fuzell-Casey is aphotographer, heads achildren’s charity andstays at home withtheir son, Skyler, whowill be 13 in March.


Student Body

The overarching, three-decades-running mission

embraced by five professors in the university’sCollege of Education, as part of a nationallyrecognized Literacy Studies team, has helpedNevada become a U.S. leader in reading educa-

tion and undergraduate teacher preparation. Now, thoseefforts have helped play a key role in bringing 16,000 of thenation’s teachers to Reno this spring.

From May 2-6, the International Reading Association,with a general session of 10,000-plus, will convene innorthern Nevada for its 49th annual convention at theReno-Sparks Convention Center. Literacy Studies teammember Diane Barone, past editor of the premier researchjournal in the field, Reading Research Quarterly, will be afeatured speaker on early literacy.

“It is amazing that we attracted it here,” shesays, noting that IRA officials moved theconvention from Toronto. “It is just a huge,huge event.”

The National Commission on Excellence inElementary Teacher Preparation for ReadingInstruction, in an IRA-authorized study,recognized Nevada as one of eight U.S.higher education institutions withexemplary credentials for preparingreading teachers. The report praised theuniversity, which has been leading athree-year, statewide $26 millionNevada Reading Excellence Act grant,for its ability to develop highlyappropriate field experiences in theschools for its undergraduate educa-tion students.

Barone, local convention chair, saysfellow speaker Nevada Gov. Kenny

Guinn will kick off a busy program. IRA president-electRichard Allington of the University of Florida and Univer-sity of Illinois at Chicago researcher Taffy Raphael, NationalReading Conference past president and IRA teachereducation award-winner, are also convention speakers.

In preparing learners for life experiences through theirreading, the team of Barone and Literacy Studies colleaguesCindy Brock, Shane Templeton, Donald Bear, and JuliePennington, employs a variety of techniques that translateextraordinarily well to both classroom and one-on-onetutoring environments.

Elementary school children participate in highly special-ized reading programs at the college’s E.L. Cord Founda-tion Center for Learning and Literacy. Bear, the center’sdirector, said research-based assessments, such as the

College of Education leads

By Pat McDonnell

Teaching children to read can be a daunting task. Luckily, budding readers aregetting top-quality support from faculty at the University of Nevada.

Ginny Holmes, Jan Rumball, RobinKauffmann, Patricia Franklin, Lisa Keilty,Kim Warren and Kelley Clare were among14 students in the first group to receivethe university’s new master of educationdegree in literacy studies Dec. 6.

Literacy Studies


Phonological Awareness Literacy Screening (PALS),identify children who are having difficulty with readingfundamentals and assist teachers in matching instructionto children’s development. In addition to his extensivework with PALS screenings, Bear’s research on civicliteracy with Nevada professor KathrynObenchain has helped expand their workworldwide, leading to a cooperative programin the field with the University of Babes-Bolyai in Cluj, Romania.

Brock, meanwhile, has worked on severalresearch projects of international scope,including one with College of Educationcolleague Lynda Wiest through the campus’University Studies Abroad Consortium. The twoprofessors have been exploring how Nevadaeducation students and current teachers learn aboutthe complexities of instructing children fromdiverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Barone, leading a statewide $26 million“Reading First” grant, is inviting distin-guished speakers in the field to Nevada,enhancing professional developmentopportunities for educators specializing inearly literacy instruction and learning. Herwork on the literacy development of children

prenatally exposed to crack andcocaine has been widely published.

Pennington, with expertise in highstakes testing and reading as well ascritical race studies, examineshow institutions and teachersconstruct and define literacywithin a rigorous assessmentenvironment. Her studieson how race is sociallyconstructed in classroomliteracy practice and teachereducation add depth to theteam’s research.

Graduate students in theCollege of Education also have accessto a new layer of instructional techniquesand professional development thatdramatically increases their range ofteaching skills. The 40-credit Master’s inLiteracy Studies program, founded in fall2000 with the support of longtime

Nevada benefactor Dorothy Lemelson andher Lemelson Education Assistance Program

(LEAP), expanded to its fourth cohort of 25Washoe County teachers this spring. Currently,

100 teachers, from schools selected by the Washoe CountySchool District and the university, have been sharingresearch-based ‘best practices’ for literacy instruction.

Teachers at Anderson, Libby Booth, Rita Cannan andSierra Vista elementary schools in Reno, Esther

Bennett in Sun Valley, Desert Heights in Steadand Sparks’ Lincoln Park, Kate Smith and

Florence Drake are the latest programparticipants.

Fourteen students from the inauguralcohort, established in Incline Village,graduated from Nevada Dec. 6. GraduateBarbara Everman, a 70-year-old Incline

Village resident, says Lemelson and theuniversity have given her a gift beyond

belief.“Mrs. Lemelson made it so easy,” saysEverman, a 1957 graduate of Pepperdine

University who is teaching 18 second-gradestudents at Incline Elementary. “Theprofessors came up here to us and tuitionwas free. I said to myself, ‘Someone istelling me something. Follow the dream.’I feel like a brand new teacher.”

Templeton, who with lead author Bearhas co-written a best-selling book in

education, Words Their Way, an examinationof word study, phonics and spelling, says

Everman and the other teachers in the cohortare “trailblazers.” The new graduates are

eligible for endorsement as kindergartenthrough 12th-grade reading specialists

with the state of Nevada.Templeton, a member of the Usage

Panel for American Heritage Dictionarysince 1987, says the younger teachers in

the group were realisticidealists with the energy

to immediately instillthe concepts they

were learning intheir classrooms.The olderstudents wereremarkablydedicated,understandinghow well they

could blend theirown life experiences

with these newteaching tools.

FACES OF LITERACYFrom top: Dorothy Lemelson,Shane Templeton and

Diane Barone have joined literacystudies team members Donald Bear,Cindy Broch and Julie Pennington in

leading reading education.On the Internet: E.L. Cord

Foundation Center for Learningand Literacy Web site:

http://www.unr.edu/cll/


Generations

During the first two minutes — or to be exact 122 seconds — of each ascent, America’s space shuttles are lifted out of

the atmosphere with the assistance of a whitepowder, a solid fuel propellant that has morethan a little silver and blue mixed in.

“There’s slightly less than two millionpounds of our stuff on every flight,” says FredGibson, Jr. (Mines, 1951), who, along with hisfather, Fred Sr., in Henderson, Nev., in 1955perfected and patented a method for making afuel ingredient that would revolutionize theaerospace field.

Two minutes is all it takes to burn off twomillion pounds of ammonium perchlorate, butit’s enough to send the shuttle on its way. For theaccomplishment, the younger Gibson received

the Distinguished Public Service Medal, thehighest civilian honor awarded by the NationalAeronautics and Space Administration.

Fred Gibson Jr. is retired now, but his brotherJohn (Metallurgical Engineering, 1964), is thecurrent president and CEO of American PacificCorporation, the company that ultimatelyevolved in 1982 through mergers with severalother chemical companies whose genesis datesback to the end of World War II. Fred succeededhis father as president in 1966 and held theposition until 1997 when brother John took over.

It’s a notable success story, but one that wasmarred by tragedy. The name of the companythat merged with American Pacific was PacificEngineering & Production Co. or PEPCON. Formany long-time Nevadans, the acronym still

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maintains strong Nevada orbitFrom the nation’sspace program tostate politics, theGibson family hasrecorded a half-century ofachievement andpublic service.(From left) JohnGibson and FredGibson Jr.


evokes somber memories. On May 4, 1988, PEPCON’sHenderson chemical factory erupted in a thunderousexplosion, destroying the facility, taking two lives andinjuring hundreds. It could easily have been the end forPEPCON and American Pacific.

“Absolutely,” Fred says. “The thing I focused on waspersuading the government to help support us in rebuild-ing. My statement to them was that we would have thisthing in production within the year. We established ourcredibility with the government and that’s still to ourbenefit.”

With federal help for the strategically importantoperation, the company rebuilt its plant in Utah and hasprospered in the subsequent years. “It was a huge chal-lenge,” Fred says. Today, American Pacific has more than200 employees, mostly in Utah, with a couple of dozen atthe company’s Las Vegas headquarters, located in abusiness park a stone’s throw from the Strip.

The Gibson family’s roots lie deep in the Nevada soil,but also extend across it. In the 1950s, Fred Sr. bought 600acres of land in what is today the geographical heart ofHenderson. Back then, it went for $100 to $200 an acre.The brothers have successfully developed most of thisland, with about half used for residences and half for abusiness park. Gibson Road, named after Fred Sr., is hometo the world’s largest auto mall.

“My dad was prescient,” says John Gibson. “You wouldnot know it [the 600 acres] as we knew it. I actually havean envelope with a letter from my grandmother that wasmailed to Master John Gibson, Las Vegas, Nevada. Nostreet address or anything and it was delivered.”

John came to American Pacific after a 28-year careerwith U.S. Steel. Between 1986 and 1992, he was responsiblefor the $500 million modernization of the Pittsburg, Calif.,plant as part of a joint venture between U.S. Steel and

Pohang Iron and Steel Ltd. (POSCO) of South Korea.Through this position, he visited South Korea dozens oftimes to train managers.

