Chico Statements Fall 2011 issue

www.csuchico.edu/pub/cs CHICO STATEments 1

A mAgAzine from CAliforniA StAte UniverSity, ChiCo fAll 2011

2 CHICO STATEments

On a spring day in 1951, physical education major Carol Vikse was stopped on campus by a student body officer. He asked her if

she’d be willing to represent Chico State College in the Miss Califor-nia Pageant that summer. “It sounded like fun,” says Vikse, “and I was never one to pass up something fun!”

Vikse especially remembers the talent competition, for which she performed a modern dance. She recalls Miss San Francisco, Barbara Eden—later to gain fame in her roles in films and in the I Dream of Jeannie TV series—as being “a nice girl.” (Eden won “Miss Congenial-ity.”) Miss Sacramento won the pageant crown that year. Vikse says the experience was indeed fun.

Active in many clubs at Chico State, including the a capella choir, Al-pha Chi sorority, the PE Club, and the Associated Women’s Club, Vikse was also nominated by Alpha Chi as its candidate for “Little Nell” in the 1949 Pioneer Days celebration. After successful careers in both dance and education, including 20 years at a continuation high school in Fairfield, Carol (Vikse) Davis (BA, Physical Education, ’52) is now president of the Los Molinos Senior Center and has been active in city affairs for years.}

Photo above: The 1951 Miss California contestants. Carol Vikse is in the top row, far right.

Special thanks to faculty member Don Penland for sending us a copy of this photo.

Miss Chico State College


A m a g a z i n e f r o m C a l i f o r n i a S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y , C h i c o

F a l l 2 0 1 1 I s s u e 2V o l u m e 1 7

ChicoS T A T E M E N T S

D E PA R T M E N T S

2 From the President’s Desk Leading by example

3 Letters Favorite issue, favorite teachers

4 Campus Collage What’s happening at the University

22 2011 Distinguished Alumni

24 Alumni News Chapter News, Online Community, Alum Highlights, Wildcats on the Move, and Wildcats in Our Thoughts

32 In Memoriam Faculty and staff remembered

On the COverStudents Steven Aguilar, Greg Hollingshead, and Sofia Salazar spent 10 weeks this summer rehabilitating the Puppy Stairs, a historic staircase on Alcatraz Island. Photo by Beiron Andersson

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F E AT U R E S 8 restOring the rOCk | Concrete industry management students will

spend five years rehabilitating parts of historic Alcatraz

12 FasCinating FaCts | Did you know that Chico State once had an Owl

Club? Ayres Hall might be haunted? Check out these and other Chico oddities

14 Change thrOugh eduCatiOn | From West Africa comes a vision-

ary whose nonprofit is dedicated to changing lives on a global scale

18 Wanderlust, resOurCeFulness, generOsity | Chico couple

leaves University $4 million after a long retirement spent traveling

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2 CHICO STATEments

Hanging from lamp-posts throughout the campus are banners

that communicate our institu-tional identity and celebrate our values. Some pay hom-age to the Mechoopda and other Native American com-munities of the North State. Others signal an appreciation of our natural environment. Still others honor alumni contributions to our story and character. A particular set of banners brightens the walk-ways of the First Street reno-vation with messages about community and collaboration, diversity and sustainability, civic engage-ment and leadership. Gracing the pages of this issue of Chico Statements is evidence that what we profess is, in fact, what we live. And that what we live connects across generations and cultures and reminds us of the power of personal example.

Consider the profiles of several students, mentors, and friends within these pages.

Led by Tanya Komas, the director of our highly regarded Concrete Industry Management program, our students have spent the last two summers working on The Rock. Yes, that one—Alcatraz. They are part of a five-year Preservation Field School in partnership with the National Park Service to assist in the restoration of the buildings and grounds there.

On one hand, this is an excellent example of applied learning as our stu-dents bring their classroom knowledge to bear in solving a particular problem. On the other, this is applied public service as their efforts join hundreds of National Park Service volunteers working to preserve a landmark facility in our national heritage. For just as Alcatraz is more than a former federal prison, the work of our students there is more than an academic exercise. It is about developing an appreciation—and a habit—for lending one’s expertise and labor to serving the public good.

And speaking about goodness, six years ago the University Advisory Board established an award to recognize stu-dents who have provided exemplary community service. The board must have had Koudougou Alfred Koala in mind. For this is a special individual whose vision of change through education not only underscores one of the fundamen-tal purposes of our university but also

inspires hope and our best intentions.Reading about Koala’s story of commit-

ment to sustainability and self-sufficiency in his small village in Burkina Faso, West Africa, will move you. But no narrative can possibly convey the virtue of this man and the noble mission that compels his work. He has engaged many volun-teers from the North State in support of the foundation he established to lift rural communities out of poverty and into the possibilities of education. I hope that many who read Koala’s profile will want to get to know him and help his work.

Although neither Ed nor Marion Floyd attended Chico State, they settled in Chico late in their years and came to appreciate our university through the people and ser-vices that made their lives more comfort-able before their passing. Their gift of $4 million, the largest philanthropic gift in our history, will benefit the School of Nursing, scholarships for re-entry students, and Passages, a resource center for older adults and caregivers operated by the University Research Foundation.

All the more so because the Floyds were neither alums nor regular members of the university family, their gift is pow-erful testimony to what caring people and high-quality programs can accomplish. Touched, as they were, by the warm embrace of our university, they have ensured that others will be, too.

These are stories of engagement and goodness, commitment and service. Yes, our banners proclaim these values. But these people make them true. And this is a great message to celebrate as the 125th anniversary of the University’s founding approaches in 2012.}

—Paul J. Zingg, President

Chico State: Leading by Example

From the President’s Desk Credits

Editor | Marion Harmon

Senior Editor | Casey Huff

Art Director | Francie Divine

Assistant Editor | Anna Harris

Wildcats on the Move Anna Harris, Kate Post, Devin Caspers

Editorial InternCassandra Jones

ContributorsKathleen McPartland, Rory Miller, Luke Reid, Elizabeth Renfro, Joe Wills

PhotographyBeiron Andersson, Chelsea Beights, Skip Reager

PrintingRR Donnelley.......

PresidentPaul J. Zingg

Vice President for University AdvancementRichard E. Ellison

Director of Public Affairs and PublicationsJoe Wills

Chico Statements is published for alumni, par-ents, faculty, staff, and friends of California State University, Chico. The magazine is available in alternate formats on request. Please call 530-898-4143 for assistance.

Chico Statements welcomes contributions of arti-cles, photographs, and artwork but does not guar-antee publication of submissions. Please send to

Public Affairs, California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929-0040

e-mail [email protected]

telephone 530-898-4143; fax 530-898-4264

The deadline for submissions for the fall issue is Aug. 1 and for the spring issue is Feb. 1. We reserve the right to edit for clarity and space. All submis-sions—textual, graphic, or photographic—may appear in the online version of Chico Statements.

Please note that your name, address, phone num-ber, e-mail address, school or college, and year of graduation may be used by CSU, Chico for the development of university-affiliated marketing programs. If you do not wish to have this informa-tion used, please notify the Office of Advancement Services at 530-898-5297.

© 2011, California State University, Chico, an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer

Chico Statements is online. Get the interactive version, slide-

shows, and more at www.csuchico.edu/pub/cs. Our site makes it easy to send an alum update or a letter

to the editor; just click on “Send an Update” and fill out the automated form. We’d love to hear from you!

Chico Statements is printed on 30 percent postconsum-er recycled fiber paper that comes from responsibly man-aged sources and is Forest Stewardship Council certified.

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groups of Chico teachers there whereby they could experience the unique culture of teaching Hawaiian students. A handful of these teachers, including myself, stayed in Hawaii and were put in full teaching careers.

I also benefitted from the guidance and instruction of the late history professor Carl Hein who inspired me to pursue a 30-year career in education.

—Frank X. Terrazas Jr. (MA, History and Credential, ’78)

Truth is, I loved all my teachers! But the standout has to be Mrs. Earhart, my second-grade teacher. She had so much love, and shared it with all of us. Also, an honorable mention would be Mr. Vic Kronberg, my art teacher who encouraged my love for the arts. My band teacher Mr. Mac McArthur and my music teacher Mrs. Genovive Borine were great. Finally, I fell in love with and married a teacher, Carol Wood (BA, Education and Credential, ’65), who took over Mrs. Earhart’s class when she retired. You gotta love them teachers.

—James Pence (attended ’71–’73)

My favorite teacher at Chico State was Fred Brooks (see photo below), a recre-ation administration instructor. He had us organize to take on community projects including the planning of recreational facilities in Oroville and a similar program in the small community of Gerber. Fred

took great interest in his students’ suc-cess in these par-ticular projects and in future academic endeavors. He had a wonderful sense of humor, which reminded us to keep things on the light side.

When I found out I had a severe hearing problem, Fred made recommendations for me to see the California Department of Rehabilitation to get funding for my first set of hearing aids. He told me he wanted me to be successful in the recreation administration profession. I am employed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, out of Eureka, in their Regulatory Division as a wetlands biologist.

—David Ammerman (BS, Recreation Administration, ’79)

My favorite teacher has been my mentor, advisor, and friend for the past 24 years, Rudy Jensen (see photo next column). In the spring of 1987, he was introduced to our group of young, aspiring Chico educators as our mentor and supervisor.

He rewarded us with outstand-ing letters of recommenda- tion if you were able to live up to his high standard of what it meant to be a teacher. He pushed. He critiqued. He encouraged.

Rudy became my friend and supporter as my family came to know him and his wife better. Our oldest son called him “Uncle,” and our second son was named after him. We continue to learn from this educator. I am so grateful that my favorite teacher has been my mentor, advisor, and friend for half of my life.

—Mindy (Meharg) Beltramo (BA, Liberal Studies, ’87; Credential, ’88)

I was in Dr. Roger Lederer’s (see photo below) very first ornithology class at Chico State. It was great—the teacher wasn’t much older than the students! We had great field trips to Point Reyes, Eagle Lake, and other places. I learned so much that semester, and became a wild-life biologist for eight years for the Forest Service in Lassen National Forest. I assisted Dr. Peter Sharpe with capturing fledging ospreys with the intent of reintro-ducing them to Catalina Island. I also sit on the Death Valley Natural History Advisory Board. Thanks so much, Dr. Lederer!

—Marcelle Grider Rice (BS, Microbiology and Chemical Science, ’75)

Esther Sinnott was my seventh- and eighth- grade English teacher at Wilson Junior High School in Santa Clara, California. I already had a love of language, but she made me love it more. I loved creative writing the most, and she made me feel like I was a real writer.

Mrs. Sinnott gave me something to believe in, something to build up my confi-dence, and something to make me whole. She must have thought to herself, “I’m going to save this one.” And did she ever!

In the following years, through high school, college, and my teaching career, we developed a wonderful friendship. She left us this year at the age of 93, but she never left my heart. Thank you, Esther.}

—Judith Beaudet Reed (BA, English, ’71)

LettersMy favorite issueI always smile big when I receive the latest issue of Chico Statements, but it’s not often that I can say “I know him!” when read-ing about fellow alumni. What a treat the spring 2011 issue was!

One of the “Books by Faculty” [page 6] includes Japanese Grammar: The Connecting Point by Kimihiko Nomura. I was among Nomura’s first students at Chico State. I consider myself one of the lucky ones to have studied with him. The Spring 2011 Alumni Board roster [page 24] includes Paul Maunder. Paul and I went to high school and college together. “Wildcats on the Move” [page 28] includes a para-graph about Greg Loiacono, Tim Bluhm, and their band, The Mother Hips. Don’t all Chico alumni from that era have Back to the Grotto in their collection? And lastly, “The View From Space” article about Land Wilson [page 29] was especially exciting because I went to elementary and middle school with Land.

—Lisa (Torney) Morrill (BA, Psychology, ’90)

Editor’s NoteIn response to my question, Who was your favorite teacher?, in the spring 2011 issue, we received these wonderful letters, so we’re publishing them and skipping this issue’s editor’s note. My only plug for this issue is to encourage you to send us your favorite memory of Chico State, with photos if you have them, to commemorate the University’s 125th anniversary in 2012. E-mail to [email protected], or send in the mail to the address in the Credits box on page 2. Your memories will be part of a special anniversary issue.

—Marion Harmon (MPA,’07)

Our favorite teachersWith regard to the “Amazing Educators” article [spring 2011 Chico Statements, page 8], I would like to point out the ben-eficial and unique program offered in the 1970s to Chico teachers obtaining California credentials while student teach-ing in Kauai, Hawaii. The late Professor Helen Carkin (below, at left) took several

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Campus Collage

A Physical Education Makeover in Harlem—No Excuses!

Golf superstar Annika Sorenstam knelt on a Harlem sidewalk, surrounded by schoolchildren, demonstrat-ing the basics of the game with brightly colored golf

balls and oversized plastic clubs. Soon the kids took their turns, putting carefully, undistracted by passersby.

The students at The Children’s Storefront school in East Harlem received a private lesson from the professional golfer—and a comprehensive school wellness makeover, including a revamping of their physical education—thanks to Cathrine Himberg, Kinesiology. John Roussell, Communication Design, is creating a documentary of the project. They picked the 200-student school as the ideal case study for implement-ing a transformed PE class and physical activity throughout the school day.

In a January 2011 needs assessment, Himberg found the K–8 Children’s Storefront lacking just about everything an effective PE program requires: The classes featured dodge-ball and other games Himberg characterizes as “roll out the ball” (in which teachers observe students playing a game and provide little or no instruction). Facilities consisted of the sidewalk and blocked-off street with parked cars, a small common room, or a rented room in a church a 10-minute walk from the school.

And while the cafeteria’s food was really good, thanks to a 2005 kitchen makeover from Emeril Lagasse and the Food Network, it needed a little tweaking to be really healthy, says Himberg.

In mid-August, Himberg and Roussell began The Children’s Storefront project in earnest. They are researching the effects of implementing a physical activity program organized by Himberg over a full school year. Their qualitative results will be gathered in the form of video footage for a documentary filmed and produced by Roussell—a unique collaboration across disciplines.

Roussell’s documentary, titled No Excuses!, is scheduled to premiere in Chico in fall 2012 and will be screened at the National Association for Sport and Physical Education con-vention in 2013. Movie trailers will be available on the web-site www.supportrealteachers.org in the spring. They hope the movie will inspire changes in schools across the country.

“I believe the story will tell itself,” says Roussell. “You have these beautiful kids in a compelling setting, showing the stark contrast of realities in New York City.”

