Spring 2012 Spring 2012
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v11n2 SPRING 2012 SPRING 2012 v11n2 FEATURES 22 :: On Closer Inspection — The curiouser and curiouser world of the small In some ways, with so much science now involving tools that detect things outside the five senses, examining the world with a microscope seems quaint. But a corps of WSU researchers — let’s call them microscopists — are wrangling photons, electrons, glowing proteins, exotic stains, and remarkably powerful devices in their pursuit of the small. by Eric Sorensen 29 :: Lessons from the Forest —The anthropology of childhood Anthropologist Barry Hewlett has spent the last 40 years gleaning lessons from the Aka, a people who personify hundreds of thousands of years of human history. by Tim Steury 36 :: A Feast of Good Things How do we Washingtonians eat? The author travels from farm to table to explore and explain Washington cuisine. by Hannelore Sudermann PANORAMAS 7 Living the right-sized life :: 8 Eat your broccoli or no cookie: Feeding styles and childhood obesity :: 9 The end of free will? :: 10 The Wire: Urban drama, gritty reality, and Soc 496 “textbook” :: 14 Sacred Encounters :: 15 A blighted Northwest icon :: 16 Indaba Coffee :: 17 Mulch ado about garden plastics DEPARTMENTS 3 FIRST WORDS :: 11 SHORT SUBJECT: A hidden history :: 18 SPORTS: Let him swim: The Tom Jager story :: 20 IN SEASON: A cattle drive 44 CLASS NOTES :: 48 IN MEMORIAM :: 54 NEW MEDIA :: 56 LAST WORDS TRACKING 45 Doug Forseth ’71 — Snow business :: 46 Anna Ballard Wilson ’04 — CSI: Cheney 48 Orrin Pilkey ’57 — A climate change provocateur :: 50 Hal Dengerink 1943-2011 — Tribute to Hal :: 51 John R. Gorham 1922-2011 — Veterinary pathologist 53 Alumni news: Renewing your plates Cover illustration by Colin Johnson DELIVERING BIG IDEAS FOR YOUR FUTURE At WSU, we’re transforming world health. Your health. By unlocking the secrets of SLEEP through RESEARCH. Discovering new ways to combat ANIMAL DISEASES that spread to humans. And preparing the next generation of caring NURSES and PHARMACISTS. But that’s just a start. Join us as we make a difference— for Washington state—and beyond. wsu.edu CREA TING A CLEAN TECHNOLOG Y FUTURE ONE BUILDI NG A T A TI M E Imagine a future where earth-friendly buildings actually help protect the planet. Possible? We think so. At Washington State University, we’re bringing together architects, construction managers, engineers, and other specialists in a unique, collaborative research environment. Their shared goal: to find new ways of reducing energy consumption in our habitat while minimizing the environmental footprint. Together, we’re working hard to develop sustainable building solutions. It’s a big job. But the world needs big ideas. cleantech.wsu.edu first words Time’s Warehouse : : As anniversaries go, I suppose a mere decade is not so big a deal, even for a magazine. Many magazines, after all, have lived much longer. Atlantic Monthly’s 154 years aside, even here at Washington State University, Washington State Magazine is a relative youngster. Pow Wow, Washington State College’s first magazine for alumni, debuted in 1910 and ran until 1969, when it was replaced by HillTopics. Along the way, Pow Wow, to which I last referred a few issues ago, reflected the life of a nascent college. Drawing on the dramatic events of the young twentieth century, dispatches from Washington State College’s few alumni and faculty documented the Mexican and Bolshevik revolutions, the Great War, and other unfolding dramas around the world. Along the way, lending appropriate perspective, the June 1936 cover of Pow Wow pictured the Lowell Elm, referring to it already as “a stately campus sentinel.” President and Mrs. Bryan had brought a seedling with them from Elmwood, near Harvard, the former home of James Russell Lowell, in 1893. That same year the Lowell Elm was noted, another cover marked the twentieth anniversary of E.O. Holland’s presidency. Though the Bryans and Holland endure through their legacy, the Lowell Elm remains a very physical presence. A few years ago, worries about its fate led to propagation of a clonal offspring, but it continues as a stately campus sentinel, unfazed by mere time. Despite our mere decade, we look back on these past ten years with a bit of wonder at the number of stories we’ve been blessed to tell: of discovery, of people, of our history, of food and wine and cougars and microbes. Over the past decade, many future Cougs have been born. A good many alumni have died. Nearly forty thousand students have received their undergraduate degrees. Another eight thousand received their graduate degrees. Our newest alumni readers were not yet teenagers when our first issue came off the press. At the core of our mission is our attempt to explore and report on the roles WSU and its researchers, scholars, and alumni play in society, how we examine, weave, and