WSU Spring Commencement 2007: Highlight Students

Rawlins will address graduates during the 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. ceremonies. Suwyn will speak to those graduating during the 11:30 a.m. ceremony. Rawlins will preside over and confer degrees during all ceremonies. It will be the final commencement for Rawlins as the university’s ninth president. He took office in June 2000 and will serve through June of this year, when Elson S. Floyd, current University of Missouri president, will succeed him. Rawlins is the first former WSU faculty member to become the university’s president.

The 8 a.m. ceremony will include the colleges of Business and Education, the 11:30 a.m. ceremony will include the colleges of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences; Engineering and Architecture; Nursing; Pharmacy; Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine and the 3 p.m. ceremony will include the College of Liberal Arts.

Teri Rales, university commencement coordinator, estimates some 2,300 students – about 2,100 undergraduate students and about 200 graduate students – are expected to participate in the ceremony.

During the ceremonies, these graduates will be highlighted:

8 a.m.
Kari M. Asai, ROTC

Kari Asai, from Vancouver, Wash. will graduate with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. She will be commissioned along with other ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) cadets during the 8 a.m. ceremony. Her commissioning will be as a second lieutenant in the U. S. Air Force.

The daughter of Jan and Winston Asai of Vancouver, Wash., she is a 2003 graduate of the Vancouver School of Arts and Academics. Her career goal as an Air Force officer is to be a navigator of an F-15 Strike Eagle tactical aircraft. It is one of the Air Force’s premier fighter jets.

Officers with the WSU/University of Idaho Air Force ROTC/Detachment 905 say Asai is “by far the best cadet” produced by the detachment in the past three years. Her performance and leadership as the Cadet Wing Commander “directly contributed” to its recognition as the number one medium-sized detachment of 33 in the Northwest Region. Under Asai’s leadership as the Arnold Air Society Squadron Commander, cadets devoted more than 1,100 hours to university and community service projects, which earned the organization the WSU Outstanding Citizenship Award in 2006.

They note her impressive academic and physical fitness achievements. She has been on the WSU President’s Honor Roll all seven semesters of her college tenure and maintained a 3.96 grade point average. “She always posts scores in the top five percent of the cadet corps, and scored a perfect 100 points on her last four physical fitness tests,” they say. In the past two years, her honors include a WSU President’s Leadership Award, a Nisei Veteran’s Scholarship and the detachment’s Distinguished Graduate Award for Fiscal Year 2007. As a 2007 U.S. Air Force Cadet of the Year for the Northwest Region, she was one of the top eight Air Force ROTC cadets in the nation and received trips to the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado to attend the National Character and Leadership Symposium and to Washington, D.C., to attend the Marshall/Arnold Leadership Symposium.

“Whether a flight commander or wing commander of 136 cadets, she has excelled in each leadership challenge. The magnitude of her positive influence on the cadets and detachment will be felt for many years,” they say.

Contact:
WSU/UI Air Force ROTC/Detachment 905
Col Douglas Salmon, WSU Aerospace Studies, 509-335-5598
Capt. William Beauter, WSU Aerospace Studies, 509-335-7046
Capt. William Babbitt, WSU Aerospace Studies, 509-335-3902

8 a.m.
Alicia M. del Prado, Education

Alicia del Prado, of Daly City, Calif., will receive a doctoral degree, having studied in the WSU College of Education in educational leadership and counseling psychology.

As a psychologist, she looks forward to the career possibilities of conducting multicultural research, providing multicultural training in corporate settings, teaching psychology courses, mentoring university students and providing clinical services to university communities. She seeks employment opportunities that will allow her to further develop her skills as an educator, researcher, clinician, and consultant.

A 1993 graduate of San Francisco’s Sacred Heart Cathedral Prepatory, she is the daughter of Judy Sarao of Healdsburg, Calif., and Norman del Prado, of San Bruno, Calif.

Del Prado came to the WSU counseling psychology doctoral program directly from her undergraduate studies in psychology at Santa Clara University, Calif.