Adds Himberg: “If you can implement quality physical edu-cation and comprehensive school wellness there, you can do it anywhere. No excuses!”}

Anna Harris, Public Affairs and Publications

CSU, Chico received a 2010 Best Practice Award at the 10th Annual California Higher Education Sustainability

Conference held at CSU, Long Beach in July. Improvements made to the Student Services Center (SSC)

were deemed the best in both the UC and CSU systems. The University won the same award for Yolo Hall in 2009. The improvements were part of an Energy Efficiency Partnership with the CSU system under the direction of Chief Engineer/Energy Manager Neil Nunn and Facilities Control Specialist Dan Hayden (in photo at left, with the awards).

The partnership began four years ago when the CSU Chancellor’s Office and CSU, Chico pro-

vided funding to look at the energy performance of five campus buildings: Tehama Hall, Performing Arts Center, O’Connell Technology Center, Yolo Hall, and Student Services Center.

Cogent Energy, a company hired by the Chancellor’s Office, looked at energy data, tested equipment, and recommended remediation measures. These measures involved complex sequences of operations, including programming changes for six plant controllers, six universal network controllers, and air-handling mechanical equipment.

Hayden, formerly a controls technician for Yamas Controls Inc., has extensive experience in programming of commercial buildings. His work, says Nunn, distinguished CSU, Chico’s work on the project from other universities that had to hire outside contractors.

The final programming was done by student Scott Vanni using the software Hayden provided. “It kept everything in-house by using the incredible student talent we have on campus,” says Hayden.

“Both SSC and Yolo Hall were in good shape to begin with, so the fact that remediation measures resulted in tens of thousands of dollars of energy savings is remarkable,” says Nunn.}

Kathleen McPartland, Public Affairs and Publications

University Wins Sustainability Award for Energy Monitoring System

Kinesiology professor Cathrine Himberg (center, in white) encourages students to move during a Children’s Storefront school PE class.

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National Honors forCSU, ChicoFor the third straight year, CSU, Chico was ranked sixth among regional public uni-versities in the Western United States by U.S. News & World Report. The magazine rated 574 universities in four geographic regions in this category. CSU, Chico has made the list of top Western universities every year since 1998.

In other national rankings, CSU, Chico was again listed by Forbes Magazine in its annual “America’s Top Colleges” issue. This fall, CSU, Chico was No. 86 on the list of Western colleges and universities.

Washington Monthly magazine ranked U.S. colleges and universities for their con-tributions to the public good in three areas: aiding low-income students, producing research, and sponsoring community ser-vice. CSU, Chico was ranked 273 among all master’s level universities in the nation, up from a ranking of 387 a year ago.

CSU, Chico Named One of Top Five ‘Green’ CollegesThis fall, CSU, Chico received more national notice for its commitment to sustainability and environmental programs by being named one of the “Top Five ‘Green’ Colleges in America” by Yahoo News. In giving the designation, Yahoo cites campus construction projects that have adhered to environmental build-ing standards and “multiple earth-friendly service projects on campus and in the community.”

The other schools on the list are Oberlin College, Middlebury College, Evergreen State College, and Green Mountain College. Prior national honors for CSU, Chico in the area of sustainability include being ranked on top “green” school lists by the Sierra Club, Kiwi Magazine, the New York Times, and environmental news websites The Daily Green and Grist, and winning the National Wildlife Federation’s “Chill Out” Contest for innovative ways to reduce global warming.

Grant Supports FutureRural TeachersThe Chico Rural Teacher Pathway at CSU, Chico was recently funded for $500,000 by CalGrip (California Gang Reduction, Intervention, and Prevention). Co-directors Al Schademan, Education, and Maria Moreno, director of Upward Bound, were awarded the grant for a two-year pro-gram to recruit high school seniors from

at-risk populations—which can mean first-generation college students, low-income students, or students from ethnic minorities—and support them in pursu-ing higher education and, eventually, a teaching credential.

Professor Chosen as Library of Congress EditorPilar Alvarez-Rubio, Foreign Languages and Literatures, became a Library of Congress contributing editor for Latin American Literature in July. She will review about 100 Chilean books each year—

fiction, poetry, and literary cri t icism—and decide which will be kept in the library’s collec-tion. Every two years, Alvarez-Rubio, a native of Chile, will write a literary review and an essay

about the state and direction of Chilean literature.

Student Chapter Wins National ContestThe CSU, Chico student chapter of the Associated General Contractors (AGC) won third prize in the 2011 Outstanding Student Chapter Contest and has been among the winners the past three years.

They were awarded $400 for Phase II of the “Blitz Build” for the Catalyst Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, a con-tinuation of the 2010 first-place winning project. The 2011 Blitz Build produced two transitional housing units for the shel-ter, bringing the total to four units built by the students.

The students will present their win-ning project at the 2012 AGC Annual Convention. David Shirah, advisor to the CSU, Chico student chapter, received the AGC Outstanding Student Organization Advisor award for 2010–2011

MFA Graduate Produces Award-Winning SculptureTrevor Lalaguna (Masters of Fine Arts, ’11) was awarded the International Sculpture Center’s Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award for 2011. The 15 award recipients will partici-pate in the Grounds for Sculpture exhibi-

tion, on view through April 8, 2012, in Hamilton, New Jersey. The artists’ work will also be included in the exhibition cata-logue and featured in Sculpture Magazine, as well as on the center’s website www.sculpture.org. Lalaguna’s award-winning piece was a large grey house that fits over his head and torso, part of his MFA project and show.

Newspaper Series Wins National AwardA series of newspaper articles produced by CSU, Chico journalism students about old Chico neighborhoods received a national award in August. The “ ’Hoods with a History” series, reported and written by journalism faculty and Orion advisor Dave Waddell’s fall 2009 Public Affairs Reporting class and published in the Chico Enterprise-Record, was recognized in the Newspaper Project Award competition at the annual con-vention of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication in St. Louis.

David Little, editor of the Enterprise-Record, collaborated with Waddell and 18 journalism students on the series. “Our readers absolutely loved the end product,” says Little.

Campus Hosts California Indian ConferenceSeven hundred people came from around California to participate in “Sustaining the Circle of Knowledge,” the 26th Annual California Indian Conference, hosted for the first time by CSU, Chico.

The conference featured a wide variety of presentations, workshops , and native performanc-es, along with special events including an Elders Panel,

master weavers demonstration at the Chico Museum, a fine art display at the Valene Smith Museum of Anthropology, and a campus arboretum tour by profes-sor emeritus Wes Dempsey, Biological Sciences.}

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6 CHICO STATEments

The Return to Treasure IslandRaymond Barnett, Biological Sciences(iUniverse.com, 2011, 196 pages)In this novel, Barnett introduces readers to former pirate Jim Hawkins, who is lured back to the Caribbean in 1756 by Long John Silver, only to discover baffling clues to a treasure hidden by a great Chinese fleet in 1421.

Basic Weight Training for Men and Women, seventh edition Tom Fahey, Kinesiology(McGraw-Hill, 2011, 251 pages)This guide to developing a personalized training program emphasizes weight train-ing concepts and specific exercises to develop proper technique and form.

Journey to the Abyss: The Diaries of Count Harry Kessler, 1880–1918 Laird M. Easton, History, editor/translator (Knopf, 2011, 960 pages)The never-before-published early diaries of Count Harry Kessler—art patron, museum director, publisher, cultural critic, soldier, and secret agent—present a sweep-ing picture of belle epoque European court life and bohe-mia as well as of the Great War that destroyed this way of life. It was named as one of five books in the Atlantic magazine’s Books of the Year 2011: The Runners Up.

SPARK Middle School Physical Education Curriculum Cathrine Himberg, Kinesiology, co-author with M. Baranowski, D. DeJager, A. Hart, T. McKenzie, P. Rosengard, P. Strikmiller, B. Williston (San Diego State University Foundation and School Specialty, 2011, multimedia)This research-based curriculum includes a PE manual, music CD, and folio. The manual includes more than 500 different activities within 15 themed, instructional units. Each unit is written in scope and sequence with suggested unit plans for grade-level–specific instruction. Himberg wrote the dance portion of the curriculum. The online content includes 40 dance les-son videos shot at CSU, Chico.

At Lake Scugog Troy Jollimore, Philosophy(Princeton University Press, 2011, 96 pages)These poems, like much of Jollimore’s work, examine philosophical issues with

humor and keen insight. They focus on the relationship of the individual to the larger world, exploring the boundary between “inner” and “outer.” His first book of poet-ry, Tom Thomson in Purgatory, won the

2006 National Book Critics Circle Award.

Love’s VisionTroy Jollimore, Philosophy(Princeton University Press, 2011, 220 pages)In Love’s Vision, Jollimore uses examples from literature to argue that love is guided by reason even as it resists rationality. He reconsiders love’s moral status and con-cludes that love is neither wholly moral nor deeply immoral, neither purely rational nor profoundly irrational.

Leisure Enhancement, fourth editionMichael Leitner, Recreation, Hospitality, and Parks Management(Sagamore Publishing, 2011, 500 pages)This introductory textbook explores lei-sure theory, concepts, and philosophy, and illustrates how they can be applied to effectively enhance social development, improve fitness and health, and reduce stress. Written exercises have students apply critical thinking skills in personal leisure behavior decision making.

The Business of Sustainability: Trends, Policies, Practices, and Stories of Success Scott McNall, Sociology, co-editor with J.C. Hershauer and G. Basile(Praeger, 2011, 1,062 pages)This three-volume set provides a com-prehensive overview of the business of sustainability, including 56 chapters from leaders in business, nonprofit organiza-tions, and from within the academic and pol-icy world. It explores all dimensions of the subject: obstacles, met-rics, opportunities, and pathways to success.

Feeling Safe With Officer FrankLinda Mobilio-Keeling, School of Education (Mascot Books, 2011, 32 pages)This children’s book introduces readers ages 6–10 to Luke, who gets lost but then meets Officer Frank. Luke rides along with the police officer as he works his beat in a suburban neighborhood, and the two become friends.

Business Law, third editionJames Morgan, Management, with Peter Shedd and Robert Corley (BVT Publishing, 2010, 1,160 pages)This business law text presents traditional principles of legal studies as they relate to business, as well as areas pertaining to the interaction of law and business appropriate for 21st-century business leaders.

L’Altro e l’Altrove nella cultura italianaFulvio Orsitto, Foreign Languages and Literatures, editor(Nerosubianco, 2011, 248 pages)This book contains 17 essays by Italian and American scholars exploring the impor-tance of categories as “the other” and “elsewhere” in Italian culture. The essays (some in Italian and some in English) range from literature to film studies and theater.

Crowlyle’s Plan to Save the ZooVic Sbarbaro, Health and Community Services and Kinesiology, co-author with M. Pezzella (North State Children's Books, 2011, 34 pages)The children are sad because the zoo is closing. Crowlyle has a plan to save the zoo. He gathers all of his friends, and they march to the school to volunteer to save the zoo and get involved with a service-learning project: building a veggie shack for animals.

Internships in Sport Management Edward E. Seagle, Recreation, Hospitality, and Parks Management, coauthor with R. Ammon Jr., M. Walker, R. Smith (Venture Publishing, 2010, 170 pages)This how-to manual presents suggestions for preparing sport management majors for internships. It includes real-life exam-ples from sport management students from across the country and ideas for creating an effective cover letter and résumé.

Visual Culture and Literacy: Art Appre-ciation from Multicultural Perspectives Masami Toku, Art and Art History(Kendall Hunt, 2011, 200 pages)Visual Culture and Literacy contains texts, visual information, quizzes, exams, and grade books. It is customizable to each class and can be updated in minutes. The workbook is designed to allow stu-dents to customize their textbook as their understanding and practice of artis-tic techniques develops throughout the course.}

Buy these books atwww.chicostatewildcatstore.com

or call 866-282-8422.

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Here are some of the highlights from the fall 2011 Chico State Athletics season:

n For the first time since 1992, both men’s and women’s soc-cer teams advanced to the NCAA Championship Tournament as champions of the CCAA North Division. The Chico State women's soccer team was the Cinderella story of the 2011 NCAA Women's Soccer Championships, battling all the way to the West Region title. Seeded fifth in the West, the Wildcats knocked off No. 4 Cal State Stanislaus, No. 1 UC San Diego, and No. 2 Cal State L.A. to claim their first-ever West Region crown. At press time, they had advanced to the Final Four of the national championships.n The Chico State cross country program just keeps on producing. The men won their 10th straight CCAA title. Adrian Sherrod won the conference crown, leading 10 Wildcats across the line among the first 11 finishers. The women won their fourth straight conference championship, led by individual winner Alia Gray. Both teams fin-ished second at the NCAA Championship West Regional. The wom-en’s team went on to finish seventh at the NCAA Championships, providing the program with its 10th straight top 10 at the national championships. The men finished fourth at the championships, the 13th straight season they’ve finished in the top 10.n It was a fabulous fall for the men’s golf team and defending NCAA individual medalist Kyle Souza. The Wildcats won three of their four fall tournaments, and Souza earned the individual title in three of four.n Chico State volleyball players Makenzie Snyder and Sable Villaescusa reached amazing milestones this season. Snyder banged down her 1,000th career kill on Oct. 8. She’s the sixth Wildcat ever to reach that plateau. Villaescusa, a junior, became just the third setter in Chico State history to dish out her 3,000th career assist; she is also one of only two Wildcats to post three consecutive 1,000 assist seasons.}

Rory Miller and Luke Reid, Chico State Sports Information

For the first time since joining the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA),

the Chico State Athletics Department official-ly distinguished itself as the best in the confer-ence. Together, the Wildcats sports programs claimed the 2010–2011 Commissioner’s Cup, awarded to the CCAA member institution with the highest aggregate ranking in eight of the conference’s 12 championship sport offer-ings. The CCAA is considered one of the top Division II conferences in the United States.

Chico State had been close on a number of occasions, finishing second to UC San Diego four times since the Commissioner’s Cup came into existence in 2005. But the Wildcats halted the Tritons’ five-year reign on the strength of securing several CCAA titles and high conference finishes during the 2010–2011 athletic year.

“We’re honored and very excited to win this award,” says Chico State Director of Athletics Anita Barker. “Chico State Athletics has always been a team effort, and everyone contrib-uted to this year’s success.”

An institution’s Commissioner’s Cup ranking is calculated using its top two league finishes in the fall, winter, and spring sports seasons, as well as the highest two remaining finishes, regardless of season. An institution’s numerical finish for team sports is determined by regular season stand-ings. Individual sports finishes are determined by the finishes of the season-ending championship event.

