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Identifier
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EvergreenReviewV10N3April1989
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Title
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The Evergreen State College Review Volume 10, Issue 3 (April 1989)
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Date
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April 1989
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extracted text
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THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE
Healing
Through
Helicopters
The morning is overcast, A •
cold wind blows over the
black tarmac where a line
of helicopters points toward
a distant wall of firs and
gray-blue mountains
through the haze.
One Huey, blades spinning, shatters the calm—
thomp, thomp, thomp.
Through the eyes of 12
veterans, this helicopter
rips at deeply buried
memories—memories that
urgenty need to surface and
be dealt with before these
vets can return to productive lives.
The Huey has been transformed by Evergreen student intern Elke Faleafine
(below) into a powerful new
tool of therapy for Vietnam
veterans suffering from
Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder. Each vet knows—
today he'll fly.
Gene DeWeese '77
By Michael Wark
Information Specialist
The Evergreen State College
Looking at their eyes you sense
they're hiding something dead serious
behind expressions of nonchalance.
The chopper with the first lift of vets
raises ten feet into the air and hangs.
It tilts left over the lawn and lumbers
forward, slowly making a wide arc to
the runway. It will fly a half-hour mission, often at tree-top height, with a
descent into an imaginary landing zone
(LZ). A Cobra attack helicopter will fly
nearby.
"A lot of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) suffered by Vietnam
veterans is caused by locked memories.
Sometimes it takes significant experience to break through," says Bill
Vandenbush, senior counselor for the
Post-Traumatic Stress Treatment Program at American Lake Veterans
Administration hospital near Tacoma.
He's an '87 Evergreen graduate and
senior counselor in the program where
Faleafine is an intern and nurse.
For some vets, the Huey ride brings
back an explosion of memories—some
horrible, some empowering. For some,
their last memory is their evacuation
by helicopter, half dead, from a
battlefield.
The sound of the blades beats
against ears and chests. You can hear it
with your feet. The sound gives voice
to anxiety, excitement or anticipation
felt by all who stand here in front of
the two-story high hangar.
It's the fifth time the helicopter ride
has capped off the 12-week, in-patient
program that now has an 18-month
waiting list for admittance. It's considered one of the best in the country—
the best if you ask Faleafine. More than
350 Vietnam vets have been through
the program since 1986.
Out of 21 full-time therapists and
nurses working in the program, three
are graduates of Evergreen. Two more
are students, including Faleafine As an
intern, she's worked with Evergreen
Faculty Member Les Wong since last
summer to develop and implement the
Huey therapy, while working full-time
as a Licensed Practical Nurse at the
hospital.
When she began working at American Lake in August of 1986, Faleafine
noticed that vets always stopped talking and listened as Hueys flew by the
hospital heading for nearby McChord
and Fort Lewis air bases. The reaction
brought back memories of her German
parents' and grandmother's response
to air-raid sirens after World War II.
"They freeze in their positions. You can
see them freak, it's terrible," says
Faleafine. The similarity in reactions
made her curious, and after four
months at the hospital, she was thinking about Huey therapy. It wasn't until
after she began discussing her ideas
with Wong that she suggested the
therapy to administrators of the PTSD
treatment program. Now vets relive
their war experiences on helicopter
rides, write down their memories and
impressions of the flight, and discuss
them with each other and in group
sessions.
"The Huey flights have a stronger
impact than anyone expected," says
Faleafine. "The experience gives them
a lot to work with."
"Anyone who's worked with PTSD
knows that the sound of Hueys has a
strong impact on vets. All of us knew
it, but Elke did something about it,"
says Vandenbush.
Vandenbush knows the power of the
Huey from experience. Like other
hospital staffers who are vets, Vandenbush's first ride on a Huey months
earlier wasn't easy because of his last
memories of Vietnam. During a heavy
battle, an air strike was called and the
bombs fell short of their target;
shrapnel damaged his head and lower
back. Running for help he was shot six
times by a sniper. He points to his
perfectly matched artificial eye and
comments on the work of surgeons who
skillfully rebuilt the side of his head.
His voice is slightly affected by the
wound at the base of his neck.
"If it wasn't for the helicopter coming in I'd probably be dead," he says.
"They got me to an aid station, then
eventually to a hospital ship, where
they put me back together, pretty
much."
Vandenbush is a thick-set man with
wide shoulders and a face that easily
conveys a sense of cheeriness. "My
first Huey trip back here had a real big
impact on me. I felt the impact for
about two weeks. You feel things on
the flight like physical sensations that
can't be recreated anywhere else."
For some vets, the Huey ride
brings back an explosion of memoriessome horrible, some empowering.
. . . A long way from Vietnam to an airfield near Tacoma; a long way from the
60* to the BO's.
National Guard pilot conducts a prefllght briefing to vets.
Each veteran deals with difficult
memories in his own way. Some need
help; some help others. Gene DeWeese
'77 is another Evergreen graduate who
staffs the hospital's program. He's also
a Vietnam vet.
"I owe a lot to Evergreen. They were
the first people to listen to me about
my Vietnam experience," says
DeWeese.
He shared his experiences in Faculty
Member Eric Larson's "Human Ways"
program, especially in a seminar on the
Vietnam history book, Fire in the Lake
by Frances Fitzgerald. The next year,
Larson asked him back to co-facilitate
a seminar on the same book.
"The first time I came for my ride I
had chills, from the moment I left the briefing
chamber to the time I returned to the building.
It was the most powerful, intensive emotional
experience I've ever felt."
"That helped me a lot in recovering
from my own stress situation. I have a
deep, deep appreciation for that
school," he says.