As a bicultural woman — Filipino and Italian – del Prado applies her passion for multiculturalism to her scholarly and clinical work. At WSU, she has been part of an international research team studying personality and behavior across cultures. The research projects she has worked on at WSU on have included participants from Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines and the United States. Findings from the team’s research have been presented by del Prado at national and local conferences. She has co-authored six articles in top-tier psychology journals.

For her doctoral dissertation, del Prado developed an acculturation scale for Filipino Americans that assesses culture-relevant values, attitudes and behavior, and addresses an important measurement need for research and counseling with Filipino Americans.

Her exceptional academic record at WSU has been recognized with the 2007 Harriet B. Rigas Award from the WSU Association for Faculty Women for her multicultural and cross-cultural psychology work. She was Counseling Psychology’
s 2006 nominee for the Outstanding Graduate Student Award, a national honor by the Council of Counseling Psychology Training Programs.

Currently, del Prado is a pre-doctoral psychology intern in Counseling and Psychological Services at University of California Berkeley, where she provides individual and group counseling to the diverse clientele. In the upcoming academic year, she will continue her work at U. C. Berkeley as a postdoctoral fellow.

Contact:
Timothy Church, Counseling Psychology faculty, 509/335-0927

8 a.m.
Ben W. Ruther, Business

Ben Ruther of Bellingham will graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in management and operations. A 2000 graduate of Sehome High School, Bellingham is the son of Bill and Debbie Ruther, of Bellingham.

In 2002, he earned an associate of arts degree from Whatcom Community College, Bellingham. After entering WSU in 2002, he struggled, received poor grades and had a deficient academic standing. As a result, he left WSU after fall semester 2003. Ruther went to work for a fast food chain restaurant in Bellingham and became a manager. But continuing in the restaurant industry was not his vision. He decided to return to WSU, work hard and earn his degree.

After reinstatement in spring 2006, he had many successes, including marinating a “respectable” grade point average, say College of Business officials. “He is the first to tell his fellow students to always work hard for the goals you want in life,” they said.

With graduation in sight, Ruther prepared rigorously for job interviews on campus in February as part of Career Expo of the Palouse. His effort was successful. He received two “attractive” offers, they said, and he negotiated between two companies for his final choice. He will be working for Target as an executive team leader. His goal is to help employees of the company do their best work and to recruit college students to become company employees. Furthermore, he hopes to ascend the career ladder and become part of the company’s top management.

Officials praise Ruther for his involvement in the College of Business’s Management and Operations Club, an active student organization that strives to provide students with the skills to succeed in their careers. Before graduating, he hopes to set up an alumni connection for the club to assist in finding guest speakers, helping members find jobs and for supporting it financially.

Contact:
Barbara Chatburn, College of Business, 509/335-7527

11:30 a.m.
Richard D. Brewer, Engineering and Architecture
Rick Brewer, who lived in Silvana (Snohomish County), Wash., before moving to Pullman, will receive a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering.

A 1974 graduate of Lin-Mar High School in Marion, Iowa, he is the son of Hazel Brewer in Nixa, Mo., and the late Donald Brewer.

Brewer found college at age 50 to be both challenging and humbling. “Memory doesn’t work like it once did, a 28-year math class hiatus is not a good precursor to calculus, and four and a half years with peers half your age can mess with your identity,’’ he said.

After graduating from an Iowa high school in 1974, Brewer decided that he was more interested in working, owning a home and raising a family than going to college. During the next 28 years, he worked many different jobs. In 1988, he joined the Boeing Company as an aircraft inspector working in different locations in western Washington. For 14 years, he enjoyed his work and during that time he and his wife Susan, a substitute teacher in the Stanwood-Camano, Wash., School District, built their own home. In his spare time, he enjoyed fishing and sharing the outdoors with his two sons, Josh and Andrew.

The drastic downturn in the airline industry following 9/11 led to a layoff from Boeing. Finding himself with few marketable skills, Brewer decided to sell the family home and enter college for the first time to pursue an engineering degree at WSU.