Chico State totaled 20.5 points to win the Commissioner’s Cup, thanks to CCAA titles in men’s and women’s cross country and men’s and women’s track and field, second-place finishes in men’s soccer and men’s golf, and third-place finishes in softball and baseball. The women’s basketball team and men’s basketball team also finished in the top half of the conference standings.

The Commissioner’s Cup, awarded in association with Apple Computer, was presented along with a glass trophy and Apple laptop computer to Chico State during an official ceremony in September.}

Rory Miller, Chico State Sports Information

Chico #1 in California Collegiate Athletic Association

Wildcats Have Amazing Fall Season Photos clockwise from top left: Men’s cross country, women‘s volleyball, and men’s soccer, among others, enjoyed standout seasons this fall.

8 CHICO STATEments

RESTORING THE


Concrete industry management students will spend five years rehabilitating historic portions of Alcatraz Island by Kathleen McPartland

Photos by Beiron Andersson

lcatraz. While it was a notorious federal penitentiary, prisoners spent a lot of time and energy plotting a way to get off the island (36 people attempted escape; officially, none succeeded). Now, more than 5,000 people a day wait in line to get onto the island. It is a compelling destination because of its location, its architecture, and its history—part of which is being preserved by a team of California State University, Chico students.

In early July, Phil Petermann came to retrieve me from the dock in San Francisco. Petermann is the student public affairs director for the Concrete Industry Management (CIM) Preservation Field School at Alcatraz Island. The rest of the crew was already working at the island’s “Puppy Stairs,” the site of the summer 2011 concrete rehabilitation project. They were part of a five-year partnership with the National Park Service (NPS) and working on the island for 10 weeks, from June through August.

When we were seated on the ferry headed to the island, Petermann began to tell me how satisfying it was to be part of the field school. He said he learned so much about concrete rehabilitation and public affairs, his area to manage for the field school—and about the history of Alcatraz. On his iPhone was a picture of George “Machine Gun” Kelly, who was such a model prisoner, he served as an altar boy in the prison chapel.

Once on the island, we walked by the crowds listening to the park rangers telling the story of Alcatraz. We passed through a “staff and VIP only” barrier (VIPs are “Volunteers in Parks”—regarded as integral to the preservation of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). We climbed a stairway to the balcony of the building that had housed guards and their fami-lies, then turned and climbed to another level, where the CIM team kept tools and lunches and had a shop. The aesthetic repair team was there, working on samples of concrete, testing colors and textures to use on the Puppy Stairs project.

The Puppy Stairs were reportedly so named because they have smaller-than-usual steps, constructed so the prison war-

den’s dog, a small corgi with short legs, could use them. The stairs traverse the hill between the lower-level former guard barracks and the upper-level gardens and prison. They are badly deteriorated from age, weather, and saltwater and have been closed to the public for many years. It was the task of the CIM field school students to rehabilitate them so that they could be used once again.

Eight CIM students were involved in the field school this summer. In addition to Petermann, the following students each had an important management role to play: Andrew Billingsley, recent graduate and the project manager; Steven Aguilar, aesthetic specialist; Brandon Agles, student leader; Kenneth Garcia, demolition specialist; Greg Hollingshead, equipment and scaffolding manager; Brian O’Hair, forming supervisor; Brian Peart, financial officer; and Sofia Salazar, safety officer. In addition, Zachary Fernandez, a recent CSU, Chico graduate in communication design, videotaped the project and created several videos available on YouTube at the CSU, Chico CIM channel.

“This is a hallmark project for us,” says Tanya Komas, CIM director and Preservation Field School coordinator. “It is one thing to work with students in a lab and see their success in that controlled environment, but it is an entirely different experience watching them succeed in the field where they are making the decisions—sometimes trying two or three dif-ferent things before they come up with a solution they are happy with—and dealing with a wide range of the logistical and professional issues beyond simple concrete repair, includ-ing teasing out conflicts between applying the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilitation, with their focus on mini-mal loss of historic fabric, with ‘textbook’ concrete repair that often calls for a more aggressive approach.”

The students began the rehabilitation of the Puppy Stairs by assessing the entire staircase with input from structural engi-neers, industry experts, and Jason Hagin, the NPS historical architect who partnered with Komas in developing and run-ning the field school. The students determined that they would need to replace two structural supports and carefully repair

Restoring the

R kocA

Four members of the summer 2011 Preservation Field School team—Steven Aguilar, Andrew Billingsley, Sofia Salazar, and Phil Petermann—taking the morning ferry to work on Alcatraz.

10 CHICO STATEments

areas of the stair treads, railings, railing panels, internal sup-ports, and pilasters.

In June 2011, rehabilitation experts from Texas A&M University, Komas’s alma mater, were invited to bring a state-of-the-art laser scanner to produce ultra-high-resolution 3-D images of the staircase and many other critical sites on Alcatraz. This cross-campus cooperation offered the CSU, Chico students firsthand experience running the scanner. Industry patrons donated materials to the project, including cutting-edge technology such as BASF’s zero-cracking repair materials known as Zero-C and the latest Hilti tools.

Andrew Billingsley, who graduated in May, served as project manager of the Puppy Stairs rehabilitation. He had worked on Alcatraz the previous summer on a pilot project with other CIM students. Billingsley received high praise from Mark Rankin, NPS maintenance crew, who was a liaison with the project. “Andrew sees the large picture,” he said. “This year the students are getting twice as much work done under his leadership because of everything he learned last year.”

Billingsley’s idea of what he will do in the industry has changed with his required business coursework and his expe-riences on Alcatraz and with the CIM patrons. “I’ve discovered

that I really like the people side of the industry,” he said. “I thought I would enter the technical, labor side, but I like problem solving with people and work-ing with management.”

When Petermann and I arrived at the work site, the crew was mixing up some of the zero-cracking repair material with a handheld mixer in a five-gallon bucket and discussing how to do this safely. Safety Officer Sofia Salazar was especially vigilant due to a close call a week earlier in spite of following all safety precautions. It was too close for Salazar, but it made her job a bit easier—everyone was listen-ing to what she had to say. “Safety is the main priority here; it doesn’t matter what task we are working on,” notes Salazar. “Working for the NPS gives us another level of necessity for vigilance—we are working in a highly visible area, where tourists can see our progress at all times.”

The team was getting ready to repair some architectural features on the lower railing. Wooden forms were in place. The students had learned how to work with the zero-cracking material from BASF experts, who made the trip from corporate headquarters to participate in

The Preservation Field School at Alcatraz adheres to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties, part of the federally legislated

National Historic Preservation Act, which describes preservation, rehabilitation, res-toration, and reconstruction. The technique used at Alcatraz is “rehabilitation.” Re-habilitation allows for new, compatible uses and “focuses attention on the preservation of those materials, features, finishes, spaces, and spatial relationships that, together, give a property its historic character.”

In the case of the Puppy Stairs, the CIM team, together with NPS Historical Archi-tect Jason Hagin and Tanya Komas, de-cided to carefully repair deteriorated areas rather than simply demolish and replace the stairs wholesale. In so doing, the team set the bar high for themselves in terms of achieving durable, appropriate repairs that were also aesthetically blended into the historic fabric.

Preserving a Historic Site

CSU, Chico CIM students carefully treat newly repaired areas (see bottom of photo at right) to match the original, weathered concrete of Alcatraz’s Puppy Stairs (top of photo).

Left to right: Professor Tanya Komas with Sofia Salazar and Phil Petermann on the Puppy Stairs; placing the repair mortar in the one-sided form; the short-stepped descent of the stairs as seen from below; the top of the stairs; Greg Hollingshead, Kenneth Garcia, and Brandon Agles get a bird’s eye view of the project.


the project, and now they were determining the best way to handle it for this repair.

They were also doing work several levels above, and there was fresh rehabilitation work to look at. We climbed the stairs with Aguilar and Salazar to watch them wield the Barracuda, a specialized drill-like tool with steel brushes. They carefully pit-ted the surface of a new patch of concrete to create a texture similar to the historic concrete. The sections they’d completed with mechanical pitting and layered applications of an orange, lichen-colored microtopping were virtually indistinguishable from the original, weathered concrete of the Puppy Stairs (see sidebar, previous page).

Aguilar, leader of the aesthetic repair team, talked about this aspect of the project: “We’ve learned techniques to help give the appearance of aged concrete. It is such an unusual project in that we put in new concrete, but then we made it look old like the surrounding concrete on the island. Since this was like nothing our team had ever done, I learned to take a step a back and really analyze the environment to get a better understanding of how to make the new repairs aes-thetically pleasing.”

From this upper level, we could see the flower gardens that arose after 1880s-era Victorian houses were demolished, leav-ing foundations that formed multilevel terraces. The terraces were filled with soil and planted with intricate gardens that model prisoners tended as one of the most treasured escapes from cell-block life. Now an army of volunteers comes almost daily to maintain the gardens, blooming in early summer with dahlias, daisies, and poppies.

At noon, we returned to the rooms in which the students kept their equipment. (When they left the island each night, they stayed in NPS housing in the Marin Headlands.) During lunch, the students talked about the field school experience. In general, they agreed that they couldn’t ask for a better field placement. They were learning something that would prepare them for work they

want to do, and they were working directly with industry leaders and NPS experts.

“I learned a lot about teamwork and managing and adapt-ing to different personalities,” said Aguilar. “One of the most important lessons I learned was to really analyze the project and understand the whole picture before trying to find a solution. It is something I know I will take with me and benefit from greatly in future projects.”

At a recent International Concrete Repair Institute (ICRI) convention, CSU, Chico CIM students actively participated in designing the Surface Repair Inspector Certification that is being developed by ICRI. Peter Emmons, CEO of Structural, a spe-cialty contractor, and Komas are co-authoring the certification. Billingsley and Jonathan Hall, a student from the 2010 team now employed at Structural, worked with Emmons and Komas on test method development for the certification as part of their senior capstone project at CSU, Chico. Komas anticipates that the certification will become an important adjunct to a concrete repair code being developed by the American Concrete Institute to be used throughout the concrete and overall construction industries.

The opportunity to establish an ongoing field school on Alcatraz Island and to provide CIM students with significant and historic concrete rehabilitation challenges is unparalleled in other programs, says Komas. “The partnership among the NPS, CSU, Chico, and industry leaders and decision makers is a powerful force for accomplishing the rehabilitation. For our students to be part of this partnership as equal contributors provides them with a rare opportunity to both learn from the best and contribute to a project of high importance and significance.”

Billingsley said the historical aspect was especially fulfilling. “We are contributing to future generations being able to visit this and see a piece of history,” he said. “We helped preserve the staircase—it’s still here because we worked on it.”}

12 CHICO STATEments

13

leaf prints on the sidewalks around Kendall and Laxson began as an accident when a leaf fell into some wet cement. Ricardo Carrillo, Facilities Management and Services, liked the look of the print, stained it, and added three more to the sidewalks.

Last year, Associated Students

diverted 616,135 pounds

of recyclables from the landfill—saving enough oil to fuel 2,545 auto trips from Chico to the White House and back!

CHICO STATE NORMAL

School had an Owl Club. While

the six men making up the club

were photographed with their mas-

cot in 1901, meetings were owl-less

and focused on self-improvement

through literature and music.

pedal power 25 ELLIPTICAL MACHINES

at the Wildcat Recreation Center

generate power for the gym

every time someone works out.

The exotic and enormous

corpse flower in the Biological Sciences greenhouse blooms only every three to five years, but the rotting-flesh smell of the flower always attracts a steady stream of curi-ous onlookers.

by Cassandra Jones

Fascinating Facts about Chico State

The fourth floor of Meriam Library used to be the roof,

so it wasn’t built to carry the weight of books.

The carpet changes from gray

to blue to indicate where books can be shelved.


time Capsule COntentsIn 1973 the CIRCA 2000 Project, headed by political science professor Robert Jackson,

gathered items for a time capsule to be

opened in 2000. It contained, among other things, Coca-Cola bottle caps, Band-Aids, birth control pills, a book on growing marijuana, copies of Ms. magazine, an astrological chart, and predictions for 2000. One prediction, attached to a $1 bill: “Because of more and more computerized bill paying, money may be a thing of the past by the year 2000.”

THE JANET TURNER

Print Museum’s collection

of more than 3,500 fine art prints includes works by Salvador Dali, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Rembrandt,

and Pablo Picasso, including Le Fumer (247/450).

Warner Street was named after Warner Bros. film studio. The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, was filmed in Bidwell Park

in 1937—and the city renamed the north part of Ivy Street in its honor.

A flesh-eating beetle colony calls the Human Identification Lab in Plumas Hall home. These dermestid beetles eat soft tissue, leaving animal and human bones in pristine condition and ready for forensics experts to study.

Last year, 84 percent of students checked

into the Wildcat Recreation Center at least once.

ghost storyRumor has it that Ayres

Hall is haunted. This may be the source of the story: In the student-created Ayres statue garden is a monolith of a woman giving a little boy up to the heavens, a memorial to artist Susan Bardin’s cousin, who disappeared as an adult. Inside the sculpture is one of his shirts, a bandana, and a love letter from his wife.

celebrate! Chico State

turns 125 in 2012.

14 CHICO STATEments


From a small village in West Africa comes a visionary whose nonprofit is dedicated to changing lives on a global scale by Elizabeth Renfro

This summer, CSU, Chico honors student Koudougou Alfred Koala traveled with 14 North State volunteers to help the 4,000 residents in the village of his birth.

This was his second humanitarian trip to Thyou, in Burkina Faso, where residents often have no clean water to drink and starvation is common. Along with sharing much-needed aid—including medication, oxen, and a state-of-the-art well—Koala and members of the nonprofit organization Feeding Nations Through Education shared their joy in the successful begin-nings of what was perhaps the most important part of the plan: providing Thyou’s children with an education.

In such dire circumstances, it might seem odd that Koala would emphasize the children’s education. But he firmly believes this will help his village, and others like it, the most. “Education is gold,” says Koala, who soon after his arrival in Chico in 2007 began making plans to help his country through both donations and education. His efforts began in Thyou but have resulted in a highly successful, multifaceted nonprofit with a wide-ranging plan to help not only his village but also the others in his home country and beyond.