“It was a great adventure,” he says. “They taught usorderliness. You can walk on a blast furnace floor in Koreain your street shoes. If you did that in America, I’m notsure your street shoes would survive. The other thing iscommitment. If you and I shake hands, the trust is implicit.The written document is not as important as a trueagreement between two adults. It’s a miraculous country.”

Fred Jr. and John are two of five siblings. Their brother,Jim, was a Nevada state senator who served for nearlythree decades. Then-Gov. Richard Bryan called him, “...thepremier legislator in Nevada, without peer.” Jim’s son, JimJr., is the current mayor of Henderson, and tabbed byinsiders as a potential governor.

Interestingly, although both Fred Jr. and John have longcareers as managers, neither is trained in that discipline.

“But, an engineer can and should make a good managerbecause one of the important parts of an engineeringeducation is you’re taught how to think,” Fred says. “Thatanalytical approach to problems is important for managersas well.”

The brothers are both heavily involved in a multitude ofcivic activities. Among them, Fred is chairman of the StateCommission on Mineral Resources and president of theNevada Taxpayers Association; John is on the foundationboard for Nevada State College in Henderson. Fred holdsan honorary doctorate from Nevada and was named aDistinguished Nevadan in 1985.

The Gibson legacy at Nevada continues. Fred’s grand-daughter, Maureen O’Bannon, is currently a businessmajor and already an entrepreneur with her own T-shirtbusiness.

Gibson Family’s

Fred Jr. Maisie GibsonRonnow

Jennilee GibsonThayer

ChristinaGibson Little

■ Five siblings attendedNevada: John*; Fred Jr.; MaisieGibson Ronnow (English andSecondary Education, 1951);Christina Gibson Little (Nursing,1973); and Jennilee GibsonThayer (Mathematics, Elemen-tary and Secondary Education,1953).

■ John Gibson’s wife, Marianne,is another Nevada grad.(Elementary Education, 1963).

ConnectionsNEVADA

*not pictured


Making a Difference Generations



Cover Story

velyn English’s voice is one of the mostdistinctive things about a very distinctivewoman.

Hers is a reassuring voice, a gracefulvoice, a teacher’s voice. It is also a gentle

voice, a voice not of limitation but of possibility.It is a voice that says, “I have a story too, ifyou’d like to hear about it.”

Most of all, though, at age 88, her voice is thatof a woman who has loved and who continuesto love all that there is to life. She has seen hershare of triumph ... and, unfortunately, hershare of tragedy. She is the last of a group of sixremarkable children from John and LouiseSemenza still living, and each day she remem-bers the faces of her beloved brothers andsisters, their memory as delicate as an old,yellowing newspaper clipping.

Throughout her life, she has retained a rarenobility, an ability to see good in the mostunlikely places. Though she is alone, she isnever alone. She is an unrepentant keeper ofletters and records, duty-bound in her love forher family to make sure her family is neverforgotten.

In Roots, Alex Hailey’s classic tale of thetriumph of an American family, he writes of thetribes of his ancestors, and of the most es-teemed of all tribal positions, that of “Greot,”or storyteller. The “Greot” holds all storiesrelated to the tribe, and passes the stories on tothe next generation through story. In manyways, English is a wizened practitioner of the“Greot” tradition. The stories flow forwardfrom her with a tender thrill. Hardly any of usknow the significant events in our lives as theyare actually happening, but through the prismof time and understanding, she weaves herstories in a soft-spoken, understated manner.

Of all the memories she has retained, though,one related to a beautiful, yet tragic time in herlife, has stood out.

One evening, composer Alan Smith, a musicprofessor at USC, was talking with English,who lives in Pasadena, Calif., about a project hewas having difficulty completing. Smith was tocompose a song cycle for the TanglewoodMusic Center in Massachusetts in celebration of

Correspondence from a soldier, dying young, to his Nevada-born

bride still resonates more than 60 years later

Love letters for the ages

Story by John Trent

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Cover Story

‘I had seen fire go through the youngpines in drought season. But it was nomore swift than passion’s blaze through us.Our hearts were rejoined and we were ineach other’s arms.We were pitiful in the bliss and pain of it

- so lavish were our loves so strong ourneed and right of each other and sovigorous and sentient our years.You will remember, won’t you?’— 1942 letter from England from Lt. George Honts to his wife, Evelyn.

the 80th birthday of the great soprano PhyllisCurtin. English, a 1936 graduate of the univer-sity, happened to say that she had held onto allof the correspondence she had received fromher late husband, George W. Honts, who waskilled during World War II.

What Smith found in the letters was remark-able. Nearly 60 years old, the letters containeda love, both for Evelyn and for life, that wasundeniably fresh and real. The love letters havebecome the centerpiece for “Vignettes: Lettersfrom George to Evelyn from the Private Papersof a World War II bride,” which made its WestCoast debut in early 2003 at USC’s NewmanRecital Hall. Inspired, Smith wrote the piecequickly, using lyrics taken directly from Honts’letters, with the telegram informing English ofher husband’s death forming the emotionalcenter of the composition.

The attraction between the two youngpeople, naturally enough, came at a party atFort Ord, Calif.... through the sound of a youngfirst lieutenant’s voice.

“He had such a beautiful voice,” Englishsays. “I didn’t have my glasses on and Iwondered what he looked like until he cameover to me. He was such an attractive man,with such a beautiful voice, and he was sointelligent.”

Even through her nearsightedness, she saw apair of trusting, thoughtful blue eyes smilingback at her. He was a person who lovedpicnics, and wondered if the young schoolteacher from Reno would like to picnic on thebeach that Sunday.

Evelyn and George were married only a fewmonths later, on Dec. 24, 1942.George, from Los Angeles, a consci-entious objector who had studied

medicine, was part of a medical unitthat successfully landed during the

Normandy Invasion. His letters cameregularly to English, who returned to

Reno and worked in the Riverside DressShop. They read almost like poetry:

descriptive and evocative, lyrical in theirjoyful ode to living.

They usually began in firm, clearcursive: “Bonjour Evelyn — “

“The sun has just come up. It’s a beautifulmorning. The grassy downs are sparkling like

myriads of diamonds. Sheep are placidly grazingaround my tent, satisfied with the prospect of

getting both food and drink in the same mouthfuland displaying their wooly youngsters with greatpride.

“From the top of our hill the great sea is as quietas a lake. The anchored hulls of all the cargo ships



Cover Story

are quietly swaying to and fro keeping rhythm withgentle swells that do not end in surf. This morningmy heart goes out to you.”

The young doctor survived D-Day, andseemed destined to be reunited with his bride.He was killed in March 1945 — a scant few daysbefore the end of the war — near the RhineRiver.

In a cruel twist — almost impossible toimagine in today’s information age, with theinstant, hyperactive, updated-by-the-minutegraphics of the recent Iraqi War — Evelyncontinued to receive George’s letters in theweeks after she received the telegram withnews of his death.

“The Secretary of War desires to express his deepregret that your husband 1Lt Honts George W waskilled in Germany 25 Mar 45 Confirming letterfollows”

Followed by:“My heart, my mind, my soul is yours —My best to everyone ... Must run now, my sweet—

Gotta run now babyLove George”



It was as if George was not dead at all, hissoothing, carefully crafted words offering astrange, elegiac sense of comfort to his despon-dent young wife.

Perhaps, just perhaps, they were words thatwere not meant to die at all.

Everything that dies, perhaps, one day comesback.

It is not surprising, then, that as George’swords continued to live in the weeks followinghis death, they continue to resonate today, morethan 60 years later.

Words buried in the bottom of a chest in acloset have taken on new life.

“What Alan did with them was just wonder-ful,” Evelyn says. “I never knew what I wasgoing to do with all of those letters, who toshare them with, because I have no children.”

During the March 1990 funeral for Evelyn’ssister, Nevada, who moved 38 times in her life,those gathered were instructed in Nevada’seulogy to “Don’t be afraid to close chapters andstart new ones.”

All of her life, Evelyn English has known thatthe first novel a person ever knows is notwritten by Charles Dickens, or ErnestHemingway or even J.K. Rowling. Rather, thefirst novel that a person ever knows is that offamily. The chapters of family are begun atbirth and end at burial, and wind throughdisappointment and accomplishment, throughthe pain and joy of love, through the wonder oflife and the finality of death.

And it could be argued that in the telling ofthe story of her own family, the greatest story ofall has belonged, all along, to Evelyn — the oneperson who for more than 88 years has notallowed the distinctive, remarkable andmemorable voice of her family to ever fallsilent.

What was I going to do with all of thoseletters?

Now we know.

‘Have just come from Luxembourg,

where the emotions of new liberation are

still highlighted and poignant…In one

community we were welcomed by the

grand lady of the district. I shall never

forget her expression or her words ...

‘Let our lives be worthy of their deaths -

the thousand never to be forgotten deaths of

those who gave us these glorious days.’’

Cover Story

— 1944 letter from England from Lt. George Honts to his wife, Evelyn.