DeWeese first met Jim Burke '79,
another hospital therapist at American
Lake, in an Evergreen program called
"Helping Relationships." Burke is the
only person in the nation doing intensive research on the effects of a program called "Outward Bound" on
PTSD. Outward Bound takes vets into
the wilderness and challenges them to
do things like rappel down cliffs and
shimmy across rivers on ropes. It has a
very positive impact on PTSD.
But for DeWeese, the strongest, most
positive experience in dealing with
post-traumatic stress has been getting
in touch with Vietnam by way of a
Huey ride in Washington state.
"The first time I came for my ride I
had chills, from the moment I left the
briefing' chamber to the time I
returned to the building. It was the
most powerful, intensive, emotional
experience I've ever felt/' ^ t;
The tarmac is hopping with action.
Men in National Guard uniforms move
to and fro, huge airplanes are takingoff low overhead, and an occasional
green helicopter painted with a red
cross rushes past from a nearby landing area. Jumping head first into this
world of military activity magnifies the
therapeutic impact of the day, as the
vets wait quietly for their ride.
The vets are accompanied by several
hospital staff and a cadre of five
reporters and a TV camera crew of
two. National Guard pilots, mechanics
and staff circulate among the crowd.
The National Guard has a one-of-akind arrangement with the Veterans
Administration to get the vets onto
Hueys. The arrangement exists
because of persistence by Faleafine.
"For most of the vets, it's the first
time they've been on a helicopter since
the war. For many it will be the last,"
she says.
On board, vets and hospital staff are
buckled into canvas seats and the doors
are closed. In Vietnam the doors were
always open, but it's the sensations and
smells of fuel that trigger the
memories. Each person on board wears
a headset with a microphone.
"We want to know if anything significant is happening with you. It's very
important that you tell us," says
Faleafine. There is no doubt she means
this. The helicopter will touch down
immediately if the experience proves
too strong for anyone
Not all the vets have strong reactions
to the flights according to Faleafine.
But some are holding on by a thread as
memories rush through their minds.
She says that in our society, it's okay to
feel anger, but not sadness or sorrow.
The sensations of the Huey trigger
such strong memories, yet the veterans
suffering from PTSD can't be angry
because there's nothing to strike out
against. They struggle to hold onto the
facade that carries them through dayto-day life. For these people the experience is very difficult. They have to
find new ways to deal with their past,
and therein lies the therapy.
"Anyone who's worked with PTSD
knows that the sound of Hueys has a strong
impact on vets. All of us knew it, but Elke did
something about it."
Back on the ground and a step closer to home.
The vets who walk off the first two
flights look invigorated and confident.
One strides away, head high, after
happily slapping the nose of the copter.
Some have a faraway look in their eyes.
Thomping blades and the roaring
engine provide background to the voice
of Vandenbush as he speaks into a
microphone held by National Public
Radio reporter Carol Levinson. Feet
firmly on the ground after her firstever flight on a helicopter, she asks if
it's unusual that the vets didn't talk
during the flight.
"They enjoy the flight. It demonstrates that it's peacetime and helicopters are safe," Vandenbush responds.
"You could see them thinking. The
wheels are turning as they think about
their Vietnam experience. It was good
for them. They look, they feel, they
remember, and they get wrapped up in
the experience. They don't talk much."
Several hours later, when the shock
wears off, they will talk. Floodgates
will open.
Alumni Greener Gathering
Alums Offer Super Saturday
Breakfast and Chicken
by Val Thorson '75
Alumni Association President
Hey! It's back! What's back? Alumni
Chicken! Due to popular demand (and
coming back to our senses) that Super
Saturday classic, Alumni Barbecued
Chicken, returns to the campus plaza
behind the Lecture Halls. Just follow
the fragrant smoke. When you get
there you'll find tender, juicy chicken,
cooked in our own secret sauces. (Our
slogan is "
You'll find us cooking
in 38 counties from
If you're an Evergreen grad, your
Alumni Association invites you to start
Super Saturday at the Alumni Breakfast and Annual Alumni Meeting. At
9:30, we'll be serving up a light
breakfast ($2 per person) in CAB 110.
The meeting will begin at 10. You'll
have a chance to vote for new Alumni
Board members—and even run for election yourself and have a say in how the
Alumni Association is run. The best
part of any meeting is entertainment
,nd there'll be plenty of that as we'll
ke a look at what's new with Greener
•ads and give an update on campus
happenings.
The meeting will be over before
noon, giving you plenty of time to enjoy Super Saturday. Hope to see you!
weDo
cHiCkenLeft!
SUPER * W E E K E N D * CALENDAR
Friday, June 2
Saturday, June 3
Friends of the Rag Performance
7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Communications Building
(See details at right.)
"Dance of the Living Thread"
Kicks Off Super Saturday
Weekend
If you've ever wanted to wear something beyond
your wildest dreams, you can see those dreams
come to life on Friday, June 2, when a group of
fashion innovators who call themselves "Friends
of the Rag" bring their creations to Evergreen.
The evening of performance art will kick off
Super Saturday and Graduation Weekend at 7 and
9 p.m. in the Communications Building.
Friends of the Rag began with a performance
for a political fund raiser in 1972 and grew in
popularity until they were invited to appear at
the Smithsonian and the White House.
Friends of the Rag celebrates wearable art
from one-of-a-kind designs to outrageous
costumes with the motto, "If the art fits, wear it."
Annual Alumni Breakfast Meeting
9:30 a.m.
CAB 110
Super Saturday XI,
including world-famous, interdisciplinary
Alumni Chicken booth
11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Alumni Dance
Library 4300
8 p.m.-l a.m.
Sunday, June 4
After A Super Day,
Dont Forget the Night
Rock the night away on Super Saturday, June 3,
in Library 4300 from 8-1 p.m. The Alumni Gig
Committee is making plans to close out the
academic year with the best Alumni Dance yet.