Realities and visionOf his life in the world’s third poorest country, the 31-year-

old states matter of factly, “Yes, I have gone through suffer-ing—like any other child.” Less than 20 percent of Burkina Faso’s land is arable while 80 percent of the population relies on subsistence agriculture, and the illiteracy rate is 74 per-cent. His family’s village, like most, had neither clean water nor electricity, and with a three-month growing season and limited farming implements, villagers regularly face starvation. Malnutrition and lack of clean water across the country result in an infant mortality rate among the highest in Africa: nearly one in five Burkinabe children die before reaching the age of 5. AIDS, too, has left thousands of orphans—140,000, accord-ing to the 2010 UN Global AIDS report—in this small country of fewer than 17 million.

Individuals and governments in the United States and else-where have heard these facts and responded by sending food, medicine, and agricultural equipment that, says Koala, has saved lives. However, he adds, this crisis aid comes from givers who know about the conditions in rural Burkina Faso but who do not really know the people, the culture, and the country itself. Thus little long-term change is achieved. Once the bag of rice is eaten, hunger returns. When the equipment wears, no one knows how to maintain it; once it breaks, no one knows how to fix it. Nothing has changed except that “there are many

pieces of broken equipment lying around.” And, adds Koala, “this must be painful for the givers to see.”

Another common form of aid aims at helping the thousands of orphans by building orphanages or through long-distance “fostering” of individual children with monthly stipends to provide food (and sometimes schooling). Unfortunately, those monthly monies may arrive irregularly or only for a limited time, and then a child who has been singled out is left sud-denly adrift. Building orphanages does provide roofs over children’s heads and food for starving bellies, but schooling is not always incorporated. Even more significant, says Koala, is that rural children placed in city orphanages lose the connec-tions, the strands of belonging that are part of village culture in Burkina Faso. There, a child without parents will be taken in and made part of a neighbor family, no matter how little they have. At 16 or 18, says Koala, children “leave the orphanage for where? They have no education for work. They have no community to go to, no one to help them on their way. They have only the streets.”

“People like you” don’t …Koala’s own childhood and formal education in Burkina

Faso involved challenges and deprivation that he met with determination and grace (see sidebar, next page). Things didn’t get any easier when, as a 24-year-old part-time student at the University of Ouagadougou, he dreamt one night that he was boarding a plane, off to study at an American university. For weeks afterward, he relates, he struggled to make sense of the compelling vision. Someone like him studying in the United States? A “village boy who did not know anything” (including English)? Someone who didn’t have enough money to even eat regularly? Koala had already been told many times that “people like you” don’t learn mathematics and physics, that “people like you” don’t get university degrees, can’t change the world. However, he was convinced that this was what he was meant to do.

What followed was a year of labor, from washing dishes to tutoring children (in math and physics), sleeping where he could and eating when he had enough money. That year included hours snatched whenever possible at the U.S. Embassy library, teaching himself English. During this period, he also made dozens of trips to the Embassy offices, making his way through a stack of student visa forms, painstakingly translating and filling out each using a French-English diction-ary. One of these forms required he state the specific school at which he planned to study. Knowing nothing about the United

A Vision for ChangeThrough Education

16 CHICO STATEments

States, nor about any of its universities, Koala looked on a library computer, saw the name “California State University, Chico” at the center of the screen, and chose it. He had no idea where it was.

After wrestling through and dispatching another stack of forms (and fees), Koala was accepted by CSU, Chico’s American Language and Culture Institute (ALCI) to study English prior to university admission. An uncle, who had formerly accused him of lying about his plan to study in America (“People like you don’t …”), presented him with a one-way ticket to America. In March of 2007, Koala, dressed in a lightweight jacket and thin shoes, flew from the triple-digit heat of summer in Burkina Faso into snowbound JFK Airport, with one suitcase, his ALCI paper-work, his passport, and $733 in his pocket.

After a night and day wandering the airport and then parts of New York City itself trying to discover just where California State University, Chico was—and how in the world to get there—Koala boarded a Greyhound for the last lap of the

journey. On the third day of the five-day trip, a fellow traveler befriended him, shared food (the first Koala had eaten since New York), and in Sacramento helped Koala phone ALCI to arrange to be met in Chico. A few hours later, he found him-self in Craig Hall, where “they usually have a spare room for crazy people like me.” Later, after settling in with the first of the host families who would become part of his extended Chico family, Koala began his American college experience.

Making new connectionsCompleting the ALCI program in July, Koala started at Butte

College in fall of 2007. One of the first friends he made was the International Students Club advisor, Tom Grothe (BA, Organizational Communication, ’90). Grothe, who teaches cross-cultural communications at both Butte and CSU, Chico, says Koala is himself compelling, in part because “his heart is so huge.” The strong connection he makes with people was evident when, in fall of 2008, word got out on campus that

Koala’s father had died. Butte College’s associate dean of Recruitment, Outreach, and Student Life, Peggy Jennings-Severe (BA, Psychology and Social Sciences, ’76; MA, Counseling Psychology, ’84), began organizing a fundraiser to buy Koala a plane ticket home for his father’s funeral. “Just about everyone at Butte College got involved,” says Grothe.

But when he was told of the plan, Koala said he would rather the money raised be used to help his village—and he just happened to already have a modest and practical plan to suggest, a sustainable aid approach with educa-tion at its core: $1,650, he explained, could supply a family with two young, vaccinated oxen, a simple plow, and training in their care and use. With this start, plus 220 pounds of rice to supple-ment their own diet for the first year, the family could raise enough grain to not only feed themselves but also fund at least one child’s schooling. Later, when the oxen were fully grown, they could be sold and four new oxen purchased. The cycle could continue and expand, providing independence and a sustain-able way to improve more and more Burkinabe lives.

With this new goal, yard and bake sales and other efforts by various groups at Butte College raised close to $8,000 in just a few months. By this time Koala, Jennings-Severe, Grothe, and his wife, Kerstin, realized that the modest begin-ning had already grown to something bigger. With the addition of CSU, Chico art history professor Asa Mittman, the group met to brainstorm ways to trans-form a one-time event into an ongoing operation. When Kerstin suggested nam-ing their new organization “Feeding a Nation Through Education,” Koala was quick to suggest a slight modification. “Koala thinks globally,” says Grothe. “He told us, ‘Not a nation but nations, because we are going to change the

Education, like food and clean water, is hard to come by in the impoverished villages of Burkina Faso. Koudougou Koala’s formal education began at 9,

when the government built an elementary school in his village of Thyou. School-ing costs about $100 per child each year, though, a fortune to the 90 percent of the country’s population who are subsistence farmers and rely on every family mem-ber’s help during the brief growing season. Nonetheless, Koala’s father decided they could afford to send one of their 10 children, and middle child Koala was chosen because, his mother later told him, “I didn’t argue, I answered respectfully, I was obedient,” he says.

The three-mile trek alone to the new school was frightening, but “I wanted to go. I like to discover things.” The obedient 9-year-old did what his teachers required—including learning French, the country’s official language—and his insa-tiable curiosity “about everything” overcame his shyness and fears.

After elementary school, however, continuing his education meant moving—again alone—to another village, Sabou, for middle school and then to Koudougou, still farther from home, for high school. Disowned by his father for converting to Christianity during this time, Koala worked at whatever jobs he could get. Some-times he was taken in by people in the villages, but he often lived on the streets with other homeless children, attending school when he could.

At 24, upon graduation from high school, he moved to the capitol city, Ouaga-dougou, hoping to attend the country’s one university. Once again, however, Koala could take classes only intermittently. When he was able to earn enough to pay the fees, the choice was often between eating and going to school.

What does Koala remember most from those times? Those with whom he shared the toughest experiences. “I miss the people I starved with,” he says. “I miss them. I miss them a lot.”

A Journey to Make a Difference


world.’” Feeding Nations Through Education (FNTE) was born.

By the time Koala trans-ferred to CSU, Chico as an accounting student in 2009, he had already made his first trip back to Thyou to provide five families with the oxen, tools, and training funded by FNTE. The families were selected because they had, despite their poverty, taken orphans into their homes, and each family made a commitment to save enough to send at least one of their children to school within three years.

Determined to make change

At CSU, Chico, while maintaining honor-student status, working numerous jobs, and earning scholarships and awards from both campus and community, Koala has kept his focus on helping those in need. Besides working directly on FNTE projects, Koala makes presentations in classes and other forums, sharing his firsthand knowledge of the need in Africa and of his vision for change.

Koala’s is a persuasive voice. While FNTE board member Mittman calls himself “basically a New York skeptic,” he says he was drawn by Koala’s core belief that people sincerely want to help, a belief fueled by “a deep hope, something that is fundamentally Koala.” Despite all he knows and has endured, Mittman continues, “Koala doesn’t filter out pos-sibilities.” CEO of the North Valley Community Foundation Alexa Valavanis (BA, Journalism, ’99), puts it another way: All you have to do, she says, is “just talk with Koala, and you know you are in the presence of a visionary.”

CSU, Chico accounting and management information sys-tems professor Ray Boykin has worked closely with Koala. “As a professor,” says Boykin, “you can only hope that you leave an impact on your students and that some of them will ‘pay it forward.’ Then there are those professors who are fortunate enough to have a student make an impact on them.” When Boykin, who has himself worked in villages in Sierra Leone, told Koala that he found him “courageous and empower-ing,” Koala says he felt overwhelmed. “To have someone like him say this to me, that is amazing. If people think I am empowering, I tell myself, ‘I have to get serious.’ ”

That he is. Just this past June, Koala spearheaded another outreach group, this time through City Light Church in Chico. Fourteen people traveled with him to Thyou, bringing a grain mill, rice, medicine, 1,200 pairs of eyeglasses, and school sup-plies, with backpacks for the top students in each grade. They also helped build a replacement well, this one to specifications Koala himself developed in response to problems he knew had plagued previous wells constructed in his village. Through his design, the village now has a separate but attached trough for watering the oxen. The work of FNTE, not even three years in existence, also continues, this July providing a second set of five families with oxen, plows, and training. And just a couple of months ago, two years earlier than scheduled, five children from the first set of families started school.

But as the “s” in “Nations” proclaims, Koala’s aim for FNTE is

to feed more than just one village, and with more than just crops. Drawing on his business and accounting training, Koala is cur-rently at work on feasibility studies analyzing conditions in Togo, Chad, Ghana, and Mali. His plan to formulate sustainable sup-port and education programs tailored to each is ambitious, but as CSU, Chico President Paul Zingg says, “Koala has that rare ability to make a vision both compelling and practicable.”}

About the authorElizabeth Renfro (BA, English and German, ’72; MA, English,

’75) taught for 35 years at CSU, Chico in English, Honors, and Multicultural and Gender Studies. She has written dozens of chapters, articles, and academic papers and two books, one on writing and one on the Shasta Indians. Renfro retired professor emerita in 2010.

Top: Koudougou Koala and an elder celebrate Thyou’s first clean water well. At far left in a red head scarf is Koala’s mother, Sakassida Koala-Kabore. Next to her is Chicoan Jacky Hagberg (BS, Biological Sciences, ’68). Bottom: Koala arrives in Thyou in June, welcomed by 150 villagers half a mile from town. Photos courtesy Koudougou Alfred Koala.

18 CHICO STATEments


Essentially, Ed and Marion Floyd left on a fishing trip in June 1957 and didn’t come home for 35 years. From 1957 to 1992, they

camped in one scenic spot after another. Only when Ed and Marion were 81 and 73 years old, respectively, and no longer able to lift their canoe to the top of their Chevy truck, did they settle down in their adopted home of Chico.

While they were still on the road, the Floyds cleaned with wash-cloths till they were threadbare and found a hundred uses for old fishing line. They were so resourceful and spent so little money camp-ing that most of the small income they had—rent from an apartment building Ed had built in the Bay Area—went either to people they met while camping, or into savings bonds. By the time they came off the road, Ed and Marion had become quite wealthy.

Chico couple leaves University $4 million after enjoying life in campgrounds across the country by Joe Wills

(Left) The cover of one of Marion Floyd‘s many scrapbooks documenting the Floyds’ life on the road, along with some of the images contained within.

CHICO STATEments 19

20 CHICO STATEments

The Floyds did not attend Chico State but lived in Chico in their later years and were grateful for help they received from nurses, caregivers, and others affiliated with the University. The depth of that gratitude became clear when the Floyds’ estate was settled earlier this year following Marion’s passing, giving the University $4 million to be split among three areas: the School of Nursing; scholarships for re-entry students; and Passages, the resource center for older adults and caregivers that is operated by the University’s Research Foundation. It is the largest phil-anthropic gift in CSU, Chico history, and it came from a couple whose story is as unbelievable as it is life affirming.

On the road againUntil the final chapter of their remarkable life together, no

one knew the Floyds had substantial sums of money, much less millions. And only a few people were aware they had been liv-ing a tantalizing, if eccentric, version of the American Dream: quit your job and take off down the road, camp and fish in one place after another, meet people, see the world, and practically live off the land.

They weren’t crazy millionaires living like hobos, or Beverly hillbillies who struck oil and became rich overnight. The Floyds lived a real rags-to-riches story: When you reuse paper napkins, over the course of 35 years you can slowly, inexora-bly, build wealth.

But there was nothing ordinary about what they did. How many couples, disillusioned with suburban sprawl or consumer culture, dreamed of chucking it all and leaving the humdrum 1950s behind? How many could really pull it off?

The Floyds were perhaps the perfect ones to do it. Ed knew how to fix things. He was a shipfitter in the U.S. Navy, laying out the bulkheads, braces, and other parts of warships hur-riedly being built during the war. He transferred his skills into a window installation business, and learned enough about con-struction to help build several buildings, including the Floyds’

Oakland home in 1947. Marion knew how to live simply. She’d moved around a lot as a child, including several years in Alaska, making do with few amenities. She was smart and trained to be a nurse before the war. Most of all, though, Ed and Marion both loved the wilderness. They shared a reverential joy that comes from mountain passes, quiet lakes, and a wicker creel full of the day’s catch.

By fate or their own choosing, the Floyds did not have chil-dren. Friends they made on their travels, wildlife they encoun-tered while camping, and their beloved pets (from their dog Spot during the ’50s to their parakeet Chico in the ’90s) were treasured companions. They kept up with far-flung family and friends through correspondence sent and received at post offices scattered throughout the country. Marion gathered much of this in more than a dozen huge scrapbooks also filled with photos, postcards, cartoons, newspaper clippings, and other mementos.

It must have been hard for the Floyds to explain their uncon-ventional lifestyle to loved ones. In a 1962 postcard from Smith River, Marion writes to her mother-in-law back in Oakland: “Honest! We have good intentions when I wrote of staying lon-ger in places but somehow just don’t, due to either weather, no fishing, no rocks to look for or something. We will leave here Thursday for the Klamath River, will write soon as we get an address there.”