■ Reno businessman and DistinguishedNevadan Preston Q. Hale has led a long,complete and notable life, and histhoughtful and well-written memoir,From Coyotes To Corporations: Pages FromMy Life In The West, offers an insightfulglimpse into what Reno was and what itcould still become. The hardcover book— Hale’s second in five years (the first washis well-received novel from the BlackRock Press, Two Toes: The Coyote Legend ofGreen River) — tells the uncommonly richand productive life of an outdoorsmanequally at ease in a corporate boardroom;and of a civic volunteer who has leftlasting legacies in his state. In addition toHis remarkable career as a U.S. wildlifebiologist, Hale’s career as a real estatebroker, investor and builder helped toreshape northern Nevada’s businessterrain and skyline. Still going strong at89 years old, Hale has won nearly everymajor local civic award for his tirelessvolunteer efforts to boost the region’seconomy, redevelop downtown Reno andpreserve and protect the area’s mostprecious natural resource: the TruckeeRiver. The book is available in the ASUNBookstore and at Sundance Bookstore inReno.

■ Minerals of Nevada by Stephen B.Castor and Gregory C. Ferdock (NevadaBureau of Mines and Geology SpecialPublication and University of NevadaPress, 2003) is 512 pages and features 102color photos and one map (1:1,000,000-scale). Castor, research scientist for theNevada Bureau of Mines and Geology,and Ferdock, owner of CGF NaturalResources and a consulting mineralogistand economic geologist, offer the firstsynoptic catalog of Nevada minerals,listing every mineral found in the statealong with the places they occur.Included are engaging essays by severaldistinguished scientists and collectorsthat offer a geologic history of Nevada.Order a copy by phoning Nevada Bureauof Mines and Geology at (775) 784-6691,extension 2, or by checking the Web:www.nbmg.unr.edu/sales.htm

Books in brief■ The awards keep rolling in for A FamilyAffair: Harolds Club and the SmithsRemembered, compiled from interviewsby Dwayne Kling and R.T. King for theOral History Program. In December, AFamily Affair was named one of the bestgaming books of 2003 by Gaming Today.Reaching 41,700 readers with each issue,Gaming Today is the most prestigious andwidely read gaming newspaper in theworld. Gaming Today writes of A FamilyAffair: “It’s about one of the most colorfuland innovative casino owners ever —Pappy Smith and his sons Harold andRaymond. They were geniuseswho broke virtually every rule inthe book in regard to manage-ment and business, and for twodecades owned one of the mostsuccessful operations in thestate.”

■ In Identity, Culture, andPolitics in the Basque Diaspora(University of Nevada Press,2003), Gloria Totoricaguena,an assistant professor withthe university’s Center forBasque Studies, thoroughlyexamines the endurance ofBasque identity and culturein six countries of the far-flung Basque diaspora —Argentina, Australia,Belgium, Peru, the UnitedStates and Uruguay. Usingthe results of interviewswith more than 800informants in thediaspora and EuskalHerria (the BasqueCountry), questionnaireresults, plus extensiveresearch in archivesand printed sources inall six of her studycountries,Totoricaguena revealsfor the first time thecomplex universe ofthese dispersedBasques.

■ Fans of one of the state’s mostdistinguished photojournalists andeditors, C.J. Hadley, will be happy toknow that her excellent illustrated book,Trappings of the Great Basin Buckaroo(University of Nevada Press), is now inpaperback 10 years after its originalpublication. Trappings of the Great BasinBuckaroo is available through yourfavorite bookstore, or by mail from theUniversity of Nevada Press. To order, calltoll free 1-877-NVBOOKS, or visitwww.nvbooks.nevada.edu

University Bookshelf

AlumniNews


Richard Daniel,

Director of

Alumni Relations,

(775) 784-6620

Making the AlumniAssociation even betterDear Alumni,

Your Alumni Association has been extremely active in thefirst few months of 2004. We are continuously evaluating

and assessing our efforts to provide you with the qualityprograms, services and benefits deserving of our Nevadaalumni.

We are thrilled with the success that our new dues-payingmembership program has achieved. To date, more than 800alumni have joined as either lifetime or annual members. Thissincere level of commitment speaks to the willingness of ouralumni to give back to their alma mater. The new membershiprevenue will enable the Alumni Association to closely look athow we support you, our alumni, with respect to programs,services and benefits. As dues-paying members, we want youto stay connected to your alma mater.

In an effort to provide services of significance to alumni, theNevada Alumni Association will be conducting surveys ofalumni to find out your interests and needs. It is important to usthat we continue to provide programs, benefits and servicesthat are useful and beneficial.

The Nevada Alumni Association has partnered with specificaffinity programs so you can receive products and services atsubstantial savings. Please refer to our Web site, www.unr.edu/alumni, to review the programs that can benefit you. Also whileyou are there, please visit the Online Community to updateyour information for inclusion in our survey.

Stay connected to your alma mater. Keep us informed of themilestones and successes achieved in your life. We enjoysharing in the many accomplishments of our alumni family.

Go Pack!

Sincerely,

Richard Daniel, Ph.D.Director of Alumni Relations

AlumniNews


ChapterUpdates

SEN

IORS

CH

OLA

R

COBAAA ChapterSchedule a perfect day of golf for you and your

foursome on May 6 during the University ofNevada College of Business Administration AlumniAssociation’s (COBAAA) 13th annual golf tourna-ment at Lakeridge Golf Course in Reno. Thetournament is open to all alumni and the generalpublic for $150 per player or $600 for each team offour. All proceeds will support the College ofBusiness Administration. Your sponsorship of $250(for a hole) or any similar tournament sponsorshipwill be greatly appreciated. For more information,contact the College of Business Administration at(775) 784-4912 or Katie Weigel, (775) 882-5500,ext. 133.

College of EngineeringChapter

The College of Engineering recently had anexcellent event in Las Vegas. Kathy Smith, Class of1981, graciously offered her lovely home for areception and short program about the college onFeb. 6. A number of Clark County engineeringalumni had a chance to visit with each other, DeanTed Batchman, Smith and other members of theCollege of Engineering advisory board.

The dean reviewed some of the successes of thecollege’s students, faculty and alumni. He citedthe college’s growth and discussed keystoneprograms such as problem-based learningsupported by a generous grant from the Bill andFlora Hewlett Foundation. He also talked aboutthe world-class earthquake engineering programthat has the Rogers-Wiener Large-Scale Structures

Laboratory bursting at the seams.The dean also talked about the need for alumni

to connect and reconnect with the college and theuniversity. The college is eager to serve alumniwho may want to reconnect with classmates,explore continuing education, or find volunteeropportunities such as service on the departmentadvisory boards.

If you are interested in helping with this alumnioutreach, please contact Melanie Perish, develop-ment director, at (775) 784-6433 [email protected]

It’s not too early to mark your calendar for theCollege of Engineering Annual Banquet, which willbe held in Reno at Lawlor Events Center on May 5.Contact Rose Johns in the Dean’s Office, College ofEngineering, at (775) 784-6925 or via e-mail [email protected].

Seattle ChapterOn Dec. 14, 2003, the Seattle Chapter gathered

on one of the parade boats in the beautiful HolidayShip Festival on the Puget Sound. This is a ship-to-shore holiday celebration that has become aNorthwest tradition for more than 50 years.

The ships are decorated with hundreds ofshimmering white lights and miles of holidaygarland, forming the largest holiday flotilla in theworld. Along the way, the parade boats stop tolisten to a choir performance for two 20- to 30-minute programs throughout the evening.Children enjoyed arts and crafts and a visit fromSanta.

Festive members of the Seattle Chapter gathered onone of the parade boats in the beautiful Holiday ShipFestival on the Puget Sound in December. This ship-to-shore holiday celebration has been a Northwesttradition for more than 50 years.

SEAT

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TER

Around the Quad

Compiled by Elaine Casey,

(775) 784-4941. Visit our

calendar at www.unr.edu.

ALUMNI EVENTS

MARCH

11 — Alumni Executive

Committee. Monthly

meeting of the governing

body of the Executive

Committee. Amy

Carothers, (775) 784-6620.

APRIL

7 — Alumni Council

meeting. Quarterly

meeting of the Alumni

Association. Amy

Carothers, (775) 784-6620.

8 — Alumni Executive

Committee. Monthly

meeting of Executive

Committee. Amy

Carothers, (775) 784-6620.

Senior scholar Jason Wangler and his faculty mentor RahulBhargava, both from COBA, pose with Alumni Council PresidentWendy Damonte and university President John Lilley afterreceiving their award.

AlumniNews


Participants also brought canned food todonate to Northwest Harvest, a local food bank.Although there were some rough waters, thisfamily event was enjoyed by all and we hope itwill be a Seattle Chapter tradition. We would loveto see you at our next event. Contact the AlumniAssociation at (888) NV-ALUMS for more informa-tion regarding the Seattle Chapter.

Nevada JournalismChapter

On a remarkably sunny afternoon in the TedScripps Plaza just outside the Reynolds School ofJournalism, more than 50 alumni, staff and friendsgathered for the annual RSJ Alumni Luncheon inOctober.

The Nevada Journalism Alumni Association,affectionately pronounced “N-Jaw,” hosted thelunch as part of the annual Homecomingcelebration.