mend the social fabric. This issue follows the lead of our first ten years, proffering advice on child-rearing from an ancient culture, re-examining Washington’s history and agriculture through eating, revealing nature through different ways of seeing, and surveying a 2,000-year-old philosophical conundrum. Because of their periodicity, magazines can seem fleeting.WSM emerges every three months, supplanting the subjects of its previous issue in favor of the new and pressing. But if we’re doing this right, that flight is momentary, adding steadily to the layers of our collective story. We slowly become, asPow Wow did, a magazine in its fundamental sense, a word that reaches back ultimately to the Arabic, makzan, makzin, a storehouse: of stories, of personalities, of ideas and insights and results. Feeling pretty good about what we have stored so far in this past mere decade, we threw a party in October for those who have contributed to or been covered by WSM. To those of you who were able to join us, thank you again. And thank you also and especially to the WSU-related wineries for your contribution to the festivity. And thank you to Tukey Orchard for the apples and the Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission for the delicious preview of our as-yet-unnamed WSU apple, code-named “WA5,” which added momentously to the good time had by all. Tim Steury, Editor 3 WSM Spring 2012 v11n2 SPRING 2012 EDITOR Tim Steury ASSOCIATE EDITOR/SENIOR WRITER Hannelore Sudermann ASSISTANT EDITOR/WEB EDITOR Larry Clark ’94 ART DIRECTOR John Paxson SCIENCE WRITER Eric Sorensen ADVERTISING MANAGER Barbara Olson PHOTOGRAPHERS Shelly Hanks ’88, Robert Hubner Contributors WRITERS: Ryan Horlen ’11, Jason Krump ’93, David Menconi, Joanna Steward ’86, Gay Vallorie Selby ’80, Kevin Taylor PHOTOGRAPHERS: Bruce Andre, Stephen Dunn, Matt Hagen, Frank Hirahara ’48, George Hirahara, Young Kwak, Zach Mazur ’06, Henry Moore Jr., Matt Walker, Coke Whitworth ILLUSTRATORS: Aaron Ashley, Colin Johnson, Gina Jonas Three Great Ways to Belong to PRESIDENT Washington State University, Elson S. Floyd One Great Organization. LETTERS: Washington State Magazine invites letters on its content or on topics related to the University. Letters for publication must be signed and may be edited for style, length, and clarity. Shorter letters are more likely Today there are over 70% more members of the Washington State to be published due to space limitations. Writers should include an University Alumni Association (WSUAA) than just a few short years address and daytime phone number. Letters may be submitted online at wsm.wsu.edu/contact or sent to: ago. That’s huge! They joined to support WSU, take advantage of the ten-fold increase in member benefi ts, and connect with other Washington State Magazine PO Box 641227 Cougars. We extend our thanks to all the alumni, students, friends, Pullman, WA 99164-1227 faculty, and staff whose membership has helped the WSUAA claim email: [email protected] fax: 509-335-8734 its rightful place among the fi nest and fastest-growing alumni Washington State Magazine is published quarterly by Washington State University, PO Box 641227, Pullman, Washington 99164-1227. Editorial associations in the country. We salute our Annual, Life, and now offices are located at Washington State University, Information Technology Platinum Life Members. Building, Room 2013, Pullman, Washington 99164-1227. Views expressed in Washington State Magazine are those of the authors Introducing Platinum Life. and do not necessarily reflect official policy of Washington State University. Alternate formats will be made available upon request for persons with disabilities. Platinum Life Membership is the newest way to belong to the WSUAA. It was suggested by and created for Cougs who want to Washington State Magazine is pleased to acknowledge the generous support of alumni and friends of WSU, including a major gift from June Lighty and the help the WSUAA do even more for WSU. Platinum Life Members late Phillip M. Lighty ’40. enjoy all the same great benefi ts and services as Annual and Life SUBSCRIPTIONS: Washington State Magazine is distributed free of charge to Members, plus a growing suite of extras. graduates, donors, faculty, and staff of Washington State University. With a gift of $25 or more, you can have WSM sent to someone who is not on our mailing list. For details, go to wsm.wsu.edu/subscribe or contact Barb Olson at If you have not yet joined, or you are a current member interested 509-335-7628, [email protected]. in one of the other membership types, please sign up today. ADVERTISING: For information about advertising in Washington State Your membership—regardless of which type—is vital to the WSUAA Magazine, go to wsm.wsu.edu/advertising or contact Barb Olson, advertising and WSU. For information about the three great ways you can manager, at 509-335-7628, [email protected].