To the young people they met along the way, however, they were undoubtedly inspirational. When the Floyds’ 35-year odyssey began, there were no hippies, few backpackers, and little thought to “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” Yet Marion and Ed canned what fish they couldn’t eat, found free campsites on public land, and coaxed hundreds of thousands of miles out of old vehicles (six trailers, two trucks, and one 1967 Rambler, to be exact).

They lived the way they did—which younger generations would embrace in time—because frugality came to them natu-


rally, as outdoor types and children of the Great Depression. Coupled with their deep desires to travel and be in nature, it added up to a happy, nomadic existence that ended only when they lacked the physical endurance to pull the canoe off the Chevy.

Why Chico?Proximity to great hiking and fishing was probably responsi-

ble for Ed and Marion’s choice of Chico as their retirement spot. They had bought an 800-square-foot house on Third Avenue in 1972 and made friends in town on periodic visits over the years as they prepared for the unpleasant prospect of settling down. When the dreaded day came in 1992, the ivy Marion had plant-ed had festooned the front and back fencing to give the place a homey feel—“my little cave,” she called it.

As they grew older—and sadly, as Ed became diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease—they relied on those Chico friends and local resources that help with aging, illness, and caregiving. Although neither of them had graduated from college, they had great respect for education and appreciated the benefits of liv-ing near the University. Without children as heirs, they took time deciding where to leave their estate, and that took on urgency as they discovered their investments were worth several million dollars. Ultimately, they wanted to show their gratitude for the nursing and elder care they had received, and they wanted to encourage older adults to continue their education.

“What a wonderful thing that they thought about us,” says Joe Cobery, director of Passages. “Their gift is really making a dif-ference, particularly in these hard times. By helping us provide services to support older adults, it helps us support the entire community. We can’t thank the Floyds enough.”

Adds Carol Huston, CSU, Chico School of Nursing director: “The generosity of Ed and Marion Floyd’s gift to the School of Nursing is unparalleled. It allows us to update critical resources, promote high-quality student learning, and provide more oppor-

tunities for students to become professional registered nurses, thus improving the quality of health care throughout the North State and even nationally.”

Re-entry scholarships are more important than ever because of the economy, notes CSU, Chico scholarship coordinator Daria Booth. “These students are often juggling a job and family, pulled in many directions, and a scholarship is not only financial help, but also an acknowledgement they made a good deci-sion,” says Booth. “The Floyds’ gift makes a college education possible for many people.”

Marion and Ed would have enjoyed hearing about good uses for their money, particularly because they had so little interest in spending money themselves. Even in their final years, the Floyds amazed guests with their commitment to simple living. Gary Salberg, director of major gifts and planned giving at CSU, Chico, recalls Marion tearing paper towels in half as she served milk and cookies at their home.

“She said half a sheet would do just fine as a napkin, not to mention that paper towels were expensive,” says Salberg. The snack-time savings didn’t end there: Salberg says the milk on the table was made with powdered milk—less expensive, of course.

Ed died in 2003, Marion in 2009. One of the things they left behind along with the scrapbooks was a dog-eared, Scotch tape-reinforced spiral notebook, where Marion logged purchases, weather reports, friends’ birthdates, bank balances, and other shorthand accounts of their life together. (Typical entry: “Nice day. Washed clothes, only went out in eve. 3 nice bass.”)

The very last listing in the book, in Marion’s flagging long-hand script, reports the purchase of a six-pack of Cashmere Bouquet soap. The retail price is lost to history, but the impor-tant part—the part that defines who the Floyds were—isn’t. From some rural delivery outpost, no doubt, Marion mailed in and received a $1 rebate from Colgate.}

They shared a reverential joy

that comes from mountain passes, quiet lakes, and a wicker creel

full of the day’s catch.

“

”

22 CHICO STATEments

For the past 18 years, CSU, Chico has honored alums who have made outstanding contributions in their fields. We proudly present the Distinguished Alumni for 2011.

Distinguished Alumni

Dennis N. ChoateCollege of Agriculture

Dennis Choate’s desire to attend Chico State took flight while he spent summers working on his uncle’s farm in Gridley, California. While Choate (BS, Agriculture, ’80) was a Chico State student, a summer internship with Asgrow Seed Company turned into a full-time job as a field representative. After 20 years and many positions with Asgrow, Choate moved over to Harris Moran Seed Company to serve in his current position as vice president of opera-tions, production, and quality control. The position allows him to travel to many countries, and when possible, he takes his family: wife Shawn (whom he met and married while both were attending Chico State), son Bryan, and daughter Bonny (BS, Agricultural Business, ’10). Choate currently serves on the Chico State Agricultural Advisory Council.

Nancy “Rusty” BarcelóCollege of Behavioral and Social Sciences

A nationally recognized professional presenter and author of numerous publications, includ-ing Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas, Nancy “Rusty” Barceló formally took office as president of Northern New Mexico College in Española, New Mexico, on July 1, 2010. Barceló (BA, Social Work, ’69) has extensive experience as a teaching profes-sional and is recognized as a respected authority on the issues of equity and diversity in high-er education. She received the Distinguished Educator in Diversity Award from the University of Iowa, served as vice president and vice provost for minority affairs and diversity at the University of Washington, and served as vice president and vice provost for equity and diver-sity at the University of Minnesota. Barceló is also an avid bicyclist, accomplished storyteller, songwriter, and guitarist.

Thomas P. VillaCollege of Business

Thomas Villa has logged more than 225,000 air miles in travel for his role as direc-tor of business development for Verizon Wireless, and most have been interna-tional miles as he oversees all of the company’s cus-tomer operations functions,

including customer care and installations. Following Villa’s 1982 graduation from Chico State with a BS in business administra-tion, he received his MBA in finance from the University of San Francisco. Villa began his career in telecommunications with Pacific Bell and has worked for SureWest, AirTouch, and overseas on several cellular start-ups. He met his wife, Karyl (Knopp), through her sister Karen, a classmate of Villa’s at Chico State. The couple has two children—daughter Lauren, a junior at UC Davis, and son Paul, a high school senior who considers Chico State his first choice for fall 2012.

Steven E. TollesonCollege of Communication and Education

Steve Tolleson is princi-pal of Tolleson Design, a graphic design studio in San Francisco. Formerly on the board of directors of the San Francisco chap-

ter of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, Tolleson (BA, Communication Design, ’81) has lectured extensively at col-leges, universities, and industry organizations. He has served as a design juror for significant competitions around the world. Tolleson Design has received numerous awards and enjoys consistent visibility from national and international media. In 1999, Princeton Architectural Press published a monograph on the studio titled SoakWashRinseSpin, now an industry standard. Tolleson and wife Ruthie (BS, Nursing, ’82) live in Novato and have two children, Danielle (BA, Recreation, ’09) and Evan.


H. Kit MiyamotoCollege of Engineering, Computer Science, and Construction Management

H. Kit Miyamoto is CEO and structural engineer of Miyamoto International and Global Risk Miyamoto. Under the leadership of Miyamoto (BS, Civil Engineering, ’89), more than 10,000 projects have been successfully completed worldwide. Known for innovative engineering, he has worked on many projects that have received industry recognition, including the Structural Engineers Association of California’s Excellence in Structural Engineering Award. Miyamoto specializes in high-performance earthquake engineering as well as disaster mitigation, response, and reconstruction. He continues to work on major critical projects, including as an expert consultant to the World Bank on the seismic risk mitigation project for 2,000 schools in Istanbul. Presently, he is working with the government of Haiti, the United Nations, and vari-ous nongovernmental organizations to assess more than 400,000 earthquake-damaged struc-tures and to implement strategies for the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

William L. CarrollCollege of Natural Sciences

William Carroll is Julie and Edward J. Minskoff Professor of Pediatrics and Professor of Pathology, NYU School of Medicine, and director of the NYU Cancer Institute. He has attained international renown as a leader in using the basic science of genomics to under-stand childhood tumors from their earliest beginnings and develop more effective therapy. Carroll (BS, Biological Sciences, ’73) has played a key role in developing new treatments, especially for Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), the most common childhood cancer. As chair of the Children’s Oncology Group ALL Committee, Carroll directed the largest clinical trials network for children with cancer worldwide. He has served as both a member and chair of the National Cancer Institute’s Subcommittee A for Cancer Centers and serves on the advi-sory board of three other NCI Cancer Centers. Carroll received his medical degree from the University of California, Irvine and his postdoctoral training in pediatric hematology-oncology at Stanford University Hospital.

Patrick W. BultemaCollege of Humanities and Fine Arts

Patrick Bultema, chief executive officer of Internet software company CodeBaby, is recognized as an industry and company maker. Bultema (BA, Religious Studies, ’81) has served as an executive, inves-tor, board member, and advisor to tens of venture-financed start-ups. He was most recently a venture partner with vSpring Capital. He was previously CEO of XAware and of FrontRange Solutions, a global customer relationship management (CRM) software company. He was founder and executive chairman of Knowlix, as well as chairman/general manager of the Help Desk Institute, then a Ziff-Davis company. A noted author and speaker, Bultema is recognized as one of the leading experts in the customer management industry. He was founding executive editor of Customer Support Management Magazine and has been an industry maker in the CRM space. In addition to his degree from Chico State, Bultema earned a master’s degree from Princeton.

Glen O. ToneyDistinguished Alumni Service Award

Glen Toney (BA, Philosophy, ’66) served as an executive of Applied Materials for 23 years before retiring in 2002 as group vice president of corporate affairs. He previously served as superintendent of schools for Palo Alto School District and for Ravenswood City School District. Toney received a BS in mathematics from San Jose State University, an MA in instructional technology and curriculum design from San Jose State, and a Doctorate of Organizational Behavior and Higher Education from the University of Southern California. He holds honorary doctorates from Chico State and Santa Clara University. Committed to civic involvement, Toney is a former president of the Chico State Alumni Association, serves on the CSU Board of Trustees and the Gateway Science Museum Board of Directors, and is the recipient of numerous honors and awards.}

24 CHICO STATEments

Dear Alums

Iknow you’ve heard me say before, “It’s a great time to be a

Wildcat,” and I just have to say it again! So much has been going on at your university, and there’s more ahead.

I hope you were able to join us at our second annual Chico Experience Week, Oct. 7–16, 2011, to participate in alumni reunions, Family Weekend, the Chico Chapter Fall Mixer, the renovated Alumni Glen ribbon-cutting ceremony, and many community events throughout Chico. Mark your calendars for the 2012 Chico Experience Week, taking place Oct. 5–14.

We have much to look forward to in 2012. Chico State’s 125th anniversary celebration begins in 2012, and events will be taking place the entire calendar year. Please look for events and attend as many as you can.

On the next page is an article directing alums to the new Chico State Online Community. Instructions can be found there, and we hope you will take advantage of this exciting way to both commu-nicate with fellow alums and learn of professional opportunities. In addition, the 125th Anniversary Chico State Alumni Directory will be published in November 2012. In the next few months, you will be contacted by Harris Connect about the directory and ways you can update your information and stay in touch with other alums.

Your board, its executive committee, and local chapter boards continue to meet regularly to plan events and work with the uni-versity administration to guide the future direction of your Alumni Association. To keep current on all the activities of the associa-tion, please visit our website at www.csuchico.edu/alumni.

My two-year stint as your Alumni Association president ends in January, so this will be my last Chico Statements letter to you. I have thoroughly enjoyed leading the association and its hard-working board during that time. It has been rewarding, challeng-ing, exciting—but most important, a great opportunity to promote interest and participation in the events of a great university. I value my Chico State connection, as I hope you do. Take care, Chico State alums, and I hope to see you down the road.

Your fellow Chico State enthusiast,Don Carlsen (’69), President, CSU, Chico Alumni Association

A L U M N I A S S O C I AT I O N N E W S

Upcoming Reunions and EventsSaturday | Jan. 28 Alumni Association Board Meeting

Saturday | Jan. 28Chico Chapter Basketball Reception

Saturday | April 14Community Open House on the Chico State campus

Friday | April 20Distinguished Alumni Dinner

Thursday | May 3Chico Chapter Tri-Tip Barbecue

Oct. 5–143rd Annual Chico Experience Week

Oct. 12–131955–1965 Alumni Reunion

Oct. 12–1350th Anniversary of the Recreation, Hospitality, and Parks Management Department

For more information on these events, visit the Alumni website at www.csuchico.edu/alumni or call 530-898-6472.Congratulations to Class of 1961 alums, who celebrated their

50th anniversary during the Golden Grad Reunion.

Nursing school alums who received part of their education at Travis Air Force Base during 1965–1978, at their first reunion.

President Zingg, surrounded by alums and students, at the ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated Alumni Glen.

More than 850 Chico State parents and students took part in the Family Weekend Barbecue, held during Chico Experience Week.


Register for the Chico State Online Community by Jan. 31 for a chance to win an iPad 2!As a graduate of Chico State, you are already part of the alumni network, more than 130,000 strong and growing. As we approach the 125th anniversary of the University in 2012, we’d like to introduce you to a new way to connect with friends, share infor-mation, sign up for events, and receive news about Chico State. Membership in the Chico State Online Community is free and exclusive to alumni.

If you join the community by Jan. 31, 2012, you’ll have a chance to win one of these great prizes:• iPad 2• $100 gift certificate to the Chico State Wildcat Store• Chico State Alumni sweatshirt• One-year membership in the Chico State Alumni Association

After joining, you can access these community features:

MY PERSONAL PROFILEUpdate your information, sign up for

e-newsletters, and upload your résumé.

ALUMNI EVENTS CALENDAR AND ONLINE REGISTRATION

Find alumni events at Chico State and in your area, then RSVP and pay online.

ALUMNI DIRECTORYFind classmates and friends through

the comprehensive directory.

MAKE A GIFT AND JOIN THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONUse our secure forms to

give back to Chico State.

Connected!Get J o i n t h e o n l i n e c o m m u n i t y E X C L U S I V E LY f o r A L U M N I !

*To register, go to www.csuchico.edu/alumni and click on “Register for the Online Community” under the right-hand column “News” section.

Please e-mail [email protected] with any questions. Don’t miss this great opportunity to link into a powerful network of Chico State alumni!

Note: The most common registration mistake is entering the incorrect class year. If you are not certain of your class year, please leave that field blank and click “Find My Record.” A list of all alumni with your name will appear; choose the correct record and continue with the registration process. Also, if there are two names on the mailing label, there will be two numbers corre-sponding, in order, with the names on the label.

