2,022 students will receive degrees from ISU on Saturday
Some 2,022 graduates are scheduled to receive degrees and certificates during commencement ceremonies at 2 p.m. Saturday in Holt Arena. The number includes those who completed their degree work on Dec. 19, 2002, and May 16, 2003.

The breakdown of graduates includes eight doctor of philosophy degrees, seven doctor of education degrees, nine doctor of arts degrees, nine educational specialist degrees, two educational specialist sixth-year certificates, 57 doctor of pharmacy degrees, one post-master’s certificate in nursing, two post-baccalaureate certificates in geotechnology, 266 master’s degrees, 1,140 baccalaureate degrees, three certificates in computer information systems, 235 associate degrees and 283 certificates from the College of Technology.

Three faculty members to be recognized for distinguished service are Dr. Maureen Brandon, biological sciences, 2003 Distinguished Teacher; Dr. Richard Inouye, ecology, 2003 Distinguished Researcher; and Dr. Peter Vik, psychology, 2003 Distinguished Public Service Award.

Humanitarian, businessman to receive ISU honorary doctorate
The honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters will be conferred upon ISU alumnus Peter Kole, a native of Pogradec, Albania, whose humanitarian efforts on behalf of his native country have been tireless and who built a small metal stamping shop into one of the “big four” companies supplying metal seat frames for the automobile industry.

Kole immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 18 months old and grew up in Cleveland, attending public schools there. While trying to find a small business college to attend, Kole was browsing through college catalogs and decided ISU, then Idaho State College, looked promising. He has never been disappointed in his choice and has remembered his alma mater with numerous gifts through the years. He has established scholarship endowments in the Colleges of Business and Education and has given many other gifts to ISU. He recently equipped and furnished a faculty lounge in the College of Business. He was the 1998 ISU Distinguished Alumnus, the highest honor ISU confers.

After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in management and organization in 1963, Kole returned to Ohio where he shortly thereafter met and married his wife, Nancy, who worked as a schoolteacher as the couple’s new company slowly began to grow.

In 1978, Kole purchased a manufacturing company in Elyria, Ohio, and moved it to Cleveland, where he started a second company that produced steel automobile seat frames. Several years later, he purchased three more companies, and today, directs the activities of all his holdings under the umbrella of Paramount Metal Products.

His first acquisition brought with it five employees, all of whom remained with the company that eventually employed more than 300 personnel. Kole is known among employees and business associates as a man of high integrity and honesty.

With several other Albanian Americans, Kole toured Albania for three weeks in the fall of 1990. The personal highlight for Kole was a family reunion with his cousins. However, upon his return to Cleveland, he thought of his homeland constantly and began sending basic items such as food and clothing to Albania.
With other members of the tour, he joined the New England Albanian Relief Organization (N.E.A.R.O.) and almost immediately became the volunteer director. As such, he was responsible for collecting humanitarian aid from west of Jamestown, N.Y., to the Pacific Ocean. A Massachusetts warehouse was used for collections from New England, New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia.

Since that time Kole has worked unceasingly to improve living conditions in Albania and has sent hundreds of thousands of books, medical supplies, furnishings and other supplies for schools and hospitals. He leased and filled a library in Pogradec, where it was illegal at the time to read literature not approved by the government. When the former communist leadership destroyed that library, Kole responded by securing and stocking another library. He also rebuilt the school in the village of Alarupi. That facility was dedicated last September and accommodates 700 students from kindergarten through the eighth grade. See more at http://www.albania2000.com.

Kole has been a benefactor to many Albanian students, financing their education at American universities on the condition that they return to their home country and use their education to enact change there.

He has been credited by the governor of Ohio for his contribution to community development in Cleveland. In 1996 he was inducted into his high school’s hall of fame, and he recently was appointed by the Republic of Albania to be the honorary consul for the state of Ohio.

Nine alumni receive achievement awards
Nine  alumni will be honored at Commencement May 17 with Professional Achievement Awards, presented by the ISU Alumni Association and the colleges.

Award winners are Dr. Steven Edward Aumeier, Idaho Falls, College of Engineering; Pete Black, Pocatello, Education; Carl K. Davis, Lake Oswego, Ore., Arts and Sciences, social sciences; Dr. Lorri Gebo-Shaver, Pocatello, Pharmacy; Ed Gygli, Pocatello, Technology; Dr. Alice E. Holmes, Gainesville, Fla., Kasiska Health Professions; Dr. Brian K. Ross, Arts and Sciences, natural science and mathematics; Michael D. Sweeney, Business; and Michael R. Tracy, Arts and Sciences, humanities. This is the first year three College of Arts and Sciences recipients have been chosen.