Interim Associate Dean Jennifer Greer wel-comed guests to the 2003 event. She said that itwas a great time of year for the school with theopportunity to grow by three faculty positions inthe near future.

“By this time next year, the school will have anew dean,” Greer said.

Many RSJ advisory board members made it tothe event, including Chairperson Nancy Botsdorf,

Greg Bortolin, Eileen Gay, Robin Joyce, Bruce Marr,Marlene Olsen, Jane Tors and Rick Schneider.

Alumni Paul Finch (’56), Arthur Peterson (’54)and Arthur’s wife, Gini, enjoyed a conversationabout longevity on the job — Finch worked forAssociated Press for 20 years and Peterson stayedwith the Nevada Association of Reporters for 38years. Erin Wallace (’02) has worked at theEldorado Hotel-Casino since graduation and worksalongside alumni of nearly 20 years.

The event ended with a raffle for prizes,donated by faculty and other campus organiza-tions. Professor Rosemary McCarthy won a bookwritten by Professor Warren Lerude, which hepromised to personalize for the winner. “That’s R,O, S, E, M,...” Lerude said jokingly as he inscribedthe inside jacket for his colleague.

For more information on the Nevada JournalismAlumni Association, contact the Reynolds Schoolof Journalism at (775) 784-6531.

Southern CaliforniaChapter

All Southern California alumni are welcome tohelp cheer the Wolf Pack women’s softball teamwhen they play March 6 during tournamentgames in San Diego, 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Bringcoffee, juice, bagels, donuts or some otherbreakfast item and we’ll have a table set up while

ARTS

MARCH

11 — Toshiko Akiyoshi

Quartet. Akiyoshi has

been nominated for 14

Grammys for her work as

pianist, composer and

conductor. CJ Walters,

(775) 784-4046.

APRIL

2 — Night of all Nations.

One of the biggest events

on campus, bringing

together international

students and scholars from

the university with the

community. Fumi

Matsumoto, (775)

329-5907.

22-24 — Reno Jazz

Festival. Always the best in

jazz — concerts, competi-

tions and clinics! See http:/

/www.unr.edu/rjf/. CJ

Walters, (775) 784-4046.

24 — Chefs for Kids

Annual Dinner and

Auction. Sponsored by

University of Nevada

Cooperative Extension and

the Fraternity of Executive

Chefs of Las Vegas, this

annual dinner and auction

raises funds for the Chefs

for Kids nutrition

education program in Clark

County. Four Seasons

Hotel, Las Vegas. Marilyn

Ming, (702) 222-3130.

ALU

MN

ICH

AP

TER

The 2003 Alumni College Committee invites all alumni to attend this year’s eventscheduled for June 9-12.

AlumniNews


we root for the Pack. If you would like additionalinformation please call Marilyn Ryder at (949)307-2572 or Fran Ryder at (949) 400-1410. Seeyou there!

Young Alumni ChapterThe Young Alumni Chapter has many activities

going on and the group welcomes everyone’sparticipation. Young Alumni’s upcoming big eventis Beer Fest 2004. The event is tentatively sched-uled for mid-spring. Location and time will beannounced shortly. For additional information,please contact Leonard Wohletz at (775) 982-8644or e-mail [email protected]

USAC Alumni ChapterHave you previously studied abroad on a USAC

program? If so, join other past participants for theupcoming USAC Alumni Chapter meeting. Catchup with fellow students who have studied abroad,as well as have an opportunity to share travelstories with others.

The group had its first meeting on Jan. 28, witha $100 gift certificate raffled off to a USAC Alumnimember. The certificate is to be used for a futureUSAC program. Future meetings will include aninternational cuisine night, foreign films, cultural

USA

C A

LUM

NIC

LUB

The University Studies Abroad Consortium affords participants a chanceto study abroad — and enjoy themselves a little, too.

dancing, as well as picture sharing from your timeabroad.

If you are interested in participating in the nextmeeting, please contact Michelle Cobb [email protected] or at (775) 784-6569.

P hot

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Ega

nAPRILThe Call of the Canyon

MAYNew Orleans GetawayJUNECanadian RockiesTrain Tour

JULYAlumni College Abroad —Scandinavia

AUGUSTAmerica’s Rockies by Rail

OCTOBERMusic Cities Tour

Galapagos Islands andMachu Picchu

NOVEMBERAmazon Cruise

Traveling with the Nevada Alumni Association Pack TracksProgram offers the comfort of knowing you are getting

the highest quality travel. The tour companies that handleour trips are the best in the industry. You will also receivefirst-class customer service from the Office of AlumniRelations. We will be there for you before, during andafter your trip.

For more travel information,please contact theOffice of Alumni Relations(888) [email protected].

OFFERING:• Educational trips and tours• Domestic and international destinations• Professional tour guides and lecturers• Trips for all ages to enjoy

2004 Travel Schedule

AlumniNews


If your company or business wants to profile its Nevada alums in this section, contact Alumni Relations at (775) 784-6620 or [email protected].

Front Row (L-R): Carole Mathisen, Nestor Santamaria, Lori Kolbert, Amy Poggensee, Susan Milani, Laura (Tucker)Rehberger, Amber Kellner, Ashley Greenspan, David Slagle. Back Row (L-R): Rob Thayer, Rich Wells, Sean D. Clark,Natalie Mitchell, Raine Shortridge, Aaron Evans, Justin McDonald.

AlumniNews


ClassChat by Elaine Casey

The ’80sBeverly (Ricketts)

Silva (’83 Social Work)has completed hermaster’s degree inhuman resources andorganizationaldevelopment from theUniversity of SanFrancisco. Beverly hasworked in the humanresources field for fouryears as a humanresources manager atSynopsys, Inc. She hasworked for thecompany for eightyears.

The ’90sAdrienne (Brearley)

Bemus (’96 Journalism)and Stephen Bemus(’97 Journalism) are theproud parents of JacobStephen, born on Sept.17, 2003.

Victoria Ann Farber(’97 Journalism) wasmarried on June 7,2003 to John F. Farberin Mammoth Lakes,Calif. They honey-mooned in Kauai andrecently moved toPortland, Ore.

Kerri Garcia (’96Business Administra-tion) vice president anddirector of publicrelations for the Rose/Glenn Group, receivedthe Gold Spike Awardfor excellence in publicrelations at the 2003Public Relations Societyof America (PRSA),Sierra Nevada ChapterSilver Spike Awardsceremony on Nov. 13,2003. Kerri has morethan a decade ofexperience in thecommunications

industry with anextensive backgroundin public relations,employee communica-tion, public affairs andproject management.Previously she came tothe Rose/Glenn Groupfrom Harrah’s whereshe spent five years asdirector of entertain-ment and publicrelations as well ascommunicationsmanager. At Rose/Glenn Group, sheoversees all aspects ofthe agency’s publicrelations divisionincluding teammanagement, businessdevelopment andstrategic planning. Kerriserves on many localboards and committeesincluding NevadaWomen’s Fund, TruckeeMeadows Tomorrow,Community Founda-tion of Western Nevada,and Northern NevadaRace for the Cure. She isthe winner of the 2002Harrah’s Entertainment,Inc. Chairman’s Awardfor community service,and was honored as aNevada Women’s FundWoman of Achievementby Harrah’s in 2000.

Tim Garcia-Jay (’98Agriculture) and Joelle(Grupe) Jay (’92Education) are pleasedto announce the birthof their son, JacksonDonovan, on March 19,2003. Tim has recentlybeen named regionaldirector for the HumanMotion Institute. Joelleis the president of PillarConsulting, LLC, aleadership develop-ment practice provid-ing coaching to businessleaders and executives.

Tony Illia (’96 MAEnglish) recentlyreceived two Tri-StatePinnacle Awards fromthe Public RelationsSociety of America forwriting excellence,including “BestFeature Story” and“Best News Story.” Theannual competitionrecognizes profession-alism and workquality for a three-state area, coveringNevada, southernUtah and northernArizona.

Hans Jones (’96General Studies) andJudy Bruegger weremarried Sept. 21, 2003in Denver, Colo. Thecouple make theirhome in Denver.

Walter F. MandevilleIII (’90 VeterinaryScience) and hisfiancée, Beth, havemoved back to Reno.Walter is partneringwith friend andcolleague KevinLazarcheff (’89Veterinary Science) tobuild a new veterinaryhospital in the SpanishSprings area. Walt islooking forward tobeing back home afteryears spent in federalservice, veterinaryresearch in graduateschools, and privateand corporate veteri-nary practices overmuch of the UnitedStates. The new hospitalwill service smallanimals, birds, exoticsand horses.

These four 80-year-olds enjoyed watching Nevada beat the Univer-sity of Washington 28-17 in the comfort of the Don James Center onOct. 11, 2003. Wearing their Nevada gear, they are (left to right) DodiePost Gann (’48), captain of the 1948 Olympic ski team, ’73 NevadaAthletic Hall of Fame and ’01 National Ski Hall of Fame member; RuthNoble Wattles (’44), hostess; James Warriner (’43), retired general andDynamics Aerospace official; Katie Little Kolodziejski (’44), MSW fromUSC in ’58 and Ph.D. from UCLA in ’79. Nevada had not beaten a Pac-10team in 56 years, and the Huskies are still reeling from this loss.