*************************AUTO**3-DIGIT 000 A00000000 PLT 00Jane Wildcat123 Chico LaneChico, CA 95929-0000

Joining is easy! To register, use the verification number

above your name on the mailing label on

the back cover of this issue.*

VERIFICATION NUMBER

26 CHICO STATEments

Connect With Us

1960sDAVID KUNSEMILLER (BS, Mechanical Engineering, ’65) is a nuclear engineer. He and wife Patty have moved to Kiev, Russia, for two to three years. He is office manager and assistant project manager for Chernobyl’s New Safe Confinement—a 30-story con-tainment structure being built at the nuclear power plant. The Kunsemillers have two grown daughters, Alison and Anne.

E. MAXINE EDWARDS (BA, English, ’67; Credential, ’72) is a 92-year-old retired teacher and author who lives in Weed. She was interviewed on MCTV15 in July as the first in a series on Siskiyou artists. While at Chico State, Edwards served as a reader for Professor Lennis Dunlap and President Glenn Kendall and was a Kappa Delta Pi Honor Society on Education mem-ber. She received a certificate of appreciation for four years of service in VISTA teaching English as a second language and California literacy, and a certificate of appreciation from President George Bush for VISTA service in 1990.

RAY ODOM (BS, Business Administration, ’69; Credential, ’81) retired as superintendent of the Hamilton Unified School District after 39 years in education. He spent 34 years at Hamilton High School and 12 years in service with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF). He was president of CIF from 1995 to 1997 and on the CSU, Chico University Advisory Board 1997 to 1999. His retire-ment plans include coaching Little League and travel-ing with his wife of 44 years.

1970sMIKE BROWN (BS, Physical Education, ’71) retired after a 37-year career in the Napa Valley Unified School District. Brown was Napa High School’s head baseball coach for 18 years—coaching the 1988 CIF Sac-Joaquin Section title-winning team—and athletic director for six years. He was inducted into the Napa High Hall of Fame in 2010. Brown is married to Pattie and has two children—Matthew and Tyler—and two grandchildren.

ALLEN MASUDA (BS, Civil Engineering, ’71) has retired after 40 years of federal service. He began his career in the Federal Highway Administration, helping build the interstate system in a number of states. He then spent 11 years in Jefferson City, Missouri, as divi-sion administrator managing the federal aid highway program. He retired in Washington, D.C., as associate administrator for civil rights. Masuda is relocating to Illinois to be closer to his daughter and her family. “I was blessed with a wonderful wife, many challenging opportunities, and great people to work with,” he says. “It was awesome to influence and improve things on a state and national level.”

DAN URQUHART (BS, Agriculture, ’71) is the owner of Silver Sage Aviation, a private-plane charter com-pany in Fallon, Nevada. He and wife GINGER (BS, Microbiology, ’71) have three grown children.

MIKE MESSNER (BA, Social Science, ’74; MA, Sociology, ’76) has published a memoir that includes reflections on his years as a student at Chico State, King of the Wild Suburb: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, and Guns (Plain View Press, 2011). He was the 2004 Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.

BARBARA HANNA (BS, Nursing, ’75) was one of eight students accepted into the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing doctoral program for Nursing Science and Health-Care Leadership in 2011. She received a full four-year scholarship for the pro-gram. Hanna is the president and owner of Home & Health Care Management in Chico.

JOHN CHUFAR (BA, Social Welfare and Corrections, ’76) was named 2010 Realtor of the Year by the Santa Barbara Association of Realtors and made honorary member for life. He served as president of the asso-ciation in 2008.

JOE LIEBHAUSER (BA, Political Science, ’76) retired in May 2011 after a 30-year career with the U.S.

Department of the Interior. His last position was director of resources management for the Bureau of Reclamation’s regional office in Boulder City, Nevada, where he resides with his wife, son, and two stepdaughters. He also worked for several years in the electric and gas utility industry, and is a mem-ber and instructor of the International Right of Way Association. He established his own consulting firm, PHED, LLC, in 2007, and recently joined the firm of Robcyn, LLC, as an associate, consulting on land, water, renewable energy, and environmental and natu-ral resources for a variety of government agencies.

MARK PETERSON (BA, Political Science, ’76) is vice president of wholesale sales for VoxOx In Business, a division of Telcentris. He has more than 30 years of management experience in sales, marketing, and cor-porate communications.

LAURIE EZPELETA (BA, English, ’77) is the author of A Witches’ Thanksgiving, a children’s picture book about Grizelda the witch and her Thanksgiving celebration (CreateSpace, 2011). Ezpeleta is an avid traveler and grandmother of four who focuses on writing children’s literature. She lives with her dog Buddy on Bainbridge Island, Washington.

RAMONA FAITH (BS, Nursing, ’77) is CEO of Petaluma Health Care District. She was executive director of patient care services at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in Napa. She has a master’s in nursing leadership from Sonoma State. Faith and husband Bob have four children and one grandchild.

IOLA IRELAND (BS, Nursing, ’77) worked after gradu-ation as a registered nurse in Chico before going to Alaska to work as an occupational RN for Pan Alaska Fisheries and then working with Disney World on their Premier Cruise Lines. She eventually returned to Chico and graduated from Cal Northern School of Law. She retired from the California Department of Public Health as the RAI/MDS coordinator for the state.

LOREN JOHNSON (BA, Liberal Studies, ’78) has retired as founding principal of Heritage Elementary School after a 32-year career in the Tulare City School District. He started work in the district in 1979 as a fifth-grade teacher at Garden Elementary School. He plans to play classical guitar, do woodworking, and travel during his retirement.

RICHARD MARTINEZ (BS, Agricultural Business, ’78) is a partner in Triad Farms, which operates in Solano and Yolo counties. He has been appointed to the board of directors of both First Northern Bank and First Northern Community Bancorp. He is also chair-man of the Dixon Joint Powers Authority for Regional Drainage and serves on the board of directors of the Dixon Resource Conservation District. He and wife Connie raised their three daughters in Woodland.

BUDD SCHWAB (BA, Psychology, ’78; Credential, ’79) has been the owner of Campus Bicycles in down-town Chico since 1980 and is a member of the Ishi Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. ANN SCHWAB (BA, Psychology, ’79) is on the Chico City Council and was appointed to her second con-secutive term as mayor of Chico in 2010. She has been program manager for CSU, Chico’s Community Action Volunteers in Education (CAVE) since 1999, is president of Chico Velo Cycling Club, and is a Park Watch volunteer and member of the CSU, Chico Rawlins Advisory Board. Budd and Ann have been married since 1979.

Wildcats ON THE MOVE

MARK JOHNSON (BS, Business Administration, ’72) is a retired foreign service officer who served at U.S. embassies in five countries—the Philippines, Peru, South Africa, Namibia, and Indonesia—and in Washington, D.C., during a 22-year career. The highlights of his diplomatic efforts include building city water systems, introducing MBA programs at universities, assisting in the peaceful confrontation of apartheid, accelerating the reform of a national K–12 education system, and promoting civil society organizations and free elections.

Prior to joining the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana, where he led boundary changes for the formation of the world heritage Chobe National Park. He also worked for U.S. Steel in California and completed his MA in International Business (‘77) from San Francisco State University.

After his USAID career, Johnson remained in Jakarta, Indonesia, for four years as an executive advisor to ExxonMobil. He now lives in Carlsbad with his wife and has two grown children. He recently completed a design to remodel a family legacy house in San Luis Obispo.

What have you been doing since graduation?

Keep us in the loop.Share your story with us.

Tell us about your life, your career, your family, your memories of Chico State—and feel free to include a photograph.

Please send your update [email protected]

For our mailing address, go to Credits box on page 2

Be a part of theChico State story.


An Amazing EducationAfter 38 years of teaching and coaching at home and abroad,

Gerald (Jerry) Cavaness is retiring, at least officially. Eighteen of those years were spent teaching health and science in Oroville, where Cavaness (BA, Biological Sciences, ’71; MA, Physical Education, ’78; Credentials, ’72 and ’85) developed and directed the largest U.S. youth wrestling program.

The Northern California Youth Wrestling Association began in 1973 as Cavaness’s master’s thesis project. “It was an amaz-ing experience working with students, wrestlers, and parents,” he says.

While in Oroville, Cavaness also started citywide cross coun-try championships for elementary and junior high students and

was on the board of the Oroville Youth Foundation. After his time in Oroville, Cavaness and wife Delena (BA,

Social Science, ’91; Credential, ’92) taught school in Pakistan, Ecuador, and Qatar for nine years before returning to Chico in 2006. As athletic director and dean of students in Pakistan, Cavaness organized and directed the South Asian Cricket Championships for Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. His team won the title in March 2005. Under his direction, the Lahore American School soccer team in Pakistan won the South Asian Interscholastic Sports championships.

While teaching in Pakistan, Cavaness and his environmental science class developed a snake festival. “Many snakes in the area are killed when seen, as the people think they are poison-ous,” he says. He and his class worked to combat this miscon-ception by researching reptiles for an information pamphlet presented to the elementary classes at the school.

Cavaness also directed a 14-school, intercity Environmental Summit in Pakistan and wrote Kushti: Wrestling in South Asia and a track-coaching manual for rural school coaches in Lahore. “I’ve been very blessed to have traveled and lived in other cultures,” says Cavaness. “What an amazing education.”

Cavaness has also coached the first North Section wrestler to place twice in the CIF State Wrestling Championships and started MEChA, cross country, and soccer programs at Pierce High School in Arbuckle. And he raised five children and spent 15 years as a scoutmaster.

Cavaness’s retirement plans don’t include much slowing down—he continues to wrestle competitively at tournaments throughout Northern California when not assisting with Pleasant Valley High’s wrestling program. Whatever free time he has left is spent tutoring students and gardening.}

Anna Harris, Public Affairs and PublicationsJerry Cavaness is honored as special guest and wrestler at a wrestling tourna-ment in Lahore, Pakistan.


1980sMARIA BARRS (BA, Communication Studies, ’81) is president and general manager of KXTV-TV in Sacramento. She was previously vice president and news director at KDFW-TV in Dallas, Texas.

DAVID LUFF (BS, Business Administration, ’81) is vice president, Northeast Region, of City Information Services Incorporated. He provides leadership and sales development across the Greater Boston Northeast Region and has global responsibil-ity within the Viju Group for busi-ness and solution development in the banking and finance sector. He was previously TANDBERG’s global practice leader for banking and finance and, after its acquisition by Cisco, a member of the global visu-al communication and TelePresence team. He lives in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, with wife Deborah and children Jackson and Julia.

BRENT GARDNER-SMITH (BA, English, ’82) is editor and executive director of Aspen Journalism, an inde-pendent nonprofit news organization based in Aspen, Colorado. Aspen Journalism seeks to serve the com-munity outside of the traditional commercial model of journalism. Gardner-Smith has been a journalist and

broadcaster since graduating from CSU, Chico and recently completed his master’s degree in journalism at the Missouri School of Journalism. Prior to launching Aspen Journalism in January 2011, he worked as a reporter at The Aspen Times and the Aspen Daily News and served as general manager at Aspen Public Radio.

BRETT STOREY (BS, Business Administration, ’82) is manager of Placer County’s biomass utilization proj-ect. He was the 2011 District 3 County Employee of the Year and has served on the Rocklin City Council since 2000. He and wife Corinne, who teaches second grade, have two sons and a daughter.

CINDY HYDEN (BS, Recreational Therapy, ’83) is a social worker at South Mississippi State Hospital in Purvis, Mississippi, and was recently named Employee of the Quarter. She previously worked at River Oak Center for Children in Sacramento.

MICHAEL McCOY (MA, Educational Administration Services, ’83) is a commissioner for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and superintendent of the Sonora Union High School District. He is one of six school administrators on the accrediting commission representing a cross-section of the educational community in California, Hawaii,

and the Pacific Islands. He has been an accredita-tion chair for WASC for 20 years. McCoy was hall director of Shasta Hall in 1981–1982 and has been a guest speaker at the School of Education. His daughter Claire (see photo, with McCoy) is majoring in edu-cation at Chico State.

LARRY FORERO (BS, Agriculture, ’84) is director of University of California Cooperative Extension for Shasta and Trinity counties. He has been livestock/natural resources advisor at the extension office in Redding for 20 years.

THOMAS NEWTON (BA, Political Science, ’84) is executive director of the California Newspaper Publishers Association, an 841-member nonprofit trade association. He has spent 15 years as the asso-ciation’s general counsel. Newton and wife Janice live in the Sacramento area with their children, Kyler and Katharine.

JIM RYAN (BS, Finance, ’84) works for Wells Fargo in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as Jackson market president. He is the leader of Wells Fargo’s Community Advisory Board and in charge of community relations.

28 CHICO STATEments


GINNY CRAVEN (BS, Recreation Administration, ’85) is the founder of Operation Tango Mike, an organiza-tion that sends care packages to military personnel overseas. She was the Lake County Fair grand marshal in 2011 and Lake County Woman of the Year in 2008. Operation Tango Mike—which means Operation Thanks Much in military jargon—was Volunteer Organization of the Year of Lake County in 2009. Craven has worked in law enforcement and as a vol-unteer firefighter and emergency medical technician.

RAY FISHER JR. (BS, Marketing, ’85) is president of Fisher Manufacturing, the company founded by his great-grandfather and grandfather. Fisher Manufacturing began as a brass foundry 75 years ago in downtown Los Angeles. It is now a Tulare-based company that makes commercial plumbing systems distributed worldwide.

JEFFREY PLECQUE (BA, Physical Education, ’86) works for the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety.

PERRY BERTUZZI (BS, Construction Management, ’87) achieved the Certified Construction Manager designation from the Construction Management Association of America and the LEED AP BD+C accreditation. He has worked as a senior project manager for the MGM Resorts International Design Group since 2005 and most recently acted as the authorized owner’s representative for the $1.3 billion Aria Tower, part of the CityCenter project in Las Vegas. He and wife Lisa live in Henderson, Nevada, with children Shaun and Zachary.

JIM McGUIRK (BS, Mathematics, ’87) was named 2010–2011 Teacher of the Year for the Mountain View Los Altos Union High School District. He has been teaching mathematics at Mountain View High School for 24 years. McGuirk was also named Central Coast Section Coach of the Year 2010–2011 for boys soc-cer after guiding the Mountain View Spartans to their second consecutive De Anza League Championship and their first appearance in the CCS Division I Finals. He has been head coach of varsity boys soccer for 22 years. McGuirk lives in Mountain View with his wife and young son. His older son and daughter attend CSU, Chico.