Live, no-holds-barred rock and roll featuring
Olympia's own "Crazy 8's," refreshments, Geoduck
surprises and more will be on tap. Call the
Alumni office at (206) 866-6000, ext. 6192, for
complete details.
1989 Commencement Ceremonies
1 p.m.
Campus Plaza
Your Name
If you'd like over 15,000
people, including 7,000
alums, to see your
business card, then send
a black and white,
camera-ready copy of it
and $20 to:
The group writes vignettes around their costumes
which are set to music and choreographed.
Evergreen connections are strong with Friends
of the Rag. Out of ten performing artists, seven
are Geoducks. Dancer Don Martin was a member
of the first four-year graduating class in 1976,
while Karen Kirsch '79 is currently an adjunct
faculty member at the college. Donna Pallo '78
and Linda O. Mathews '80 are also dancers and
choreographers. Barbara Zelano '88 narrates the
vignettes, Leslie Myers '87 is a technical advisor,
and Bruce Whitney '81 contributes music to the
performances.
Tickets for both performances are $7 for
students and alumni and $10 for the general
public. Tickets are available at Yenney's, the
Bookmark, the Evergreen Bookstore or by calling
Evergreen's Development Office at (206) 866-6000,
ext. 6565.
Dean Katz M.A.
THE CZZIIIIZIZU
Psychotherapy • Consultation
Landmark
r~
Brian ]. Moss MA
sp GROUP
PSYCHOTHERAPY
iJZl Eastlake East Suite joo
Seattle, Washington 918/02
(106)329-1188
PAINTIN31
RESIDENTIAL / COMMERCIAL
REAL ESTATE
BENJAMIN CHOTZEN
CAB 207F
The Evergreen State
College
Olympia, WA 98505
206/361-4850
(206) 325-6000
R6s,i (206) 328-6114
3101 East Madison Street
Seattle, Washington 98112
2611 N.E. I25th« Suite 115 gf|B
Seattle, WA 98125
Si
Doug Wold
Queen Anne Painting Co, Inc.
7002 - 23rd Avenue Northeast
Seattle, Washington 98115
; :;V-'. (206).522-5152
SKYWAY SECURITY
1 N S U RAN C E
Make checks out to the
Alumni Network.
Textile Arts Studio
See you here!
1460 Washington Blvd.
Ogden, Utah 84404
James F. Hale
(801)394-2200
JULIE A. GRANT
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ns/ve Health
Education foundation
Eiil Tinikt
Data Analyst
& Policy Advisot
A Non-profit Agency
22323 Pacific Hwy. South
Seattle, WA 98198
Fax 206-824-3072
Phone 206-824-2907
DOUOr ROBERTS
Owner/Proprietor
200 West 4th Street
Olympia, WA 98501
943-5575
Specialists in
Vocational
Rehabilitation
1700 Cooper Point 8d.
Unit O5
Olympia, WA 98502
206 754 0701
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JUDITH K. BOUFFIOU, LPN, MA
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-.'t-i-t- • • • - '
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Domestic Violence
~vl~-J I Substance Abuse, Depression
}
Self-esteem, Grief work
Cancer & Wellness Counseling
208 Lilly Rd NE, Suite B
Oiympia, WA 98506
459-3733
After a Decade
of Research,
Cascadia Still
Going Strong
By Mark Clemens
Information Services
How do you identify an individual
whale? With no dark or light hair, no
black or bright blue eyes, no slender or
stocky body type to go by, most people
are at a loss to tell one whale from
another.
But to members of the Cascadia
Research Collective in Olympia, there
are details that can make each and
every whale unique. Humpback whales
are relatively easy to distinguish by
the coloration and scars on their flukes.
In the case of blue whales, it's all in the
skin, as each whale has a distinctive
pattern of pigmentation.
It takes months of painstaking
research, something which many of
Cascadia's members learned to do in
their environmental studies programs
at Evergreen.
The Cascadia Research Collective, a
non-profit corporation dedicated to environmental research and education,
was founded a decade ago by eight
Evergreen graduates: John Peard,
Daphne (Smith) Stone and Sally
Klotz, all members of the class of 1975;
Sarah Madsen '76; Susanne Carter,
Pam Miller and Jim Cubbage, class of
1977; and John Calambokidis '78.
Other Greeners who have worked with
Cascadia are Barb Tkylor and Stephen
Kant, class of 1978; Pierre Dawson
and Tim Pearce, class of 1979; and Joe
Buchanan '81.
The founders' experience at Evergreen came in two areas. One group,
supported by a National Science Foundation grant, conducted a study of
seals, while the second group did an
environmental study of the Nisqually
Delta. The Cascadia Research Collective was started to continue that work,
and has since become well-respected
for its research on marine mammals
and birds, and contaminants.
"Probably the most unusual thing
about Cascadia is that none of us who
founded the collective had advanced
degrees," says Calambokidis. "That was
unheard of in 1979, and still is, but we
made it work because we all did advanced research at Evergreen. We had
Members of the Cascadia Research Collective Include (left to right): John
Calambokldls "78, Joe Buchanan '81, former Evergreen employee Greg Falxa,
John Peard '75 and Gretchen Steiger. Whales pictured alongside the right-hand
margin are from Cascadia's Identification files.
practical experience in field research,
writing reports and publishing them
that would have been impossible at any
other undergraduate college."
The collective operated out of
Cubbage's and Calambokidis' living
room until 1983, when they moved into
their current headquarters in the
Water Street Building in downtown
Olympia. Working as a collective, no
member draws a salary, except as
funded by specific contracts. Of the
original eight members of the collective, only Calambokidis continues to
work at Cascadia full-time, though
other founding members are still involved in some projects.