Alums watch big win

Beverly (Ricketts) Silva(’83 Social Work)

Tony Illia (’96 MAEnglish)Continues on page 33

AlumniNews


AlumniProfiles by Brandon Stewart

Williams key player in region’s water savings

Lori (Smith) Williams, generalmanager of the Truckee Meadows

Water Authority (TMWA), found herway to the top without really trying.

“I was never looking to climb (acorporate ladder),” she says. “I justlooked for new experiences andopportunities where I could learn or trysomething new.”

Her mode of operation led herfrom being a water quality studentintern at Sierra Pacific PowerCompany in 1979 to her positionatop TMWA last October.

“There were no difficulties along theway, just lots of challenges,” she says.“And I love a good challenge.”

Williams, a 1983 Nevada chemicalengineering graduate, has exactly that.She leads the staff at TMWA, strategi-cally planning long-term water re-sources for the Truckee Meadows. Shealso oversees her utility’s strategy interms of facilities, personnel andfinancial outlook.

And she is well prepared for thatchallenge. At Nevada, Williams says shewas blessed to be a part of an unusuallytalented class.

“We had a super class of chemicalengineers the year I graduated and wehad a lot of fun studying and takingfield trips together,” she says. “This funculminated in graduation when I wasrecipient of the Herz Gold Medal. Thatwas great.”

Not only was she awarded theuniversity’s top undergraduate honorfor her 4.0 grade point average, she wasalso given the Scheid Trophy [highestcumulative GPA over four years] by theMackay School of Mines.

She maintains a close relationshipwith the school that she says gave herso much. A member of the MackaySchool of Earth Sciences and Engineer-ing executive advisory board, she helps

assess curriculum and direction of theschool. She also serves as an advisor to theDepartment of Chemical Engineering.

“I got a great education at the School ofMines and want to give something back,”Williams says. “Curriculums like hydrol-ogy are also important to the waterauthority.”

Williams is a Nevadan for life. She wasborn in St Mary’s Hospital, a fourth-generation Nevadan on her mother’s side.

“I love Reno and the surrounding area,”she says. “I have friends and family here. Ihave had great career opportunities inReno. The quality of life here is unmatchedalmost anywhere in the U.S.”

Williams married Craig Williams in1989, a civil engineer with Sierra PacificPower Company. The couple has two boys:Travis, 9, and Brett, 7.

“Imagine this — they love to buildthings,” she says about her sons growingup with two engineers as parents.

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Lori Williamschecks in withwater qualitychemist Max-NoëlShen at one ofTMWA‘s waterquality labs.

AlumniNews


Raymond Oster (’93Business Management)and Humma (Rasul)Oster (’96 EnglishLiterature) are proud toannounce the birth oftheir son, AdenRaymond, on Aug. 15,2003.

Lisa (Reyes) Roman(’91 Spanish) and herhusband, Gregorio,have welcomed threebeautiful children intotheir lives: JuniperElena, born in 1995;

Joshua Anselmo, bornin 1997; and JacobMichaelangelo, born in2002. The family haslived in Moab, Utah, foralmost six years, whereLisa works for the stateof Utah as an employ-ment counselor withthe Department ofWorkforce Services. Lisaalso writes a monthlyfeature for a depart-ment electronicpublication and hasbeen invited to serveon a statewide

committee. In addition,she has taught Spanishat the College ofEastern Utah, serves onthe board of her countylibrary, and has beenable to share theSpanish language withher children’s schoolclasses. Friends can e-mail Lisa [email protected].

Jennifer (McCooey)Vaughan (’95 Journal-ism) and her husband,Brian, recently cel-

ebrated the birth oftheir second child,Olivia, on Nov. 18, 2003.Jennifer is currently thepublic relationsdirector for the Collegeof Fine Arts andPerforming Arts Centerat UNLV.

Addie Walter (’99Journalism) and SeanHorejs (’99 Journalism)were married on July12, 2003 in Reno. Theycurrently reside inCorpus Christi, Texas,

where Addie works forCITGO Refining &Chemicals and Sean isthe weekend sportsanchor for KRIS-TV.

The ’00sDavina Webb (’01

Interior Design) andMatthew Clay Walker(’01 Civil Engineering)were married Oct. 11,2003 in Ketchum, Idaho.Davina was a student-athlete in nordic skiing

For Arjun Dhingra (Marketing ’02), life started with the“Karate Kid.” As an 8-year-old who was often picked on

for his small size, Dhingra watched the movie trilogy starringRalph Macchio and was sold on Taekwondo.

Sixteen years later, Dhingra, 24, is a fifth-degree black belt.He is one of the youngest individuals in the nation to hold therank.

“I saw that movie and was all fired up about it, and Iwouldn’t stop nagging my parents to put me in some sort ofclass,” he says.

In just three years, he earned his first-degree black belt atage 11. Also at 11, he began teaching Taekwondo to bothchildren and adults. At 17, he and a partner opened their ownTaekwondo school. Teaching, he says, is his focus now.

“I like working with the kids and adults, teaching them,helping them achieve their goals,” Dhingra says. “When youget to (a fifth-degree belt) you’re not in it for the rank any-more.”

Practicing the original Korean martial art of self-defense,Dhingra earned his fifth-degree belt on July 12. After sixmonths of training seven days a week, he had to endure arigorous, three-hour test that included advanced patterns,kicking, a knife defense routine and extensive roof tile andboard braking.

He dedicated the test to Matt Pearce, a family friend whohad died a few years earlier.

“I considered him to be the epitome of persistence,” Dhingrasays.

Dhingra isn’t sure if a sixth-degree belt is in his future.“It’s nothing that I have my sights on,” he says. “I’m just in

it to teach. It’s just been such a big part of my life. I can’timagine being away from it.”

AlumniProfiles by Brandon Stewart

Nevada’s own ‘Karate Kid’

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Continues on page 35

AlumniNews


AlumniProfiles by Jennifer Sanzi

YMCA’s Taylor works for ‘common good’

When 26-year-old David Taylor has free time, when his duties as vice president and chief

communications officer for the YMCA of the Sierra,treasurer for the Public Relations Society of America’sNevada Chapter, scholarship coordinator for theYoung Alumni Association, and countless other boardmember responsibilities are taken care of, you mightjust find the avid sports fan on the basketball court —that is if he isn’t busy watching ESPN or a Wolf Packfootball game.

A busy schedule is nothing new for Taylor. Whileattending Lowry High School in Winnemucca, heplayed basketball, baseball, football, and wrestled.After graduation he came to the University of Nevadaand began studies for his major in journalism/publicrelations and his minor in speech communications.

“People always joke that when you go from ruralNevada to Reno, it’s like going abroad,” says the 1999Nevada graduate. “But it’s true; it’s a real eye-opener.”

Taylor began working at the YMCA during hisfreshman year at Nevada. He worked the front deskand ran the YMCA’s youth sports leagues. This jobcontinued throughout college, but Taylor couldn’tkeep busy enough with just one job and a full classload so he picked up two more jobs. His senior year,Taylor kept his job at the Y, interned with Nevada’ssports information department and also interned withBayer Brown Bauserman (currently Bayer Bauserman& Company, BBC).

“I interned with Jason Houston in sports informa-tion and learned about the sports end of PR fromhim,” he recalls. “It really got me fired up about PR; itsparked my interest.”

Houston, the assistant director of media relationsfor the athletics department, knew that Taylor had aknack for the business.

“David was a very good addition to our staff,” hesays. “He was very efficient in his duties and waspolished with the media.”

After graduation, Taylor landed a full-time positionwith BBC as a public relations account executive. Hewas half of a two-man PR team that coordinated andimplemented the agency’s day-to-day public rela-tions.

“I went to the Super Bowl, met ESPN guys andwent on media tours at Times Square, all at 23 yearsold,” he says. “It was pretty overwhelming because Iwas so young, but I learned fast.”

All that hard work paid off in 2000 when BBC

received 12 awards at the annual Public Relations Societyof America Awards Banquet. One of those awards was for“Best News Releases,” written by Taylor.

The skills he learned at the university and BBC proved tobe invaluable to Taylor when he made his move back to theYMCA. David Warfe, the CEO, called Taylor and askedhim if he would be interested in helping the Y with itspromotions and marketing.

“I thought it was a great opportunity to be the guyinstead of the number two guy,” he remembers. “I hadgotten to the point where I thought I could handle it.”

And he could handle it, but not without a crash course intime management.

“I was totally starting fromscratch,” he says. “I came in andwrote a to-do list every day andstarted from there. I learned thatyou have to do one thing at a timeand then move on to the next.

“We deal with children everyday, we have swimmingpools, and more than 175employees. Just think ofall the different thingsthat could happen,”he says. “It is my jobto handle thosethings.”

The YMCA of theSierra is the parentorganization of all Yprograms in northernNevada and the Sierra,including the Reno andSparks branches, two youthcenters and numerouscommunity outreachprograms. Taylor helpscoordinate the publicrelations and marketingfor all of the above.