• Aumeier received his bachelor’s degree with high honors in general engineering in 1990. He earned an MBA with honors from the University of Chicago, and master’s and doctorate degrees in nuclear engineering from the University of Michigan. As deputy associate laboratory director for engineering research at Argonne National Laboratory, he has the lead for all ANL nuclear, national, and homeland security initiatives with all government agencies, and shares responsibility for leading the nuclear energy and space power programs and environmental-nuclear technology initiatives.

• Black received a bachelor’s degree in elementary education in 1975; library science endorsement, 1984; master’s degree in education administration, 1998. He has been with the Pocatello/Chubbuck School District since 1975 and is currently technology training coordinator and school district legislative liaison. He served in the Idaho House of Representatives in 1982-96 and was instrumental in passing legislation favorable to education, ISU, and veterans. He helped modernize the legislature’s communications, serving on the committee that brought wireless communication to the house and senate.

• Davis received a bachelor’s degree in history in 1970. He has been employed for six years as vice president and general counsel of Columbia Sportswear, one of the nation’s largest sportswear companies. He coordinates all the firm’s legal activities. He was previously with Nike for 17 years in positions that included director of international trade, in which he oversaw all company import activities and dealings with customs agencies. In 1998, he received the Hammer Award for contributions to the trade compliance process for his actions to remove barriers, maximize compliance, and reduce costs to industry and U.S. Customs. He is on the ISU Foundation board of directors and recently established the Carl K. Davis Scholarship Endowment to assist married students majoring in pre-law.

• Gebo-Shaver received her doctorate in pharmacy in 1993. She is pharmacist at Pocatello’s Super Save Drug and Highland Super Save Drug. She has expanded the firm’s professional pharmaceutical services, including flu shots, blood and cholesterol testing, children’s immunizations, and others. Super Save was recommended by the Southeast Idaho Pharmacists Association to execute and manage the nation’s first community service program conducted by pharmacy students. She is past president of the Idaho State Pharmacy Association and was the 1998 ISPA Distinguished Young Pharmacist of the Year. She is a member of the College of Pharmacy dean’s advisory council,  a preceptor and affiliate faculty member.

• Gygli earned his certificate in law enforcement in 1976. A graduate of the FBI National Academy and the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command, he is a 27-year law enforcement veteran and 21-year member of the Idaho State Police. He started as a drug enforcement special agent and is currently captain and commanding officer of the Region Five Investigations and Patrol Divisions. He has been active addressing the Drug Endangered Children initiative. He has received commendations from numerous cities and their police departments, including the Department of Justice Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force public service award.

• Holmes received her master’s degree in audiology in 1978. She is associate professor of audiology at the University of Florida, where she is director of the joint doctor of audiology program and directs the university’s cochlear implant program. The latter program improves the quality of life for more than 300 patients with profound hearing loss. Holmes serves her profession on numerous state and national committees. Her numerous awards include 1999 Clinician of the Year from the Florida Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists and the 1999 GN Resound Caring for the Profession Award.

• Ross received his bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1971 and master’s degree in biology in 1973. He has been with the University of Washington Medical School for 16 years and was recently promoted to professor in the department of anesthesiology where he directs the residency program. He has pioneered several aspects of anesthesiology, including use of a computer-controlled simulated patient to allow real-time clinical simulation of the anesthesia process and critical incidents that occur during its course, and treatment of patients suffering from sudden respiratory failure. He gives tours of the University of Washington Medical Center to ISU pre-health students. His own undergraduate applications to medical school led to the formation of the ISU Health Professions Advisory Committee, which advises students entering the medical profession.

• Sweeney earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1970. He is a founding partner in the Seattle area accounting firm of Sweeney, Conrad, P.S., which was started at his kitchen table and has grown to employ some 50 accountants. The firm was honored by the Bellevue, Wash., Chamber of Commerce with the Corporate Citizenship Award for outstanding community involvement. Sweeney is past president of the Washington State Society of Certified Public Accountants, a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants, and has served on many national and state committees and task forces, including the University of Washington Estate Planning Board. He is a member of the ISU College of Business advisory board and has served the college as executive-in-residence.

• Tracy received his master’s degree in speech communication in 1990 and has been director of communications for U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) since 1996. He oversees all written and verbal communications with the news media and the state’s population. Tracy was Craig’s press secretary during his 1996 re-election campaign and for eight years was information director for the Idaho Farm Bureau. His extensive community involvement includes serving on the boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and Idaho Congressional Awards.