The family had just sent their oldest son to WSU and were wondering how he would feel about the family joining him. Josh’s reaction to his father being a fellow student was a question: “Are you going to bring the truck?’’ Yes, Brewer and truck both came to WSU.

The father and son took several calculus classes and an English course together. “It was different to work on homework with my son, as opposed to helping him with it,’’ he said. Brewer greatly appreciates the support received from his wife Susan, who returned to work while he pursued his degree. She works at the WSU College of Pharmacy. “In fact, Susan has been the only member of the family not in college, since Andy is now enrolled at Lewis Clark State College in Lewiston,” he said.

Returning to school was challenging. Brewer noticed that he had to work a lot harder, and that his memory didn’t work quite the same as during his younger years. As he began reviewing his mid-terms for a calculus final, for instance, he realized that while he recognized his handwriting, he recognized nothing else on the exams. He had to go back and re-learn all the concepts.

As a WSU student, Brewer participated in the President’s Student Learning Academy and was nominated as “Student Employee of the Year” for his work at Facilities Operations. After graduating from WSU, Brewer hopes to work as a civil engineer in a position that provides a variety of engineering challenges and the opportunity to coordinate multidisciplinary projects.

Contact:
Tina Hilding, College of Engineering and Architecture, 509/335-5095

11:30 a.m.
Cristina Raquel Dressel, Sciences

Cristina Dressel of Olympia will receive a bachelor of science degree in zoology with honors.

She studied in the WSU College of Sciences and is a student in the nationally-known WSU Honors College. As a student at WSU she has been member of the women’s rowing team 2003-2004, and was the Spanish Club Social C
hair 2005-2006, the Orton Hall Treasurer 2005-2006, a tutor for the High School Equivalency Program (HEP), and the Spanish Club President 2006.

The daughter of Carmen and David Dressel of Olympia and a 2003 graduate of Olympia High School, she was an independent study honors student in the laboratory of Andrew Storfer, a School of Biological Sciences faculty member. After graduating from WSU, Dressel will join the state of Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as a scientific technician field researcher working at 18 different sites around western Washington including areas in the Cascades, the Olympics and the Willapa Hills. She plans to pursue graduate work following that research.

Storfer said Dressel received a WSU Center for Integrated Biotechnology Summer Fellowship, a WSU College of Science Summer Research Fellowship, which she declined, and a WSU School of Biological Sciences research scholarship. Storfer said Dressel’s work is “nominated from the WSU Honors College for ‘pass with distinction.’”

Her independent study produced work that will be presented at an invited symposium at this summer’s Ecological Society of America national meeting and she will be “an author on a peer-reviewed scientific publication.” Furthermore, said Storfer, Dressel worked “diligently” in his lab for nearly nine months. He said he could not “think of an undergraduate more deserving.”

Contact
Andrew Storfer, School of Biological Sciences, 509/335-7922, astorfer@wsu.edu

11:30 a.m.
Stephen S. Dolinko, Veterinary Medicine

Stephen Dolinko, originally from Mercer Island, will receive a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience, pre-veterinary medicine option, studying in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Neuroscience Program, Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology, and Physiology.

A 1997 graduate of Mercer Island High School, he is the son of Paula Dolinko of Renton and the late Cary Dolinko. In 1997, as a senior at Mercer Island High School, Dolinko realized his greatest passion was to become a veterinarian. However, due to a lack of funds, college seemed an impossible goal. After researching his alternatives, he joined the U.S. Navy. His military service would allow him to serve his country, and at the same time, earn the funds needed to become a veterinarian.

In the Navy, as a member of the Nimitz Battle Group, he played a vital and demanding role in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Even with his deployment in Iraq, he earned an associate or arts degree in general education from Central Texas College.

In 2004, once his military commitment was complete, he returned to the state and entered WSU. As a neuroscience major, he is graduating in the top of his class. Those in the Neuroscience Program say Dolinko has been an exemplary student. In addition, he has volunteered at the WSU Raptor Rehabilitation Program and participated as a Neuroscience Ambassador, representing the program to prospective students and College of Veterinary Medicine donors and visitors.