“I am working for thecommon good, the qualityof life in Reno,” he says.“The way I see it, thebetter job I do in gettingthe word out to the publicabout what the YMCAdoes, the more people wewill be able to help.”

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AlumniNews


and Matthew was astudent-athlete inalpine skiing. Thecouple is currently livingin the Lake Tahoe area.

Jonathan Young (’01Economics) wascommissioned as asecond lieutenantthrough the U. S. ArmyOfficer CandidateSchool on Nov. 20,2003. His first assign-ment will be at FortLewis, Wash., afteradditional training atFort Huachuca, Ariz.

DeathsEleanor (Bunny)

Underwood Savage(’36 Home Economics)died at home on Dec.25 at the age of 88.Bunny — a nickname

she acquired in college— was born on theUnderwood familyfarm in McLeansboro,Ill., the ninth and lastchild of a large andhard-working family.Bunny followed herolder siblings andattended the Univer-sity of Nevada, whereshe graduated with abachelor of sciencedegree in homeeconomics. She was amember and life-longsupporter of theKappa Alpha Thetasorority. Bunny lovedLake Tahoe and spentmany summers livingon the lake’s northshore. After teachingfor five years in Idahoand Nevada, shemarried her collegesweetheart, William H.

Savage, in 1941. Shewas preceded in deathby her husband 13years ago, and issurvived by herchildren, William(Woody) Savage ofMenlo Park, Calif., andJulie Anne Savage ofStockton, Calif.

Dr. Burton Horowitz,professor of physiologyand cell biology in theUniversity of NevadaSchool of Medicine,passed away on Dec. 19,following a two-yearstruggle with braincancer. He was 48. “Hewas a valued colleague,mentor and close friendto many faculty,students and staff in theSchool of Medicine,” saidUniversity of NevadaSchool of Medicine

Dean StephenMcFarlane. “He wasinternationally recog-nized for his pioneeringresearch on themolecular biology of ionchannels in smoothmuscle and thecardiovascular system.”Horowitz received abachelor of sciencedegree from RutgersUniversity in 1976, amaster of sciencedegree from CaliforniaState University, LongBeach in 1980, and hisdoctorate in molecularbiology from theUniversity of SouthernCalifornia in 1985. Hejoined the faculty of theSchool of Medicine asan assistant professor inphysiology and cellbiology in 1989.Horowitz made

ATHLETICS

APRIL

8 — Salute to Champions.

The 9th Annual Salute to

Champions Dinner and

Silent Auction, presented

by Drs. Nazir and Mary

Ansari to benefit Women’s

Athletics at the University

of Nevada. Linda Thomson,

(775) 784-4870, Ext. 228.

AlumniNews


need littleannouncement

After 27 years of experience in publicrelations, Marlene Olsen (’74) is no

stranger to success. Nineteen years ago, Olsenopened Olsen & Associates, a full-servicepublic relations firm in downtown Reno. Sincethen, she has received numerous honors,including four Silver Spike awards from thePublic Relations Society of America (PRSA) forexcellence in her profession. In November2003, Olsen received another top honor whenshe was inducted into the PRSA Hall of Fame.

“There is no greater award to me than beingrecognized by my peers in PRSA,” Olsen says.“But, the honor also catches me off-guard, asmy staff and I are always striving to attract thiskind of recognition for our clients.”

The award recognizes one public relationspractitioner each year for his or her outstand-ing contributions to the public relationsprofession and the community. Silver Spikecommittee members select the award recipientbased on nominations from their peers.

Olsen’s public relations career began at theReno-Sparks Chamber of Commerce where shemanaged publicity for the area as News Bureaudirector. She left the Chamber in 1984 to workfor a local graphics company, but it was notlong before her entrepreneurial spirit cameknocking.

“After a year there, I found I didn’t haveenough work to keep me challenged,” sherecalls. “So, I went to the owner and offeredhim a great deal. I told him he could cut mysalary in half and save the benefits. I wouldcontinue to do the same work for him only he

would be my first client. He went for it.”Olsen’s employer became her first client

and her second came soon after when shelined up an advertising agency and workedout of her home as its PR department. A lothas changed since then, but Olsen’s passionfor her professionremains strong.

“I love workingwith clients and seeingthe light bulbs go offas they witness whatgood, ethical publicrelations can do fortheir businesses,” shesays. “There is nothingbetter and moresatisfying to me.”

Olsen has managedcampaigns for avariety of clients,including TruckeeMeadows WaterAuthority (TMWA),Reno DowntownImprovement Associa-tion, Krispy KremeDoughnuts, NevadaState BrownfieldsInitiative, Lockett &Sullivan, and the Great Reno Balloon Race.She is the co-founder of a new businessnewspaper, Northern Nevada BusinessWeekly, which is the only paper of its kind innorthern Nevada.

AlumniProfiles by Jennifer Sanzi

Marlene Olsen: PR Hall of Famer

enormous contributionsto medical and graduateeducation at the medicalschool and served asdirector of the graduateprogram in cellular andmolecular pharmacologyand physiology from1995-2002. He served onnumerous peer reviewcommittees at theNational Institutes ofHealth and the AmericanHeart Association. He wasan avid organizer of fund-

raising activities for theNevada affiliate of theAmerican HeartAssociation, and servedas director of theassociation’s researchcommittee from 1995-1997. During his tenureat the School ofMedicine, he trained sixPh.D. students, 11postdoctoral fellows, andpublished more than 74original research reportsand reviews. His two

prestigious NationalInstitutes of Healthprogram grants haveprovided approximately$28 million in totalresearch support to theuniversity and School ofMedicine. Horowitz issurvived by his wife,Nancy, and theirdaughters, Claire andStephanie. The familyrequests that in lieu offlowers, contributions tosupport the education of

Claire and Stephanie bemade payable to theBurt Horowitz MemorialFund.

Please send contribu-tions to Judy Rodgers([email protected])at: Department ofPhysiology and CellBiology/ Mail Stop 352,University of NevadaSchool of Medicine,Reno, NV 89557.

Marlene Olsen with a gift from a friend, theChinese symbol for crisis that combines twocharacters: danger and opportunity.

Reno

April 22-24, 2004Thursday, April 22,7:30 p.m.Robin Eubanksand The CollectiveNightingale Concert Hall

Friday, April 23, 7:30 p.m.Joshua Redman ElasticBandLawlor Events Center

www.unr.edyu/rjf

F e s t i v a lJAZZ


Pack Track

Track women seeks to completecollection of WAC championshipsBy Brandon Stewart

After February’s Silver State Invitational, noone can deny that the Nevada women’s

track and field program is running with themomentum of a freight train.

In its first indoor meet since taking theWestern Athletic Conference championship lastyear, the Wolf Pack reassured spectators thatdespite graduating nine seniors, it had not lostits unmatched depth. Nevada took first with

256 points, leaving Fresno Statefar behind in second place

with 115.5 points.That win reflects not only

the confidence of thereturning champions, but

also the added fervorbrought by the

distance-runningwomen whogarnered theuniversity’ssecond WAC titlewith a crosscountry champi-onship last fall.

“I’m excitedabout the newyear,” coachCurt Kraft says.“I’m excited

about the newseason, and I’m

excited about trying torepeat the indoor title.”

“What those crosscountry ladies did is put a

spark into the rest of theprogram. They’ve passed

the baton on to the trackteam. They’ve got the wholegroup fired up.”

But even with momentumas strong as it is, Kraft saysraw effort will still be thedeciding factor.

“We’re going to work

hard. We’re going to bededicated. We’re going to bedisciplined,” he says. “Theladies have to understand thatwhen they get on the track,they have to perform withconsistency and improveevery time out.”

He is depending on severalof the women to fill leader-ship roles left open after lastseason. Among his 15 seniorsthis year, he expects five toplay significant roles: sprinterand relay member SabreenaJones, throwerStephanieTietjen,polevaultersDanaHuesby andMegan Ries,and sprinter/jumperJamila Carter.

“They have no choice [but to step up],” hesays. “That’s what they have to do.”

Tietjen returns to defend her outdoor shotput title after posting a mark of 50 feet, 11inches. Also returning is sophomore JennaHuber who took second at the outdoor champi-onships in the 10,000-meter run with a time of37:01.

And, learning from last year’s second-placefinish behind Rice in the outdoor champion-ships (in which Nevada was hampered byinjuries), Kraft plans to emphasize injuryprevention.

“When we went to the championships lastyear, there were some people on that indoorteam that we didn’t have on the outdoor teamdue to injuries,” he says, alluding to whatcaused the shortcoming. “So it’s very importantthe ladies stay healthy this year and take careof themselves. That is key.”

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Pole vaulter DanaHuesby (top) beganthe 2004 indoor seasonwith a 12-feet-6-inchvault for second placeat the Silver StateInvitational. StephanieTietjen (below) beganthe indoor season asthe WAC’s leading shotputter.

In addition to being a consistent top five finisher in herindividual sprinting and jumping events, Jamila Carteradds a valuable kick to Nevada’s sprinting relays.