In a given year, Cascadia will work
simultaneously on six or seven
research contracts, which have ranged
in size from $3,000 to $200,000. In its
ten-year existence, Cascadia has successfully completed over 30 contracts,
primarily from federal and state agencies. Collective members may hop from
project to project, but may also specialize and lead a project, depending on
their interests and abilities
Although Calambokidis and Gretchen
Steiger are the collective's only full-
time, year-round staff members, more
than 20 different people worked on
Cascadia projects last year. This year
Evergreen students Elizabeth
McManus, Payton Carling, Jeff
McGowan and Jennifer Horn have
interned with the collective, which has
had more than 30 interns altogether.
Currently, Cascadia is carrying out
five research contracts, three of them
for the Marine Sanctuary Program, a
division of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. Two of
the contracts involve surveys of whales,
one on humpback whales and one on
blue whales. Both are being conducted
in marine sanctuaries in the Gulf of
Farallones and near the Farallones
Islands west of San Francisco. The
third contract is for a survey of harbor
porpoises in the same area off the
California coast.
All three surveys are routine studies
of population and migration patterns,
but the two whale surveys involve
specifically identifying individual
whales. On the blue whale research, in
particular, Cascadia is doing pioneering
work, as it is one of the first attempts
by anyone in the field to identify individual members of that species. The
work is often exciting, most of it conducted from inflatable boats, 14- and
16-feet long, equipped to operate up to
25 miles offshore
"We didn't anticipate our success,"
Calambokidis saya Experts estimated
there might be very few blue whales
left in the area of the Pacific that
Cascadia has surveyed, but after
months of observation and taking
several thousand photographs,
Cascadia has identified more than 250
individual blue whales in the Gulf of
Farallones and another 100 in other
areas. Now it takes three to four hours
for each new whale photograph to be
checked against the growing photo file.
"Cascadia is the only organization of
its kind that I know of," says Calambokidis. "We are a research collective,
while all the other organizations working in the field are supported by
universities and other institutions, or
are private consultants or extensions of
lobbying groups. There's nothing else
like Cascadia."
"A Big Mama..." That's what Wendy
Stern 75 says It feels like to be a fulltime caretaker at the Olympic Wildlife
Rescue Center. Located 15 miles west
of the Evergreen campus, the 12-acre
site serves as a healing station for
orphaned and wounded birds and
animals.
"We get a lot of pesticide victims In
the spring," says Stern, "orphaned
babies In the summer (we had 16
bottle-fed fawns last year) and lots of
animals who've been wounded by
hunters In the fall."
Creatures frequenting the 11-yearold facility Include blue herons, hawks,
deer, raccoons, flying squirrels and
opossums. The center's goal, explains
Stern, Is to return birds and animals to
the wilds. Some animals, however, like
Bambl (left), whose knees are
damaged by gunshot wounds, are
permanent residents.
Stern, who's worked at the non-profit
center since 1986, encourages other
Greeners to find out more about the
project by writing; Olympic Wildlife
Rescue Project, 54 Mox-Chehalls
Road, McCleary, WA 98557; or calling,
(206) 495 DEER
AlumNotes
Class of 1973
i
?:
,:
j
S
Eldon Vail, Olympia, WA, is the new superintendent of the Women's Corrections Center at Purdy,
Washington. Eldon previously worked for five
years as a counselor at the Naselle work camp,
then moved on to various positions at Cedar
Creek youth facility, then to Tacoma to work as a
juvenile parole officer.
Class of 1974
Curtice R. Griffin, Sunderland, MA, has been
appointed an assistant professor in the department of forestry and wildlife at the University of
Massachusetts. Curtice has been a visiting assistant professor since 1985, teaching courses on the
dynamics and management of animal populations.
His research includes studies of gulls, Delaware
Bay birds of prey, bald eagles and piping plovers.
He is currently involved in studies of river otters,
coastal red foxes and salamanders.
Class of 1975
Bill Adams, Salem, OR, graduated from
Willamette University's Graduate School of
Management in 1982 and is currently director of
Faculty and Staff Development for Oregon State
University in Corvallis. He served as the president of the Oregon Training Association in 1988
and has been a consultant to state and local social
service agencies on management issues and programs to reduce client violence. Bill has been
married for 11 years, has three children and has
just finished building a new house.
William Tbmlinson, Portland, OR, is working as
a registered nurse in Portland elementary
schools. William and Kathy Baldwin were married in June '88.
Alan Krieger, Duansberg, NY, has been accepted
into the Organization and Management Department at Antioch/New England Graduate School
at Bennington, Vermont, where he is pursuing a
master of Human Services and Administration
degree. He is currently the director of the New
York State Youth Council.
Class of 1976
Class of 1980
David Current, Seattle, WA. David's audiovisual
production company, Current-Rutledge, was
awarded a Gold Medal from the International
Film and TV Festival of New York for its production of "AIDS-Wise, No Lies." Current and
Rutledge spent seven months interviewing and
photographing a diverse group of young people,
including many who were living with AIDS. "Our
goal," says David, "was to break through the
sense of invulnerability common to most teenagers that says 'AIDS has nothing to do with me'."
The video is being used in high schools and colleges across the country and is distributed
through New Day Films
David Mazor, Belchertown, MA, was recently
married to Kathleen Mathews, a psychologist,
who is working on her doctorate at the University of Massachusetts. David completed his feature
film "Exquisite Corpses," last July and is now
working on a documentary film commissioned by
•the rock group, Duran Duran.