THOMAS HAYES (BA, Accounting, ’88) is vice presi-dent and senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. He joined the company in 2007, after 15 years in the industrial distribution and building products industry.

MARY GEORGE (BS, Political Science and History, ’89) is director of library services in Placer County. She directs a library network including 11 branches, 92 employees, and a $5.6 million annual budget. George

started with the county as a library clerk 19 years ago and became assistant director in 2001. She has a mas-ter’s degree in library and information science from UC Berkeley.

1990s ERIC FRANZMANN (attended fall ’84–spring ’90) has been studying and living in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for the past 11 years. He has been teaching at the Technologic University part time for five years.

SHAWNI McBRIDE (BA, English, ’90; Credential, ’91) is an English teacher at Corning High School, where she has taught for 19 years. She has a 14-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter.

MARIA NAVARRO (BA, Liberal Studies, ’90, Credential, ’91) has spent 20 years teaching kindergarten through second grade in both English and Spanish in impoverished elementary schools in San Diego. She spent the summer of 2010 in New York at the Summer Writing Institute at Columbia University. Navarro has been a mentor teacher for five years in San Diego; a master teacher for San Diego State University and University of California, San Diego; a team leader-ship representative for second grade; and a San Diego union representative. She has traveled to Europe and historical sites throughout the United States.

MELISSA NORTHWAY (BS, Health Science, ’92) started Polka Dots Publishing and writes chil-dren’s picture books for the apps market. She is author of Penelope the Purple Pirate, inspired by her daughter (see photo). It was cho-sen as a Top 10 Must-Have eBook

by lilsugar of Popsugar, a Top 5 Interactive Bedtime

Story, and Top 10 Educational iPad App by Digital Storytime. The book was also a prize for contestants in a children’s writing contest on MrsP.com. Northway (www.melissanorthway.com) is currently working on a second Penelope book set in the Wild West.

KELLY (SANTOS) WALLRICH (BS, Business, ’95) is vice president of product at Keen Footwear in Portland, Oregon. After graduation, she moved to Oregon to work for Nike. She started as an adminis-trative assistant and worked up to product developer and then product line manager. “All that experience led me to where I have been for the past seven years, VP of product at one of the leading outdoor footwear companies in the world,” she says.

RON BRAJKOVICH (BS, Construction Management, ’96) is a regional manager for Kenco Engineering, a Roseville manufacturer of wear parts for asphalt plants, rock crushers, and construction machinery. He started working as a concrete mixer driver, and since leaving Chico State, he has held positions with Granite Construction, Cemex, and Atlas Copco. He lives in Sacramento and enjoys local activities on the American River and Rubicon Trail.

CHRISTOPHER SMITH (BA, Journalism, ’96) won an Emmy at the 40th annual Northern California Area Emmy Awards for an Every 15 Minutes video filmed at Castro Valley High School with co-producer and co-director Ryan Neisz. The Every 15 Minutes program teaches high school students about the dangers of drinking alcohol and texting while driving. Smith, who lives in Paradise, owns the Chico video production company RocketSpots.tv.

CARY FARLEY (BS, Health Science, ’97) has been a health science teacher in Sacramento for 11 years. He is also a musician and author (www.caryfarley.com). He has released a new music CD, Goodnight, and hosted a local concert to ben-efit homeless children. His book, Mr. Date Night: A Recipe for the Perfect Date, combines healthy food, dating ideas, and music, with an accompanying CD.

CHRIS NEIER (BS, Recreation Administration, ’97) is athletic director at Malibu High School. He was previ-ously a minor league baseball player and in youth recreation sports. Neier and wife Bobbi have two daughters, Ashley and Madison.

WILLIAM REINECKE (BS, Marketing, ’89) has received a Fulbright scholarship for fostering social entrepreneurship in Burkina Faso, West Africa. He left for Africa in October and will spend seven months in the country working with a shea butter-producing cooperative com-prised of 3,500 rural women. The aim is to strengthen the coopera-tive’s financial performance and to contribute to meeting the country’s UN Millennium Development Goals of continued social develop-ment and environmental stability. More information can be found on Reinecke’s website, www.fourthroad.com.

Reinecke spent two years serving in the Peace Corps in Ghana, helping to organize a 40-woman shea butter producers group. He returned to do field research for an MBA-directed study course through the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Reinecke in Ghana doing MBA field research with shea butter producers he worked with in the Peace Corps.

JEREMEY (BS, Biological Sciences, ’08) and COURTNEY (BA, Communication Studies, ’07; MA, Communication Studies, ’09) ASHE work at California Waterfowl in California. He is a waterfowl and wetland biologist for the con-servation organization, capturing, banding, and releasing ducks for study and monitoring wetland restoration projects. “The passion for waterfowl that profes-sors in the biology department at Chico State had really rubbed off on Jeremey,” they write. “He was mentored and had the chance to participate in research and other projects that set him up to move into a very specialized job straight out of college.

“Courtney is lucky enough to work at the same great organization as her husband,” they add. “While he’s in the field, she’s in the office producing the nonprofit’s award-winning magazine [California Waterfowl]. The coursework in communication prepared her with the strong writing skills, deadline management, and ability to balance the needs of the many stakeholders, all of which are important to both magazines and nonprofits.”

They recently purchased their first home a five-minute walk from the Sacramento River and filled it, they say, with “a mini-farm family” of three chickens, two dogs, a turtle, and a tarantula.



2000sJILLIAN GUIMONT (BA, Art, ’00) is a professional photographer at Jill Paddack Photography, www.jill paddackphotography.com.

KEVIN HOLMES (BS, Recreation Administration, ’00) specializes in ortho-pedic therapy at Cooperative Performance and Rehabilitation, a physical therapy and sports perfor-mance practice in Eugene, Oregon.

JOHN JARECKI (BA, Geography, ’00) is a manager at the Sacramento office of Development Planning & Financing Group. He was previously land project manager for the PulteGroup.

LAURA WHITE (BA, Journalism, ’00) is vice president of development for the Monarch School Project, which supports a San Diego-based public K–12 school for homeless and at-risk children. She is spearheading fundraising efforts for a capital campaign to build a new Monarch School campus.

BRIAN WARD (BS, Business Administration, ’01) is the author of a 235-page self-help/travel memoir, Single Abroad: Tales of the Boyish Man, about his life and jobs after graduating from CSU, Chico. “I hit the reset button on my life in an attempt to shed my social awk-wardness and anxiety” during the course of the book, says Ward. “I do this while traveling through Mexico, South America, and Europe. Also covered in this book are hotel jobs in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, how to master a second language, and how someone

who can’t even properly slice a tomato can get a job overseas in a Portuguese restaurant.”

Ward adds: “CSU, Chico was a great experience for me. I met so many great people and had a lot of special moments as a student and as a resident of Chico.”

DANIEL FREITAS (BA, Public Administration, ’02) is a sergeant in the patrol division of the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office. He graduated from the police academy at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose in 2011.

JACKSON STARR (BS, Recreation Administration, ’02) works as vineyard manager and assistant winemaker at Sierra Starr Vineyards, the winery his family founded in 1996. The 2,400-case-per-year, family-run winery in the Sierra Foothills is in the process of completing a new gravity-flow winery. They have a tasting room in Grass Valley that is restored to the 1800s. Jackson’s parents are also Chico State alumni, PHIL (BS, Business Administration, ’68; BA, Agriculture, ’75) and ANNE (BA, Social Welfare, ’75).

JULIE JOHANSEN (BA, English, ’03; MA, Education, ’07) is associate superintendent of the Southern Humboldt Unified School District. She is also princi-pal of Redway School and Whitethorn, Ettersburg, and Agnes J. Johnson elementary schools.

BENJAMIN ACUNA (BS, Construction Management, ’05) works in health care construction as project man-ager for XL Construction. He has LEED AP accredi-tation and lived and worked in Australia for nine months. He and wife Erin live in Morgan Hill.

Chico to Chicago to Kenya—and Back

From early childhood, Lindsey Cafferata wanted to be a doctor. She has also

always had a spirit of adventure. The result? As an obstetrician, she has treated patients on four continents. But when it came time to set up practice as an ob-gyn in 2010, Cafferata (BS, Biological Sciences, ’01) came back to her hometown.

Love of Chico—and of Chico State—is a Cafferata family tradition. Both Dr. Cafferata’s mother, Gail (Credential, ’76), and older sister, Melissa (BA, Anthropology, ’00; MA, History, ’03), earned degrees from Chico State. Cafferata’s own first memories of the campus were built when she was 10 and tagging along as her father, Michael (BA, Psychology, ’75; BS, Nursing, ’91), registered for classes in Acker Gym. She remembered being wide-eyed at “the excitement, the huge crowds of students lined up all over the place, and all the people handing out flyers.”

Eight years later, Cafferata herself enrolled at Chico State. Once there, biology classes with Professor Robert Thomas prepared her for the challenges she’d later face in medical school. “He was beyond tough,” she recalls. “He pushed you to learn for yourself, and he taught me things I use even now.”

Cafferata thrived at Chico State, win-ning a 2000 Floyd L. English Natural Sciences Scholarship. She also remem-bers Professor Diana Flannery (“what a firecracker!”) and the Women’s Health class she took “just for G.E.,” little think-ing it might presage her future.

“I always thought I’d be a pediatri-cian,” says Cafferata. But then, in her third year of med school at Chicago’s Rosalind Franklin University, came the obstetrics/gynecology rotation. “I abso-lutely loved it. Thanksgiving vacation came, and we were all supposed to be off, but that would have meant I’d miss a week of this rotation, and there was no way I wanted that. I stayed.”

Cafferata adds: “Ob-gyn is so special because it lets you be part of women’s entire lifespan. In one day I can see a 12-year-old girl, a woman expecting her first baby, a grandmother—women at all stages of their lives.”

Cafferata’s adventurousness and her desire to serve have taken her to back-country clinics in Kenya and Ecuador. Working with neither running water nor electricity, she’s done everything from stitching up wounds to delivering babies and performing surgery. Most recently, both Cafferata and her father, an emer-gency room nurse at Chico’s Enloe Medical Center, spent several weeks at a clinic in the Philippines.

While Cafferata plans to continue volunteering around the globe, home will remain Chico. Two years ago, when invited to join a practice on the Esplanade, she was thrilled—and not just because she would become the only female obstetrician in town. “There’s just no place like Chico for me,” Cafferata says. “It’s where I’ve always known I wanted to be.”}

About the authorElizabeth Renfro (BA, English and

German, ’72; MA, English, ’75) taught for 35 years at CSU, Chico in English, Honors, and Multicultural and Gender Studies.

When her parents wanted a special picture to commemorate Cafferata’s graduation from medi-cal school, she chose to have the portrait done in the Chico State Rose Garden.

MITCH RIGGIN (attended fall ’85–spring ’91) is TV director for the Arizona Diamondbacks, a major league baseball team. He directs 140 of the Diamondbacks TV games and has traveled with the

team for four years. On July 1–3, his team played the Oakland A’s, directed by another Chico State alumnus, MIKE BIRD (BA, History, ’95). “We’ve known each other for years, but it had never hap-pened that we were both directing major league baseball shows at the same time,” says Riggin. “So if you watched any of those games over the week-end, either in the Bay Area or the Phoenix area, or anywhere in the world on the Internet, Chico State grads were in charge of what you were watching.” (See above photo of Bird, left, and Riggin.)

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30 CHICO STATEments

JARED CAYLOR (BA, Social Science, ’05; Credential, ’06) is vice principal and athletics director of Corning Union High School. He has taught history at the school for four years.

ELENA HERNANDEZ (BS, Agricultural Business, ’05) is marketing and communication specialist at Mann Packing. She was previously a new product develop-ment technician with Shamrock Seed Company.

LYNNE MAYER (BA, Liberal Studies, ’05) is principal of Roy Herburger Elementary School in Elk Grove. She was vice principal of the school in 2007–2008 and of Helen Carr Castello Elementary School from 2007 to 2011.

ASHLEY MORGAN MONROE (BA, Musical Theatre, ’06) was nominated for a New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Choreography/Movement for her work in Circus of Circus, which was produced by the House of Yes.

KOURTNEY JASON (BA, Journalism, ’07) is the author of The Naughty Bucket List: 369 Sexy Dares to Do Before You Die (Ulysses Press, 2011). She revived the sex column in The Orion in 2007, and three years later, the column helped her land a book deal. Prior to starting the book, she lived in New York City and worked for TWIST magazine for 9- to 14-year-olds. She is also a senior writer covering sex, dating, and rela-tionships for Life2PointOh.com.

Marriages/AnniversariesTODD JORGENSEN (BS, Business Administration, ’01) and HOLLY SAVAGE-JORGENSEN (BS, Recreation Administration, ’04) were married April 15, 2011. She is a graduate student and watershed management consultant at Deer Creek Watershed Conservancy. The two alums met on the river in Sacramento in 2008.

JULIA KERSEY (BS, Nursing, ’05) married Jeff Thielman April 30, 2011, in Chico. She is a registered nurse and, since graduating from Chico State, has enjoyed prac-ticing nursing at Stanford Medical Center, in foreign countries such as Ethiopia and India, and in the camp setting in multiple states. He is an electrical engineer. They live in Corvallis, Oregon.

DAN NEWMAN (BS, Electrical Engineering, ’05) and REBEKAH DOOLITTLE (BA, Physiology, ’11) were married June 25, 2011, at Canyon Oaks Country Club in Chico. He is an engineer with General Electric; she is pursuing her teaching credential at Chico State. They honeymooned in Hawaii.

KAREN BRADSHAW (Master of Business Administration, ’06) married Brian Schulz Aug. 27, 2011, near McCloud. She has a law degree from the University of Chicago and is the Koch-Searle research fellow in legal studies at the New York University School of Law. She previously worked in Jackson, Mississippi, as a judicial clerk. He is a senior vice president for investment research and a financial ana-lyst at Fred Alger Management in New York.

MELISSA DOUTHIT (BA, Liberal Studies, ’06; Credential, ’07) and RICHARD HARRYMAN (BS, Construction Management, ’06) were married June 16, 2011, in Maui. She is a fourth-grade teacher at Rincon Valley School District in Sonoma County; he is a cost manager for Turner and Townsend in San Francisco. They met in college and say, “We owe a debt of gratitude to Chico State, the best college ever, in our book!” They live in Petaluma with their cat Ronnie.