Pack Track

By Brandon Stewart

It is the oldest sport at theUniversity of Nevada.The rifle team has won a

national championship andproduced four All-Ameri-cans, two of whom receivedthe honor multiple times. In2002, the team finishedeighth in the nation. In 2003,it finished fourth. In 2004,the Nevada men’s andwomen’s rifle team plans totake it all.

Nevada’s unsung sports champions have shot at greatness“I believe that we could

win it all this year or nextyear,” says Fred Harvey, themen’s and women’s riflecoach. “We’ve never beenstronger, every year we getstronger. We have everythingnecessary to win a nationalchampionship here — trulyeverything we need.”

And Nevada’s rifle teamhas never been far from thetop.

Rifle has existed on theNevada campus continu-ously since 1889 as part ofthe academic curriculum,

intramural sports, and since1995, as an NCAA intercol-legiate sport.

Intercollegiate competitiveshooting began in the early1900s and became moreformalized in the 1920s and1930s. The National RifleAssociation (NRA) spon-sored national collegiatematches and recognized thetop 20 collegiate shooters asAll-Americans.

The Nevada rifle teamwon the IntercollegiateNational Championship in1956. Also that year, WilliamRusk and Terry Katzer were

named All-Americans. In

the 48 years since then, threeother All-American honorshave been bestowed uponNevada shooters.

The sport is seeminglysimple, yet inconceivablycomplex.

NCAA rifle competitionconsists of two disciplines:air rifle and small bore rifle.In the air competition (4.5millimeter), shooters take 40shots in the standingposition at targets 10 metersaway (32.8 feet). Small borecompetition (.22 calliber)consists of 120 shots from 50feet in three positions: prone,kneeling and standing.

STEADY AIM

Women’s rifle team membersfrom left to right: EmilyFernandez, Dawn Tarbet,Amie Stickel and AmandaDorrough


Pack Track

‘Varsity Village’ earns $1 millionIn his last official fund-raising and facility building endeavor

as director of intercollegiate athletics, Chris Ault announced onJan. 2 the receipt of an anonymous gift of $1 million to completethe funding needed for “Varsity Village” — a state-of-the-arttraining and rehabilitation facility, strength and conditioningcenter and a complete renovation and remodeling of thefootball offices and equipment area in Cashell Fieldhouse. Theproject, estimated to cost $5.4 million, is expected to beginningthis spring and take 12 months to complete.

— Jamie Klund

Football game times adjustedStart times for Wolf Pack football home games at Mackay

Stadium have been adjusted in an effort to make the gamesmore family-friendly. Kickoff for the first five games of thePack’s season will be at 6:05 p.m. The sixth and final homegame of the seasonagainst Boise State onNov. 27 will have a 1:05kickoff.

“With all theexcitement around(coach Chris Ault’s)return to coaching, ourdepartment receivedmany comments thatthe evening times weregood for busy sched-ules, but that an earlier (evening) start time would be evenbetter for the younger Wolf Pack fans,” says Kurt Esser, assistantathletic director for marketing.

The updated schedule is as follows: Sept. 4, SacramentoState, 6:05 p.m.; Sept. 18, Oregon, 6:05 p.m.; Oct. 16, Rice(Homecoming), 6:05 p.m.; Oct. 23, Tulsa, 6:05 p.m.; Nov. 6, SanJose State (Hall of Fame game), 6:05 p.m.; Nov. 27, Boise State(Senior Day), 1:05 p.m.

— Jamie Klund

Ski Gala set for March 72004 marks the 50th anniversary of the NCAA Ski Champi-

onships. The first championship was held in 1954 and washosted by Nevada at Slide Mountain. This year, Nevada againhosts the NCAA Championships, March 10-14, at Sugar Bowl.To commemorate the event, the Nevada Ski Gala will be heldMarch 7 at Eldorado Hotel-Casino. Cocktails start at 6 p.m.,followed by dinner at 7 p.m., with a short program at 8 anddancing at 9. For more information on the 12th annual SkiGala, a prime fund-raiser for the men’s and women’s skiteams, contact Thomas Hall, (775) 348-7011.

(Editor’s note: There will be in-depth coverage of the NCAAChampionships’ return to Nevada in the May-June issue ofNevada Silver & Blue.)

Shooters are given twominutes to complete eachstanding shot, one and a halfminutes for each kneelingshot, and one minute foreach prone shot.

The air targets are printedon sheets of constructionpaper 12 inches tall and 10inches wide. On the sheet,there are 12 equally spacedcircular targets just undertwo inches in diameter. Thebulls-eye in the center of thetarget isthe size ofthe periodat the endof asentence.Surround-ing thebulls-eyeare nineconcentric circles spacedabout two millimeters apart.Each shot from a rifle makesa four-millimeter hole.

Hitting the bulls-eyegarners 10 points. Missingthe bulls-eye but still hittingthe inner-most circle isworth nine points. Thepoints descend by one foreach circle moving outward.

Great shooters average 390points of a perfect 400.Nevada’s three-time All-American and 2004 Olympichopeful, junior Ryan Tanoue,averages 393.7. He has alsoshot a perfect 400 twice.

As a team, averaging theshooters’ combinationscores of air and small bore,Nevada totals a 1,546average out of a possible1,600. The top team in thenation, the University ofAlaska, Fairbanks, averagesonly 19 points higher.

With such a quality team,Harvey sometimes has verylittle to coach. Of the eight

hours of practice each weekin the old Navy ReserveRange with his 14 activeshooters, Harvey says hereally only instructs his topshooters 20 minutes.

“They have a very goodidea as to what they need todo and how they need to doit and why they need to doit,” Harvey says. “Ninety-nine percent of the time theydon’t need anything fromme and some don’t need anyinstruction at all. In fact, I’mlearning from them.”

He says this is becausemost have been shooting forat least 10 years and have anexceptional consciousness oftheir shooting.

“It is the ability to concen-trate,” he says. “And thatability, generally speaking, isfar above average. You alsohave to have attention todetail — tremendousattention to detail.”

The best analogy tounderstand how his shootersperform so well is a compari-son to baseball players.Harvey likens experts in rifleto baseball players who saythey can see the seams of aball when batting.

“It’s like baseball play-ers,” Harvey says. “Greathitters can visually slow thepitch down. When a rifle isshaking around, superbshooters can slow thatmovement down, too. Idon’t know how they do it.”

Having shooters withthose types of abilities giveHarvey the ambition to takeon anyone.

“I take the very best menand the very best women andput them on a Nevada Blueteam,” Harvey says. “I’llmatch that team up againstanyone on the planet.”

OF NOTE

Harvey


Pack Track

By Pat McDonnell

Stacy Mueller, a 22-year- old outfielder for the Nevada softball team, is an

energetic leader with a fast-pacedconversational style and aconfident personality. She helpedthe Wolf Pack garner a 22-35record in the team’s first seasonof intercollegiate competitionsince 1989.University Relations writer Pat

McDonnell interviewed Mueller inDecember.

Q: I noticed on your bio thatyou’re hoping to teach in a

children’s hospital after graduation.Could you expand on that?

A: “I love working with the kidsthere. I’ll be seeing kids with terminalillnesses who are pulled away fromschool for an extended period of time,working as their personal tutor.”

Q: Was it a personal experience thatmotivated you?

A: “No, it just appealed to me. I meanseeing the kids there...they have suchhigh spirits. It’s always inspiring to me. Ithink I can feed off the kids and they canget that back from me.”

‘Don’ttake uslightly’

All-WAC softballplayer tells foes:

Stacy Mueller earned a spot onthe 2003 Academic All-WAC

Softball Team. The humandevelopment and family

studies major, who posted a3.42 grade-point average, was

joined by five Wolf Packteammates on the squad.


Pack Track

Q: What interested you in comingup from Central Arizona in 2002 tojoin the Nevada softball program?

A: “I thought it would be a greatopportunity to come in because it was anew program last year. To be the ones toget things going, I saw that as a greatopportunity. Coach Gardner, she wasgreat. She made me feel really comfort-able. She had high expectations for theprogram, which was something I wasreally looking forward to being a part of.”

Q: Is there someone in your sportwhom you’ve modeled your gameafter?

A: “No (she laughs), not at all.”Q: You’re your own person then?A: “I am (Mueller says, and follows

the remark with a big smile). It wasfunny. I always went out and playedthe game because it was fun. I wasnever big on following other ballclubsand this or that.”

Q: Were you surprised, with Nevadabeing a first-year program last spring,that the Wolf Pack got off to such astrong start (the team won 11 games inthe first month of the season)?

A: “I really wasn’t that surprisedbecause we kind of came out with theidea that if you’re going to challengeus, we’re going to challenge you rightback. We played up to the level thatwas presented to us. I think that’sgoing to be one of our strengths thisyear. We have a tough schedule. I thinkeveryone just has that drive in them towant to compete.”

Q: What kind of a challenge will itbe for the program to take on UCLA,the defending national champs,March 7?