Myles Mustoe, Ellensburg, WA, is an adjunct
professor of geography at Central Washington
University. Myles, who also teaches in elementary and high schools, makes geography come
alive for his students by having them monitor
world band (shortwave) radio broadcasts from the
countries they are studying. "I started with
geography and asked what do they need to know
to use shortwave," he says. He used broadcasts to
teach about time zones, longitude and latitude
and how radio waves propagate through the atmosphere. He also encourages students to take
notes on broadcasts and to correspond with
overseas stations. Myles is the author of a new
book on the use of shortwave as a teaching tool,
Shortwave Goes to School—A Teacher's Guide to
Using Shortwave Radio in the Classroom,
published by Tiare Publications, P.O. Box 493,
Lake Geneva, WI 53147. The book contains an introduction to shortwave, lists equipment sources,
explains how to set up a "Shortwave Learning
Center," provides various "master forms" for use
with the Center and features over 40 assignments.
Class of 1977
Judith Utevsky, San Francisco, CA, recently
received her master's degree in social work. She
is working as a post-graduate intern at San Francisco Children's Hospital's Comprehensive Child
Crisis Service, a psychiatric service for children,
adolescents and their families.
John Hennessey, Charlestown, MA, is an information systems consultant at the Arthur D. Little
Company. As part of his job, John has traveled
extensively, including recent trips to Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia, and Luxor and Cairo, Egypt.
Thomas L. Fleischner, Prescott, AZ, recently
moved to the Southwest to join the environmental
studies faculty at Prescott College. He is teaching
a combination of natural history, conservation
biology, human ecology and wilderness
history/politics.
Class of 1982
T nominate
(phone)
of (address)
(state")
Siened
John Stocks, Coeur d'Alene, ID, has been elected
an Idaho State Senator in the Coeur d'Alene
district.
Wanda Gayle (formerly Wanda Schroeder), Salt
Lake City, UT, is a technical writer for the
Unisys Corporation. She lives with her husband,
Howard Berkes, a reporter for National Public
Radio. They recently trekked to the Annapurna
Sanctuary in Western Nepal.
Ronni Hacken and Maureen Foye Parker '83,
Olympia, WA, were applauded in the March issue
of The Pulse, a newsletter of the Olympia AIDS
Task Force. Hacken and Parker, partners in
Counseling Consultants, have been volunteer
facilitators of a support group for people who are
HIV positive, have ARC or AIDS and their
families and frienda Those interested in the
group or in the AIDS Task Force can call (206)
352-2375 for more information.
The Evergreen State College Alumni Association
Board of Directors
Nomination Ballot For 1989-1991
fcityl
Class of 1981
(7TP)
Date
Nomination ballots should be returned to:
The Evergreen State College Alumni Association
CAB 214, The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505
Deadline for nominations is May 30, 1989
Cheryl Henderson, Phoenix, AZ, is serving as a
special assistant to Phoenix City Manager Marvin
Andrews as part of the National Urban Fellows
program. At the conclusion of the 14-month
fellowship, Cheryl will be awarded a master's
degree in public administration from Bernard
Baruch College of New York City University. In
addition to the ten-month internship, the fellowship includes 16 weeks of academic study at the
university.
In Memory
Sage Russell Turner '83
Sage Russell Turner, 31, died March 25, at home
after a long struggle with cancer.
He was born in Portland, and returned with his
family to Oregon in 1973 after living in Alaska,
Arizona and New York. He graduated from
Willamina High School in 1976, attended Portland
State and graduated from Evergreen in 1983. He
was employed as an organic granary worker,
cabinetmaker, sign painter, and math tutor.
Survivors include his wife, Lorraine Ming Tong;
parents, Ralph and Phyllis Turner; grandmother,
Ruth Turner, all of Rock Creek Road (Sheridan).
Contributions may be made to Health Dynamics
Hospice, McMinnville, Oregon.
Class of 1984
Darcy Fox, Portland, OR, was married to her
long-time friend, John Angell, on July 30, 1988.
She enrolled in Western States Chiropractic
College in 1985 and will graduate this June after
completing a chiropractic internship. Darcy and
John plan to move back to the Seattle area to
open a practice.
Nina Carter, Olympia, WA, has announced her
candidacy for the Olympia City Council, Position
Number 7. In recent years, she has been active in
Olympia's Westside Neighborhood Association
and is currently a member of its governing board.
She is also the citizen representative on the
Thurston County Solid Waste Advisory Committee. She is employed as a program manager for
boater environmental education at the
Washington State Parks Commission.
Class of 1985
Julia M. Becker, Cincinnati, OH, has had her
work exhibited in galleries in Ohio and Kentucky.
In June, she will have a one-woman show of her
work at the Carnegie Arts Center in Covington,
Kentucky.
Helen Mary Lazara, Seattle, WA, has enrolled at
the School of Law at the University of Puget
Sound in Tacoma, Washington.
Class of 1986
Sherry Hill, Olympia, WA, has createtJ her own
advertising and public relations firm, Sherry Hill
Creative Communications. In 1988 her firm
received three awards from the Washington Information Council for a brochure and graphic identity project for Capable Prosthetics and Orthotics
of Tacoma.
Class of 1988
Heidi Arbogst, Olympia, WA, and nine current
Evergreen students have opened the Reko Muse
Gallery. The non-profit gallery and artistic events
center is located in what used to be a garage in
downtown Olympia. It was created to provide a
forum for artists working with anything from
reels of film to pages of poetry.
Class of 1989
The Class of "89—those seniors who will graduate
from Evergreen this June 4—will present
$3,135.75 as a class gift to the college's
Longhouse project. The sum is the largest
amount of money ever raised by a graduating
class. Thanks!
Making It
Better.
Barbara Felver '88
As a national survey has shown, more
Evergreen students place a high priority on "making the world a better place
to live" than their peers in other colleges. This is true for Barbara Felver,
an MES alumnus and current MPA student who works for a pioneering state
agency dedicated to providing low-cost
health care. In her spare time, she
serves as a member of the Alumni
Association's Board of Directors.