Contact:
Sandi Brabb, Neuroscience, 509/335-2190, brabb@wsu.edu

11:30 a.m.
Carlos Alfredo Rodriguez, Nursing

Carlos Rodriguez, originally from El Salvador, will be graduating with a bachelor of science in nursing degree. His career goal is to work in critical care. Later, he wants to earn a nursing master’s degree and work in Pediatric Oncology.

A 1985 graduate of Instituto Emiliani in El Salvador, he has also studied at San Jose City College and the University of Phoenix, both in San Jose, Calif., and Deanza College in Cupertino, Calif.

Because of war in El Salvador, he left that country and his relatives there and immigrated to the U.S. in 1987. He arrived not knowing English, but worked hard and studied the language for a year and a half. After that, he enrolled in college, taking several classes at a time. His initial employment in this country was in electronics. He loved working in electronics, but after getting laid off, he pondered other careers. He decided upon health care after friends told him he would make a great nurse. Because he loves helping people, Rodriquez agreed.

After applying and being accepted into the WSU Intercollegiate College of Nursing (ICN) in Spokane – he started classes Jan. 2004 — he has excelled academically and as a leader.

Although English is not Rodriguez’s first language, he received a “pass with distinction” for his writing portfolio requirement for WSU. While an ICN student, he has been student newspaper editor and a Student Ambassador, representing the college at many functions. He was class president his first semester.

Last summer, an ICN course took WSU nursing and pharmacy students to Peru. As a native Spanish speaker he voluntarily led a group interested in refreshing or learning Spanish during the spring semester prior to departure. While in Peru, he served as an interpreter for group members and those they met. Thanks to his insights and suggestions, changes have been made in the ICN pre-departure seminar focusing on culture and working with interpreters.

In the ICN Community Health Nursing clinical and theory courses this spring, Rodriguez enthusiastically reflected upon the knowledge he gained in Peru as it applies to vulnerable populations in this country.

Contact:
Renae Richter, ICN, 509/324-7337

11:30 a.m.
Jennifer Marie Sumner, Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences

Jennifer Sumner, originally from Elkton, Ore., will earn a doctor of philosophy degree in animal sciences.

Sumner, who grew up on a sheep, cow, pig, rabbit, and horse farm in Elkton, studied in the Elkton School District, and is a 1979 graduate of David Douglas High School, Portland, Ore. She studied at Mount Hood Community College, Gresham, Ore., and earned two animal sciences degrees from Oregon State University, a bachelor’s degree in 2001 and a master’s degree in 2003. After earning her doctoral degree at WSU, she will join the University of Maryland and be in a postdoctoral faculty position to study molecular mechanisms of metabolic control in cattle.

A single mother, Sumner is active in the education of her children, Alexandra, age 8, and Cody, age 5, both students at Pullman’s Franklin Elementary School.

John McNamara, Sumner’s WSU doctoral advisor in Animal Sciences, says her “persistence and determination are exemplary.” Because of the time commitment to research and teaching required of doctoral students, he said, a woman graduate student with children is out of the ordinary in WSU Animal Sciences.

McNamara compliments Sumner, an excellent student who has earned a 3.23 grade point average, on working hard and enthusiastically on research and teaching. “She always received good marks from the students in her evaluations,” he said. As for Sumner’s potential in the future, McNamara said, “she displays a keen insight into research that I think will do her well in a faculty position. She is a good well-rounded prospective faculty member. I can objectively state that she has been one of my best overall students in my 23 years at WSU.”

Contact:
John McNamara, Animal Science faculty, 509/335 4113

3 p.m.
Edward E. Esquilin, Distance Degree Programs

A Washington State University Distance Degree Programs (DDP) student, Eddie Esquilin, 40, of Pasco will graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in social sciences. His wife and two daughters will be in the audience at WSU Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum in Pullman

As a member of the U.S. Marines, he will returning to Iraq to serve a second tour of duty there. A graduate of Julia Richmond High School in Manhattan (New York City), he began his college career in 1991 and studied at Campbell University, Central Texas College and Community College of the Air Force before being admitted to WSU DDP for the 2002 summer session with barley enough credits to qualify as a graduate student.