A: “We kind of just laughed at first,but everyone is really excited about it.We’re going in, obviously, as theunderdogs. No one expects anything atall. So it’s kind of our opportunity to

say, ‘You know we may not be in theTop 10, we may not beconsidered as one of the eliteteams, but we are confidentwe can go in there and hangwith them.’ ”

Q: How long do youthink it takes most peopleto understand what you’resaying when you describeyourself as ‘a slapper?”They would probably thinkyou were a boxer.

A: “Those people who arenot familiar with softballhave no clue what we’retalking about. They kind ofgive you that look, likeslapper, what? Even in themajor leagues it’s starting tocome out. They don’t call it slapping,but you’re starting to see it more andmore with the hitters up there.”

Q: Ichiro Suzuki (with the SeattleMariners) is a slapper. Because of theway he swings the bat, and that he canhit to all fields.

A: “Right.”Q: Do you believe that bylaws

should be written to prohibit all highschool and college athletes fromusing nutritional supplements...creatine being one of those?

A: “You know, I think the wholeissue is a touchy subject. There’s somuch research being done on some ofit, and there’s a lack of research onother (supplements). It’s really hard totell the exact effects of it. It’s an issuethat I’m personally torn between. Asfar as specific nutritional supplements,there are some that are fine for athletesto take, but then there are some ofthem that, I think, give some athletesan extra advantage. It’s taking awayfrom your natural ability and the skillsthat you work at improving.”

‘Coach Gardner made me feel really comfortable.

She had high expectations for the program, which was

something I was really looking forward to being a part of.’— Stacy Mueller, outfielder for the Nevada softball team

• 5-foot-1outfielder, asecond-teamAll-WACselection whobatted secondin CoachMichelleGardner’s 2003lineup. Muellerwas the onlyPack player tostart all 57games lastseason. Shealso led the

Wolf Pack in on-base percentage(.402), runs (27), hits (52), triples(5) and sacrifice bunts (13).

• Senior majoring in humandevelopment and family studies;transfer from Central ArizonaCollege, where she was namedan Academic All-American in2002.

• Four-year letterman at MesaHigh School in Mesa, Ariz., for theJackrabbits.

• One of eight children. Herbrother, Steve, is serving with theU.S. Army’s Stryker BrigadeCombat Team in Iraq.

• Perhaps one of the few nativeArizonans to have not visited theGrand Canyon. Her ideal vacationspot? A simple cabin in thewoods...anywhere secluded andquiet...with a river running by.

• Rooms with two teammates,Carrie Mackey and JamieWaldron.

ABOUT STACY MUELLER


Pack Track



Pack Track

By Pat McDonnelline players from the 2003 Nevadabaseball team entered the professionalranks after the close of the season lastMay. The wave of departures from the

program included Western Athletic ConferencePlayer of the Year Kevin Kouzmanoff, startingpitchers Mateo Miramontes, Justin Sherman andEddie Bonine, and relief specialist Zach Basch.

“The complexion of our team has changeddramatically,” says Nevada Head Coach GaryPowers. “We have to rebuild our entire pitchingstaff.”

The Wolf Pack narrowly missed selection tothe NCAA regional tournament last year with a32-24 overall record and 19-10 second-placemark in conference.

Senior Brandon Gottier, a second-year spotstarter who pitched 38 innings in 2003, andjunior lefthander Bryan Johnson, with 22 reliefappearances, are the returning pitchers withthe most experience. Sophomores DarrickCummings, Travis Sutton, Chris Scott and RyanHarbaugh will help the staff get through the 30-game conference slate.

“Our pitching staff is the opposite of Rice’s,”says Powers, named WAC Co-Coach of theYear with the defending national championOwls’ Wayne Graham. “They have everybodyback and we have nobody (among the ’03mound regulars) back.”

Powers says Rice is expected to be “head andshoulders above” its WAC foes this year. TheNational Collegiate Baseball Writers Associa-tion named four Owls to its pre-season All-America team and the Collegiate Baseballnewspaper pre-season poll had Rice rated No.1with Miami. Three pitchers from Rice’s 58-12WAC championship team return to the lineup.

However, Powers sees the Pack’s surplus ofnew faces on the pitching mound as a challengeNevada is capable of surmounting.

“It’s been a long time since we haven’t hadone returning starter,” Powers says. “But that’sOK. It opens the door for others to take theopportunity to succeed at this level.”

The talented and savvy catching duo ofsophomore Brett Hayes and redshirt freshman

Baker Krukow will help the pack of youngpitchers develop faster during the conferenceseason. Hayes was named to the 2003Louisville Slugger Freshman All-America team after batting .365with eight home runs and 63runs batted in. Krukow, side-lined last season by a footinjury, is expected to be anothersolid player behind the platewho can handle pitchers.

“Brett had a tremendousyear,” Powers says. “He’sreally a good athlete whotakes pride in playing well.”

Junior Carlos Madrid, atthird base, and sophomoreshortstop Robert Marcialprovide the team withstrong defense on the leftside of the infield. Juniortransfer Gabe Mayorga, aformer Junior CollegeWorld Series MostValuable Player who alsocompeted at South Alabama, handles secondbase. Senior co-captain Erick Streelman, an All-WAC choice last year, and sophomore BenMummy will split time at the first base anddesignated hitter positions.

Left fielder and co-captain Chris Gimenezand right fielder Jacob Butler, who battleddown the stretch as top 10 WAC batting andslugging leaders, are offensive stars who alsocombined to commit just four errors in 166defensive chances. Brian Gazerro and juniorcollege transfer Tino Psardelis are slated toman center field.

Powers, who has won 644 games in 21seasons, likes the way the Pack has prepared,not just for Rice, but for teams like LouisianaTech and San Jose State, who both struggled intheir last run through the WAC.

“I’m really pleased with how hard this teamis working, especially as young as it is,” hesays. “Now we will see how fast we canmature as a team.”



The Way We Were

Members of the 1984-85 Wolf Pack basketball team, from left to right, TonySommers, Ed Porter and Quintin Stephens, catch up on some quiet time

during a layover in the Salt Lake City airport enroute to Albuquerque, N.M.,where they met the Wolfpack of North Carolina State in the first round of theNCAA tournament. Nevada lost 65-56, in what was the Wolf Pack’s last “BigDance” appearance.

In the two consecutive years Nevada advanced to the NCAA finals, it metteams toting future NBA players. In 1984, the Pack faced the University ofWashington’s Detlef Schrempf and Christian Welp, who each signed with NBAteams the following year. Schrempf played 17 years in the NBA with Dallas,Portland, Indianapolis and Seattle. Welp spent three years with Philadelphia,San Antonio and Golden State and was on several European teams.

In 1985, the Pack faced NC State’s Anthony “Spud” Webb, a 5-foot-7-inchphenom who was signed by the Atlanta Hawks following the season. Webb isbest known for his 1986 Slam Dunk championship.

Playing under head coach Sonny Allen, the Pack finished the 1985 seasonas Big Sky champs with a 21-10 record.

— Jean Dixon

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Alumni Association

NOMINATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY 5 P.M. ON APRIL 1, 2004

Nominate a friend or family member who deserves recognition!Check out the criteria and submit your nomination by April 1, 2004 deadline!

PROFESSIONALACHIEVEMENT AWARD —An alumnus/alumna of theUniversity of Nevada, Renowith an outstanding recordof career accomplishments,complimented by outstand-ing contributions to his/herprofession.

UNIVERSITY SERVICEAWARD — A friend orgraduate of the University ofNevada, Reno who hasdemonstrated dedication,commitment and service tothe university, which hassignificantly enriched theadvancement of the univer-sity and its reputation as aleading institution of higherlearning.

ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONSERVICE AWARD — Afriend or graduate of theUniversity of Nevada, Renowho has rendered specialand outstanding service tothe Alumni Association andsignificantly enhancedalumni programming.

OUTSTANDING YOUNGALUMNI AWARD — Agraduate of the Universityof Nevada, Reno, who isnot more than 15 years pastgraduation, has an outstand-ing record of career accom-plishments, and/or whosededication, commitmentand service to the AlumniAssociation has significantlyenhanced alumniprogramming.

ALUMNUS/NA OF THEYEAR — A graduate whohas rendered special andoutstanding service to theUniversity of Nevada and bypersonal achievement, hasbrought distinction to theuniversity.

Please fill out the nomination form,along with no more than four pagesof supporting material. Please mail to:

Alumni Association AwardsMorrill Hall - 164University of Nevada, RenoReno, NV 89557

Nominee’s Name

Nominee’s Phone

Graduation Year

Suggested Award: (check one)

❑ Professional Achievement Award

❑ University Service Award

❑ Alumni Association Service Award

❑ Outstanding Young Alumni Award

❑ Alumnus of the Year

Nominee’s Address

Your Name

Address

Telephone

E-mail

Awards Nomination Form

Please include supporting material ofno more than four pages with this form.

www.unr.edu/alumni/You can also nominate online at

2004AWARDS

Non Profit Org.U.S. Postage

P A I DNevada, RenoPermit No. 26

University of Nevada, RenoNEVADA SILVER & BLUEReno, NV 89557-0053

Change Service Requested

For more information,or to RSVP, please contact

the Office of Alumni Relationsat (775) 784-6620, or log on to

www.unr.edu/alumni.

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