A 1984 graduate summa cum laude of
Central Washington University, Felver
turned her undergraduate study of
psychology and the liberal arts in a
new direction when she entered Evergreen's Master of Environmental
Studies Program. She received her
MES degree in 1988, but didn't stop
there. Now nearing the end of her first
year-in Evergreen's Master of Public
Administration Program, Felver has
been working furiously for the
Washington Basic Health Plan.
"I love it—it's never dull," says
Felver. "We hit the ground running last
fall and it's been busy ever since."
The new state agency was created by
the legislature in 1987 as a five-year
demonstration project. Its mission is to
provide up to 90 percent of the cost of
health care for families who qualify.
Under the plan, people whose income
is not low enough to qualify for Medicare, but can't afford the high cost of
private insurance, pay a small fee to
the state for basic medical coverage.
"It's the first state-supported health
plan of its kind in the nation," says
Felver, adding that the agency has had
inquiries and requests for assistance
from half the states in the country. She
received a coveted Governor's Executive Fellowship to work for the
pioneering agency, and is responsible
for managing the membership division.
While more than 3,000 families in three
counties have already enrolled for
coverage, the Basic Health Plan
ultimately hopes to have 25,000
enrollees in six counties.
Of the nine full-time employees
Felver works with, two are also Evergreeners: Leslie Oren Thorpe, the
assistant director of external relations,
who received a B.A. in 1981 and her
MPA degree last year; and Hieu
Nguyen '84, who designed and
operates the agency's computerized
billing system.
Working with Greeners was one of
the reasons Felver welcomed her election to the Alumni Association's governing body. "Being on the board," she
says, "has been very satisfying. It's a
dynamic group of alums, and whenever
we're together there's an exciting exchange of ideas."
Since joining the Board last year,
Felver has worked with the Communications Committee. The biggest
task she's taken on was organizing the
first-ever reception for people
associated with Evergreen's graduate
programs, the Master of Environmental Studies and Master of Public
Administration. Hosted by President
Joe Olander, the whirlwind event took
place on the fourth floor of the Library
last December, and attracted more
than 150 students, faculty and alumni
of the MES and MPA programs.
"It was delightful," Felver recalls. "A
lot of members of the first MPA and
MES classes were there, as well as
people who had finished their coursework, but were still working on their
theses. The result of our gathering was
renewed interest in the college and
what it stands for."
Evergreen Hosts the Olympic Mind
Mansothy Ken
National Honor
for Helping
Manosothy (Sothy) Ken's story begins
in Cambodia in 1975, when she and her
sister lost their family during war and
revolution. This year Ken is a Greener
and one of five U.S. students honored
with the National Humanitarian Award
(formerly the Robinson Humanitarian
Award).
"I have tried to break the barriers and
the misunderstanding between people
of different backgrounds," says Ken.
A junior putting herself through college, Ken is working toward a career in
medicine. She volunteers as a social
worker and interpreter at the Olympia
Refugee Center, a non-profit organization that serves mostly Southeast
Asian refugees. There she helps people
with job and housing applications,
refers them to appropriate services,
and interprets for them in hospitals,
courts and counseling centers.
"I find myself talking to the young
about education in this country, and to
the adults about their granted rights
as tenant, employee and patient. In
short, to their rights as a person," she
says.
Ken also serves as a tutor and counselor for low-income, inner-city high
school students working toward college
admission in Evergreen's Upward
Bound program. She directed Evergreen's Asian Pacific Isle student
group, worked as an Affirmative Action
Assistant and has organized intercultural presentations at local high schools.
In 1982 at age 17, Ken escaped Cambodia to spend three years in refugee
camps in Thailand and the Philippines.
She decided to leave Cambodia when
the communist government said her
high academic achievements warranted
sending her to the Soviet Union to
study. In the refugee camps she volunteered as an English teacher and interpreter. She arrived in the United
States in 1985, completed her high
school diploma in a year, and enrolled
at Evergreen in 1986.
The National Humanitarian Award
and $1,500 was presented by Campus
Compact, a coalition of more than 150
colleges across the nation that encourage public service as an integral part of
higher education. The monetary award
will be used to further Ken's efforts
with the Refugee Center, which will
use the contribution to install a computerized accounting system and pay for
salaries. Ken traveled to Minneapolis
early in April to receive her honor.
She is writing a book about her life
which she hopes to publish soon. "I
believe this is the best way of getting
through to most people," she says. "I
want to share the knowledge I have of
my country, my culture, my experience
in coming to this country and my life in
America with people here," says Ken.
Layer upon layer of the world's Olympic Movement will be peeled back,
examined and debated, as international
leaders of amateur sport gather on
Evergreen's campus June 21-24 for
United States Olympic Academy XIII.
You're invited to attend this U.S.
Olympic Committee sanctioned event
that is void of starting guns and finish
lines—an event which is designed to
shape the future of the Olympic Movement and is held annually on a different college campus.
"We will hear why African nations
view the Olympic movement with skepticism from Dr. Amos Oduyale of Ogun
University in Nigeria, hear the Soviet
perspective of the Olympics from Alexander Koszlowsky, a Soviet government
official, and learn the value of Olympic
education as viewed by Dr. Otto
Szymiczek, dean of the International
Olympic Academy in Olympia, Greece,"
says Peter Dodds, director of Academy
XIII. "No contemporary controversy
will be left untouched. Everyone who
has an interest in sport will find
several issues he or she can take to
heart among more than 30 sessions,"
The problems of steroid use and drug
intervention strategies will be
examined in depth with two doctors
who have worked with the United
States Olympic Committee (USOC) on
these issues. If you followed the judging crisis in the 1988 Summer Olympics, you can gain insight into this difficult task from gymnastics, ice skating
and boxing judges. The women's crisis
in coaching, the value of physical
education in K-12 school systems, international politics and the Olympic movement are all topics of discussion. Even
a member of the Steinbrenner Commission will be there to examine the
ethics of corporate sponsorship of
"amateur" athletes.