Summer theatre season opens soon
The 2003 Summer Theatre ISU season begins May 22 and 23 with a children’s reader’s theatre production.

The M&M’s™ Reader’s Theatre for Kids, “Faux Fairy Tales,” is inspired by famous fairy tales that end with new twists. The May 22 performance will begin at 2 p.m. in the Sam Bennion Student Union Building in Idaho Falls, and the May 23 show starts at 2 p.m. in Frazier Auditorium on the Pocatello campus.

A second M&M’s™ Reader’s Theatre for Kids, “Relative Ramblings,” will be July 2 and 3 in Idaho Falls and Pocatello, respectively. Both performances begin at 2 p.m. “Relative Ramblings” is described as “delightful readings sure to entertain and teach [children] that all sorts of families can be fun and fantastic.”

The “adult season” will consist of “Master Class,” by award-winning playwright Terrence McNalley, June 6-7 and 12-14, and “The Tempest,” by William Shakespeare, June 20-21 and 26-28.

All adult productions begin at 7:30 p.m. in Powell Little Theatre on the upper level of Frazier Hall in Pocatello.

“Master Class” is described as a “funny and moving homage to teaching and Maria Callas,” beginning with Callas in front of the audience teaching a “master class.”

“The Tempest” is a Shakespeare favorite that mixes fantasy and reality and creates a world where nothing is what it seems. Mystical, mysterious, romantic and comic are all words that have been used to describe the Bard’s “play of wonder and magic.”

Season subscriptions are now available at $15 each for the adult season. They can be purchased from Summer Theatre ISU, Campus Box 8115, Pocatello, ID 83209-8115. Call the Frazier Hall Box Office, x3595, for details.

Faculty/Staff Update
Dr. Ajibola A. Olaniyi, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, is visiting the College of Pharmacy for about three months. He will present lectures and seminars and participate in research activities in the laboratory of Dr. Adeboye Adejare. Olaniyi will assist Adejare’s laboratory research group in the study of compounds to halt neurodegeneration, a process that could lead to malfunctioning or even death of neurons and could have severe consequences as often observed after a stroke and in Alzheimer’s disease. The project is funded in part by the National Institutes of Health.

Rosemary Brown, instructor in practical nursing in the College of Technology, recently returned from a two-week humanitarian mission in Peru. Brown is one of 30 Idaho Condor volunteers, consisting of regional medical professionals, students and translators, who have linked with Chasqui Humanitarian to coordinate travel and services during their stay. Volunteers worked in hospitals, community clinics, medical/nursing schools and in Andes villages to establish networks for future medical programs. They also assisted in building greenhouses to promote nutrition in areas too high for adequate growing seasons and helped develop a home for homeless children in Cuzco. The goal of the program is to create self-reliance where the volunteers serve. Brown also helped write a section on gastro-intestinal issues in a new text, “Fundamentals of Nursing Care.”

News Bites
• Students enrolled in SPCH 208, “Group Communication,” will learn techniques for creative group/ team problem-solving. The students will work in teams on one problem-solving task throughout the semester. They will work with a campus office or student organization to help solve an actual problem. The authenticity of the experience helps students to be fully motivated and engaged in the project; the cooperating office or organization gains creative ideas to consider as solutions for improving problem situations. If you represent an office or student organization interested in collaborating with the class this fall, contact Dr. John Gribas, x2695 or gribjohn@isu.edu.

• All employees who drive university vehicles and have not taken or renewed the DDC4 certification during the past three years should do so by registering for the last training session this year: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. May 20 in the PSUB Portneuf Room. The $10 fee must be paid two days in advance. To register, call the Physical Plant, x2209.

• A staff internship in the Center for Teaching and Learning is available this fall. The intern will work with Dr. Alan Frantz, returning American Council on Education Fellow, to ensure that the First Year Seminar program thrives and grows. Persons interested in applying should contact Dr. Ed Nuhfer, director, Center for Teaching and Learning, x4703, Campus Box 8010, or nuhfed@isu.edu.

• Faculty, staff, graduate assistants and spouses are eligible to participate in the summer golf league. Matches will alternate at Riverside and Highland courses. Cost is weekly greens fee plus a one-time $25 fee to help fund prizes and a season’s end barbecue. The league will start May 29 and run through Aug. 7 for a total of 11 weeks. Matches begin at 6 p.m. Thursdays. Interested persons should contact Robb McClain, intramural director, x3516, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.