For the next five semesters, he was a WSU DDP student while, at the same time, working 12-hours shifts as a nuclear security officer, tending to military responsibilities and, with his wife, Alexandra, raising twin daughters, Roselani and Cassandra, now age 10.

In fall 2004, he deployed with the Marines to Iraq. While serving his country delayed his educational plans, Esquilin never gave up his goal of being a WSU graduate. In April 2006, he was readmitted to WSU DDP after what he said was a “hair-raising tour in Iraq.”

Esquilin said as DDP student the “challenges quickly multiplied as I struggled to balance a family life, and full time employment, as I set out to reach my educational goals. Although difficult at times, the rewards at the end of each semester far exceeded the efforts. My family was (a) key to my success in graduating. They shared my many struggles to meet deadlines, the late night study sessions along with the excitement of each passing grade from one semester to the next. I could not have done it without them to support me.”

Bobbi Thomas, DDP academic advisor, describes Esquilin as a “bright, articulate and brave man who has been a pleasure to know and advise over the years. He has always been a positive, upbeat individual who never complained and never exhibited a ‘poor me’ attitude. He has served his country with pride and dignity, and represents the spirit of Washington State University well: He is, indeed, ‘First Class’.”

Esquilin is a nuclear security officer at Energy North-West in Richland, Wash. Born and raised in New York City, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in Jan. 1985 and served on active duty until Oct. 1997. He is now a member of the Marine Corps Reserves. He served in a variety of duty stations in the U.S. and one in Japan and conducted training operations in different countries. His tours of duty included – Desert Storm / Desert Shield and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Contact:
Bobbi Thomas, DDP, 509/335-9271, thomasb@wsu.edu

3 p.m.
Andrea K. Hall, Liberal Arts

Andrea Hall of Pendleton, Ore., will receive a bachelor of arts degree in sociology and Women’s Studies.

An enrolled member of Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, her career goal is to continue working with Indian people, especially in the area of health care policy. She hopes to be in a position that will allow her to drive policy changes at the federal level and to ensure that Indian people have access to adequate health care.

The daughter of Berniece R. Hall of Pendleton, Ore., and the late Steve Hall, she attended Weston McEwen High School in Athena, Ore. She credits her parents and aunt, June Parr, for their assistance and support. While a high school honor student, she left school as a junior in 1990 to marry. She earned her General Education Diploma (GED) and after moving to Arizona with her new husband, a U.S. Marine, began attending college. Today, she is a single mother of two children, Peyton, age 8 1/2 and a third grade student at Jefferson Elementary School in Pullman, and Kaeleh (K-Lee), age 5 and completing Head Start at the Community Child Care Center in Pullman.

She served six years as Secretary on the Board of the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Commission. In 2004, after 10 years in what she said was a “comfortable job” with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Mission, Ore., she moved to Pullman to earn her WSU degree.
At WSU she grew personally and professionally. She is a “fast track” McNair Achievement Scholar and was selected in the summer of 2006 for an internship with the Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program. Hall served in the office of Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) dealing with federal legislative procedures and health policy issues in sponsorship with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Howard University.
Hall served two terms as Chair of the WSU Coalition for Women Students and has been a member of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women. The commission named her one of the 2007 Woman of Distinction award winners.

Her nominator for the award said, “She consistently maintains a solid GPA and has shown a remarkable ability to balance the rigors of academic life, the responsibilities that come along with being a student leader, while maintaining her focus on achieving her own personal goals. These abilities, coupled with an ‘I can do it’ attitude and genuine compassion for Native people, are a great formula for leadership.” Hall has been a Native American Advisory Council member and served as a peer mentor for the WSU Native American Student Center.

In addition to her parents and aunt, she thanks those in WSU Multicultural Student Services and the Women’s Resource Center for their support. Her children, she said, have continuously taught her about the truly important principles in life. They complement her vision, reminding her that “there is hope to be a voice for Native Americans health issues.”

“My children help me remain focused on the issues that are most important in my life and the future of all my people,” she said.