"Each session will be taped and
transcripts are produced for the
USOC. What is said during these sessions will be heard by people who have
influence in the Olympic movement,"
says Dodds. "It will be very exciting."
Although official Olympic activities
touch most colleges briefly then move
on, for Evergreen the Olympic Movement is here to stay. An important
highlight of Academy XIII is the Site
Dedication Ceremony for the permanent United States Olympic Academy.
The world's second permanent Academy is scheduled for completion in
1992 near the Port of Olympia on Budd
Inlet. The only other Olympic Academy
is in Olympia, Greece. The dean of the
permanent academy will be a member
of Evergreen's faculty, and President
Joe Olander is a member of the
United States Olympic Committee's
Education Committee.
"Several sessions during the conference will examine the role of permanent Olympic Academies in shaping
amateur sport at all levels, from
peewee leagues to the elite Olympic
athlete around the world," says Dodds.
"Li Li of China, John Saunders of
Australia and Dr. Young-Hwan Kim of
South Korea will be especially interesting for this portion of the conference."
Evergreen is offering two credits for
people who take part in a seminar
series held in conjunction with the sessions. The conference also features a
variety of recreation, including some
fun athletic endeavors and a cruise on
Puget Sound with a live jazz band.
Registration for Academy XIII is
$90, $30 for students. If you take the
credit option, it will cost an additional
$114. For a brochure and registration
form, or for more information, call
Evergreen at (206) 866-6000, ext. 6530.
"Olympic Academy conferences will
still travel from campus to campus
after the permanent Academy is built,"
says Dodds, "It will probably be a
time before another conference is held
in the Northwest. Last year it was
held at Penn State, and next year it
travels to Emory University in Atlanta. This conference is a once-in-alifetime event for many peopla"
Cheatham Named Recreation Director
Grab your racket or
ball, any kind of racket
or ball, and chances
are you'll have your
hands full playing
against Ron
Cheatham, Evergreen's new director of
Recreation, Wellness
and Sports.
He's a hands-on
manager who loves
athletics and wants to
learn almost every
sport—that's why he
plans to jump from a
Ron Cheatham
plane this summer—
with a parachute, of course. But that's not why he
got the job. Ron Cheatham was exactly what
Evergreen was looking for.
"People who knew my background encouraged
me to give it a try, and the college seemed like a
perfect match," says Cheatham. Cheatham brings
13 years of YMCA experience in Puyallup, San
Diego and Yakima to the job, as well as coaching
experience at the high school and college level. A
1976 graduate of Washington State University,
Cheatham has served on the WSU Alumni Board.
His career includes a year as a professional football player with the BC Lions of Vancouver,
Canada, and a stint as a semi-pro baseball player.
"I look forward to getting to know the students
and the campus—just becoming familiar with the
community here," he says.
Cheatham replaces Jan Lambertz, who is taking classes at State University of New York at
Potsdam while remodeling her farmhouse in
upstate New York.
It's a busy time for the new director. The Campus Recreation Center Phase II is moving toward
completion in June. "It's one of the nicest facilities I have ever seen, and I've seen a lot of them,"
he says. Also this June, Evergreen hosts the
United States Olympic Academy XIII, a conference sanctioned by the United States Olympic
Committee (see above).
Cheatham's philosophy of management involves
trying all the duties his employees must perform.
For instance, even though he's not a strong swimmer, he worked several shifts with his lifeguards
to get first-hand experience on the job.
With a serious dedication to wellness, Cheatham
combines a background in administration, public
relations, fund raising and the development of
health enhancement services.
Record-Setting Geoducks
One Geoduck butterflied and another dove into
the record books of Greener swimming history
this year as the season ended in fast times.
The Geoduck strokers exploded in the NAIA
District I Championships in mid-February, when
every swimmer beat their personal fastest time.
"That's a coach's dream, when everyone swims
their best time," says Coach Bruce Fletcher,
whose philosophy is based on doing your best,
rather than just winning.
"Team captain Aaron Soule dropped his times
drastically and was an inspiration to the whole
team," says Fletcher. Geoduck diver Beth Gaza
also won the district title in the one-meter diving
event, becoming Evergreen's first diving champion.
Five swimmers qualified to compete in the
NAIA National Championship meet March 1-4 in
Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And they swam hard.
Sarah Applegate, freshman, set three school
records and became the fastest woman swimmer
in Evergreen's history by placing fifth in the
200-yard butterfly event.
Brad Carlson, freshman, set a school record in
the 100-yard breast stroke, placing 18th.
The relay team of Clair Littlewood, sophomore,
Tkmara Nameroff, sophomore, Katie Nelson,
junior, and Applegate competed in the 200-, 400and 800-yard freestyle relay events, as well as the
400-yard medley relay, setting school records in
all four events.
"The students did an outstanding job and
represented Evergreen at the national meet in a
very classy way," says Fletcher. "Overall, the
whole team had a great season."
Side Note: For the second year in a row,
Forrest Wilcox, director of the Evergreen Fund,
organized a last-minute phone-a-thon to help
swimmers pay travel costs for nationals. Seven
swimmers and Coach Fletcher made 254 calls in
four hours to earn 59 pledges worth $1,087 just
three days before the swimmers boarded the plane
for Wisconsin. Once again alums and friends of
Evergreen made it possible. Thank you all!
Nonprofit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
Olympia, WA
Permit No. 65
Published by Information Services and Publications
The Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA 98505
Would You Do
It Again?