MIKE ROSINSKI (BA, Journalism, ’06) and LIZ STIGGE (BA, Journalism, ’06) were married on May 28, 2011, in San Francisco. She works in public relations at The Larose Group, and he works in advertising at the San Francisco Chronicle. They live in San Francisco with their cat Blue.

SARAH NIMMO (BA, Humanities and Religious Studies, ’07) and Eric Gagnebin were married June 25, 2011. She is pursuing a master’s degree in divinity and psychology from Pacific School of Religion; he is a sustainable organic farmer. They took a month-long honeymoon camping trip and live in Oakland.

DEANNA DOTTAI (BS, Special Major, ’10) and AARON TALERICO (BA, Kinesiology, ’09) were married July 31, 2011. She is pursuing a master’s in environmental stud-ies from Brown University; he works at Whole Foods in Providence, Rhode Island. They took a honeymoon trip to Big Sur and live in Rhode Island.}



Parents in DemandOur Chico State Parent Advisory Council (PAC) has been very busy. During sum-

mer 2011, the PAC hosted eight Ready, Set, Chico! events throughout California. More than 400 students, parents, and alums attended from Sacramento to San Diego.

The Wildcat Welcome Parents Reception was held in CSU, Chico’s newly reno-vated Alumni Glen on Aug. 19. Parents came for a light breakfast while their students attended department meetings. The parents were addressed by CSU, Chico President Paul Zingg, Associated Students President London Long, Alumni Association President Don Carlsen, and PAC President Bob Combs.

We are always looking for par-ents interested in becoming PAC members. The council meets two times a year: in October during Chico Experience Week and in February (next meeting Feb. 25, 2012). PAC members also assist with events such as Ready, Set, Chico! and Wildcat Welcome. If you are the parent of a Chico State student and would like more information, contact us at [email protected] or 530-898-6472.}PAC parents Pete and Lisa Ward and Rita and Jay

Gruenwald at the Rocklin event.

Clockwise from top left: Kersey-Thielman, Douthit-Harryman, Newman-Doolittle, Rosinski-Stigge

Wildcats Hit the Major LeaguesTwo former Wildcats were drafted by Major League Baseball teams this year. Left-handed pitcher KEVIN BRAHNEY (fall 2009–spring 2011)was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 11th round. Brahney (above) has the best ERA of any Wildcat starter and is the highest Wildcat draft pick by a major league club since Chico State entered the California Collegiate Athletic As-sociation in 1999.

ADRIAN BRINGAS (fall 2009–spring 2011), an All-West Region third baseman, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the 46th round. Eight Chico State play-ers have been drafted into the major leagues since 2005, and Chico State Head Coach Dave

Taylor has had six players drafted in his first five seasons at the helm.


In Memoriam–Alumni1940sRUTH DETER (BA, Home Economics and Art and Credential, ’43) died April 15, 2011, at the age of 90. She and husband Don owned the Tiny Tots Shop on Broadway for 10 years, and then she joined him in his construction business, Detco Steel. Deter was very active in Soroptomist, Butte Creek Country Club, and Omega Nu. She was predeceased by husband Mike Hunt and is survived by husband Don, sons David and Jeffrey, and two grandchildren.

1950sJAMES GRUBB (BA, Education, ’53; MA, Psychology, ’59) died May 27, 2011, on his 80th birthday. He was a professor emeritus at Ohio University from 1964 to 1985. Grub also served in the U.S. Army with the Human Resources Research Organization as a research psychologist. He is survived by wife Dorothy, daugh-ters Rebecca and Lizabeth, and granddaughter Jenny.

1960sTHELDA BARTLEM (BA, Arts/Ceramics and Credential, ’60) died June 7, 2011, at the age of 88. She was a longtime Orland resident known for her creative storytelling, complete with hand-made props and elaborate costumes. She was head librarian for 11 years at Mill Street School and worked 15 years in rural Glenn County schools, telling stories in 20 or more rural classrooms until she was 85. Bartlem was predeceased by husband Dean and baby son Blaine and is survived by son Todd and daughter Burdean.

RAYMOND MERZ (BA, Sociology, ’68) died Aug. 6, 2011, at the age of 65. He worked for Placer County for 36 years, beginning as an eligibility worker and retiring as director of Health and Human Services in 2004. He was passionate about helping people in his career and through community involvement. Merz is survived by brother Jerry; sister-in-law Janet; and nieces Julie, Janie, Cindy, Jerri, and Jennifer.

1970sSTEPHEN HOLLISTER “ELROD” HENDRICK (BA, Business Administration, ’75) died Aug. 1, 2010, at age 57 due to complications of diabetes. He was a real estate agent in the Sacramento-Rocklin area for many years. He was also a member and past presi-dent of Delta Sigma Phi fraternity at Chico State and is survived by a brother, two sisters, and several nieces and nephews. His ashes were scattered along the banks of the Merced River in Yosemite National Park by family, friends, and fraternity brothers.

GARY MASTERS (BA, Music, ’77) died March 2, 2011, at the age of 58. He met his wife CAROL (BA, Liberal Studies, ’77; MA, Education, ’10) in the Performing Arts Center when they were both students. He worked at local auto dealerships and took pride in helping people unfamiliar with cars to navigate purchases and repairs. Masters most recently represented ConAgra in Northern California. He is survived by wife Carol and sons Andrew and Matthew.

2000sDUSTIN GRANVILLE (BA, Geography and Philosophy, ’06) died Sept. 13, 2011. He was a graduate student in the Department of Geography and Planning. His GIS map “The Taco Truck Journey” won second place at

the 2005 Annual California Geographic Society meet-ing. Granville is survived by mother Teri, father Mike, stepmother Sharyn, and sister Melissa.

JEANNE PLATT (Certificate in Literary Editing and Publishing, ’08) died Aug. 6, 2011, at the age of 30 after a sudden illness complicated by her diabetes. She had worked in many areas of the arts, including at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Stone Bridge Press, and City Lights Publishers. She was also commissioned for several art projects and was a freelance book editor. Platt worked on this magazine as an editorial intern. She is survived by parents Lynn and Steve, her siblings, and many loving family and friends.

NICHOLAS FOSCO (fall 2010) died May 20, 2011, at the age of 26 as a result of a car accident. He was a criminal justice major from Westminster. He is survived by parents Fred and Pam and girlfriend Dani.

KEENAN LUCERO (fall 2010–spring 2011) died in August 2011 at age 19 as the result of a car accident. He was a construction management major. Lucero is survived by parents Joseph and Tiffany.

WYATT EDWARD SHIMIZU NEUBERT (fall 2010) died while driving June 17, 2011, at the age of 24. He was an Asian studies major who was raised in Yuba City and farmed with his brother Matt. Neubert is survived by parents Sharon Shimizu and David Neubert.

WILL O’CONNOR (spring 2011) died May 27, 2011, at age 28. He was a graduate student enrolled in the Single Subject Credential Program in math. O’Connor is survived by wife Rachel.

ADRIAN SAUCEDO (fall 2007–spring 2010) died June 13, 2011, at the age of 21 as a result of illness. He was a bilingual liberal studies major from Orland.}


Wildcats IN OUR THOUGHTS

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❑ Annual Single: $45 ❑ Annual Joint: $70

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Join by mAil or web! CSU, Chico Alumni Association California State University, Chico Chico, CA 95929-0050

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Stay Connected! Join the Alumni Association now!

Visit the alumni website at www.csuchico.edu/alumni for a complete listing of member benefits, includ-ing library privileges at any of the 23 CSU campuses. Members also receive Connected, the members-only publication.

32 CHICO STATEments

In Memoriam–Faculty and StaffELLIOTT JOHNSON, Engineering, died April 19, 2011, at the age of 86. He served in the Army from 1942 to 1945. He was in the European cam-paign in France and the landing at Omaha Beach, was moved north for Battle of the Bulge, and was sent to the Pacific in preparation for the invasion of Japan. He then pursued a BS in civil engineer-ing from South Dakota State and an MS in engi-neering at Iowa State. Johnson began working at Chico State as an engineering professor in 1956 and retired professor emeritus in 1988 as chair of engineering. He was predeceased by first wife Shirley and second wife Betty and is survived by seven children, 17 grandchildren, and 21 great-grandchildren.

HOMER METCALF, Sociology, died Aug. 11, 2011, at the age of 75. He served in the Air Force and received a PhD from Washington State University. He taught sociology at Chico State from 1966 to 1998. Metcalf was well known on campus and in the community for his social activism and involvement with students. He was a mentor to various international student groups, especially the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim student associations. Metcalf is survived by wife Loretta; sons Jack, Gerold, Patrick, John, and

Khalid; daughters Sheila and Kelly; seven grand-children; and one great-grandchild.

SIDNEY SHNAYER, Education, died June 17, 2011, at the age of 85. He was a faculty member in education at Chico State from 1962 until 1986. He retired professor emeritus. Shnayer conducted research on methodologies for the teaching of reading at the Aymer J. Hamilton campus labora-tory school, developed innovative programs in teacher education, was a long-term leader of the California Reading Association, and contributed to the International Reading Association. He is survived by wife Rita, son Al, and daughter Caron.

JAMES SIMON, Psychology, died June 17, 2011, at the age of 55. He was an equipment technician II for the Department of Psychology. He oversaw the psychology materials shop, was responsible for technical system support for faculty and staff, did computer and video repair, and was respon-sible for the audio/video equipment in two psy-chology computer labs. Simon is survived by wife Lisa and children Logan and Ashley.

JACK OTTO, Financial Aid/School Relations and Outreach, died Aug. 23, 2011, at the age of 76.

He worked at Chico State from 1965 to 1992, helping to found the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) in 1969 and serving as director of Financial Aid and School Relations and Outreach. Otto was also instrumental in writing the grant that brought Upward Bound to the University in the late 1960s and initiated the University Incentive Grants Association, which provided “promise grants” to high school students. Otto had an MS in counseling and behavior studies from the University of Wisconsin. He is survived by wife Carolyn and children John, Molly, and Kelly.

FREDERIC REITH, Physical Education, died Aug. 30, 2011, at the age of 85. He served in the armed forces in the United States and Germany during World War II, reaching the rank of staff sergeant. He received his PhD from University of Wyoming and began teaching at Chico State in 1959. Reith taught physical education, served as department chair, and was a cross-country and golf coach. He retired from the University in 1991. Reith was predeceased by son Jerry and is survived by wife Connie; sons Tom, Rick, and David; and one granddaughter.}


Helping Students Achieve SuccessDwayne Curtis, professor emeritus, Biological Sciences, died July 7, 2011, at the age of 81. He taught human physiology at the University for 36 years. One of Curtis’ hobbies was collecting and categorizing myxomycetes (slime molds). One of his discoveries in Crater Lake National Park was the first reported in the Western hemisphere. His 1,486 specimens were donated to the Chico State Herbarium, making it among the largest collections of slime molds in the United States, says herbarium curator Lawrence Janeway.

Curtis is survived by wife Ardys, daughters Jenene and Connie, sons Jess and Craig, seven grandchildren, and one great-grand-daughter. His son CRAIG (BA, Religious Studies, ’89) gives us a glimpse of his dad’s life at CSU, Chico:

The fabric was polyester with a print reminiscent of a miniskirt from The Brady Bunch, a spray of flower-power daisies on a field of hot pink. In the fashion world, such a tie would have been relegated to

an incinerator. In the corridors of Holt Hall, it was usually draped down the front of a bright green shirt, next to a plastic pocket pro-tector containing red pens, and it had become as legendary in the building as Excalibur was in Camelot. My dad’s test-day tie.

Walking with my father in Holt, it was easy to pick out students who had been in his classes by their cheery greetings, “Test today, Dr. Curtis?”

“I’ve never given a student an F,” he would often tell me as we walked the halls, “they were always earned.” In the same way, he never “gave” out an A.

Schoolwork had not come naturally to him, and he sought ways to help his students succeed. He believed that any student who fol-lowed his directions for studying in the course should easily pass.

Long before online classes or videotaping lectures was conceived, he personally financed tape-recording of his lectures and duplicat-ing the tapes to have them available in the library for students who wanted to flesh out their lecture notes. In his final decade of teaching, he studied Spanish so he could better reach the increasing number of second-language learners he encountered on campus.

Dad was proud of the work he did and the school he was a part of for nearly 40 years. He especially enjoyed seeing former students who were applying what they learned in his classes.

A few years ago, Dad held up his hand and asked if I could see it trembling. With his knowledge of medicine and his keen observa-tion, he had likely already diagnosed himself with the early stages of Parkinson’s disease; a short time later, his belief was confirmed by specialists.

His decline from tall and strong to thin and wheelchair-bound seemed to happen far too quickly for those of us closest to him, but perhaps it was mercifully rapid.

His lab coat hasn’t seen use since his retirement. The bright pink floral test-day tie, however, is fashioned with a

double Windsor knot around his neck, signifying Dr. Curtis’ final exam is complete, and he scored at the top of his class.}

Professor Dwayne Curtis with one of the artistic chalkboards of notes he would create in biology labs. Photo by Craig Curtis


George and Connie Nicolaus have forged a deep connection with the agricultural land in Chico. George (BS, Business Administration, ’79), a transplanted Iowan, married Chico native Connie Chace, whose family has been in regional agriculture for generations. After moving to Iowa in 1981, the couple returned to Chico in 1988 to farm almonds and walnuts. “Knowing that the almond industry got started in the North State over 100 years ago, I enjoy being a part of that legacy,” says George.

As part of their estate plan, the couple has dedicated a portion of their estate as a gift to the CSU, Chico College of Agriculture.

“We anticipate that our gift to the College of Agriculture will help prepare students for the tremendous diversity of the profession,” says George. “Their future success depends on hands-on experience at the farm, classroom hours to better understand good business planning and financial practices, and the opportunity to interact with those in the industry.”

George and Connie’s gift will enable the College of Agriculture to provide our students with the tools they need to become tomorrow’s successful farmers.

Family LegacyA

To learn how you can create your own family legacy through your will or trust, contact the Office of Planned Giving at 877-862-4426 or e-mail Gary Salberg at [email protected]

34 CHICO STATEments

Children in Burkina Faso, West Africa, are receiving the gift of education thanks to Feeding Nations Through Education, the nonprofit organization founded by Chico State student Koudougou Alfred Koala.Article on page 14.

Chico Statements Fall 2011 issue

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Transcript of Chico Statements Fall 2011 issue