"You Bet!"
Say Alums
Here is a sampling of the results of a
survey of Evergreen alumni that was
conducted by the college's Office of Institutional Research earlier in the year.
A questionnaire was mailed to 600 of
the 2,188 alums who graduated in
1985-1987. Completed questionnaires
were returned by 343 alumni, a
response rate of 57 percent.
Some of the questions on the survey
paralleled questions used on the
American College Testing Alumni
Survey, so that the responses of Evergreen alumni could be compared to
national norms. Those norms represent
24,813 alumni of public colleges who
were surveyed in 1984-85 and 1985-86.
"Overall, Evergreen received a strikingly positive endorsement from its
alumni," says Steve Hunter '79 the college's director of Institutional Planning
and Research. "Evergreen grads
believe their education contributed in
significant ways to their personal
growth; they're finding work and they
are continuing their educations in
graduate and professional schools at
roughly twice the rate of other college
graduates around the nation. Some
areas for improvement were also indicated," Hunter notes, "but it appears in
large part that Evergreen's curriculum
does what our faculty claim it should
do."
Alums
Write Back
The questionnaire also gave alums an
opportunity to respond to some openended questions in writing. What
follows are selected from the responses
of more than 100 alums.
Personal Growth
Evergreen's questionnaire asked alums
to indicate whether the college had
contributed "very much," "somewhat"
or "very little" to their personal
growth in 22 areas. In comparison with
national norms, far more Evergreen
alumni said that their alma mater had
contributed "very much" in the following areas.
TESC
Alumni
National
Average
58»/o
31%
49%
26%
Writing effectively
Recognizing rights, responsibilities and privileges as a citizen
59%
38%
37%
20%
Critical thinking
54%
37%
Working cooperatively in a group
57%
40
Defining and solving problems
Understanding and appreciating
the arts
60%
44%
37%
24%
Speaking effectively
44%
34%
Working independently
62%
52%
Understanding different
philosophies and cultures
Understanding the interaction
of man and the environment
What were your most positive
academic experiences at Evergreen?
"Evergreen is the first place where I
had the opportunity to integrate the
bits of information I was collecting and
synthesize them into a new understanding of the world. It's the difference between collecting a pile of bricks
and building a house. At the "regular"
universities I attended I got a load of
bricks which collected in piles that
never added up to any coherent whole.
At Evergreen, I was so intent upon
building the house that the bricks just
went into place without having to
memorize each one. You know what I
mean?"
Female, 27 years old
Graduate Teaching FellowPsychology, University of Oregon
Graduated 1986
"Two Revolutions in Art and Thought"
with Charles Teske and William
Winden was far and away the most
positive and influential experience I
had at Evergreen. The teachers were
eloquent examples of trans-disciplinary
thinking—from jazz to Joyce; from
opera to Oppenheimer. Charles Teske
is also the best writer of evaluations—
I'm still learning from his critiques."
Male, 28 years old
Ph.D. student—Brown University
Graduated 1984
8
Would Evergreen Alums Do It Again?
Alums were asked, "If you could start
college over would you choose Evergreen again?" Alums could respond on
a five-point scale between "definitely
yes" and "definitely no." As you can
see, Evergreen alums were overwhelmingly positive.
Still Learning and Self-Employed.
In comparison with national norms, a
significantly smaller proportion of
Evergreen alums reported they were
employed full-time, 49% to 70%. A
significantly larger proportion of
Evergreen alums, (91% to 30%), however, indicated they were either selfemployed, or employed and continuing
their education. The latter category is
three times the national norm.
If You Could Start College Over,
Would You Choose This College Again?
80%
MMMM
0%
Definitely
Yes
What do you recommend improving?
"Facilitate the transition from traditional colleges to Evergreen for
transfer students. I found it easy to fall
through the cracks and consequently
wasted a lot of time finding my way
back to what Evergreen is all about.
You should expect serious students to
know how to direct themselves, but not
as soon as they start there."
Male, 27 years old
Library clerk
Graduated 1985
"There should be a summation of the
work done before graduation. It would
be helpful for students to put together
everything they've learned—to tie it
together in whatever way they see
appropriate. For example, my courses
ranged from history and languages to
environmental sciences; I now see that
this variety has served me well, but I
could have realized this before leaving
Evergreen if I had gone through a
process of pulling my experiences
together for other people to understand (a paper, play, sculpture, etc.)
This is also a good way to think about
what jobs a graduate is qualified for."
Female, 23 years old
Nursing school student
Graduated 1985
TESC
Alumni
National
Average
65%
27%
What advice would you give prospective students?
"You'll get your money's worth if you
do Evergreen its way. Write and
rewrite long evaluations of yourself,
your faculty and your programs. Be an
adult, instead of a high-schooler in college. Take your education seriously and
your role as a responsible human
being. Don't complain about dogs on
Red Square—they're part of the school
spirit. Throw away all the trappings of
high school, all that 'rah! rah! rah!'
stuff. Hug other Greeners, even if you
don't know them. P.S. A geoduck is an
animal, sort of like a clam, not a duck,
as I thought."
Male, 25 years old
Apprentice pressman
Graduated 1985
On the Cover:
Evergreen Intern Elke Faleafine cheers another
successful take off and return in the groundbreaking treatment she's helped to pioneer.
The Evergreen ReView
Editing and Writing: Mark Clemens, Keith
Eisner, Karen Huntsberger, Val Thorson, Mike
Wark
Graphic Design-Mary Geraci, Marianne Kawaguchi
Photography: Steve Davis, TESC Photo Services
Typesetting: Shirley Greene
Other Help: Dale Baird, Patricia Barte, Steve
Hunter, Larry Stenberg, Forrest Wilcox
