PSU Magazine Fall 2003

is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. He earned a Black Belt in Sorengi Kempo Seitai style and has studied Tai Chi for the last six years. Angeline Olmsted is a techni– cal specialist with Aramark. She lives in Portland. Diane Sicotte received a PhD in sociology from Arizona State University. Sicoue accepted a faculty position with Drexel University in Philadelphia and began teaching in September. She plans LO conduct commu– ni ty-partnered research and Leach classes in environmental justice and urban sociology. '95 Melanie Hidalgo is an admin– istrative assistant with Coral Pools, Inc. , in Tempe, Arizona. Jan Klein is a financial adviser with UBS Financial Services in San Diego. Klein married Alejandra Rubio on August 30 and honeymooned in Tahiti. Klein's hobby is flying. Jeremy Martin is a Navy seaman who completed his U.S. Navy basic training in July al Recruit Training Command at Great Lakes, lllinois. Matthew Nelson is a student at the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine in Pullman, Washington. Ryan Tapp is a Web communi– cation specialist at The Standard in Portland. Jim Teeter MS is the worldwide vice president of quality at lnFocus Corporation in Wilsonville. Teeter previous was vice president of manufacturing. Elise Wagner is among 48 artists selected from 300 to have their work on display at the Encaustic Works '03 Biennial in New York open– ing Oct. 30. Curator and juror for the show is Tracey Bashkoff, associate curator for collections and exhibitions at the Guggenheim Museums in New York and Bi lbao, Spain. Four of Wagner's larger works were selected for the show. She, her family, and friends will be in New York for the opening. '96 Martha Schrader is a Clacka– mas County commissioner and current doctoral student in the public policy program at PSU. She lives in Canby. Jill Stoffers is enrollment man– ager at the Monterey Institute of International Studies' Fisher Graduate School of International Business in Monterey, California. '97 Laura Bisbee MSW is a social services specialist for the state of Oregon. Bisbee lives in Portland. Mike Fletcher is business development manager at Point West Credit Union in Portland. Fletcher formerly served as assistant director of develop– ment for the athletic department at PSU. He and his wife, Maryann '99, live in Beaverton and were expecting their first child in September. '98 Derek Garrison MEd 'O1 is assistant principal at Gordon Russell Middle School in Gre– sham. Garrison formerly taught humanities and Spanish for five years at Clear Creek Middle School. John Harwood graduated from Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire, with a Juris Doctorate and master's in intellectual property. Harwood has accepted a position with the U.S. Army JAG Corps and took the Oregon Bar exam in July. Mastering the Web from a church in Kentucky SAN MBA STUDENT at Portland State, J.C. Stites '98 was profoundly influenced by the principle of disciplined focus. "Professors advised us to take something specific and become an authority on it-to be a leader in that one thing," says Stites. "That made a lot of sense to me and got me started on some soul-searching." At the time, Stites \Vas a producer for a multimedia company in Portland. He was working on a Web demonstra– tion for a software company when he noticed that there were very few com– panies performing this service. The notion of creating a niche in this arena excited Stites. Stites and his wife had moved to Portland from their native Louis\ille, Kentucky, so she could participate in a pediatric program at Oregon Health & Science University. They had always planned on returning to Louisville, so Stites wanted to launch a company with national relevance and the \Veb demonstration concept fit the bill. Stites started Autodemo in 1998 and the company was profitable by the following year. (He holds the company logo in the photo.) His high-profile clients now include Amazon.com, eBay, Google, and Yahoo. Stites says he thinks of business in a creative, holistic way. "The companys growth has been very organic," says Stites. "We are f1omishing because we stuck to doing the same thing really well." Stites notes that he took ideas of urban living and urban redevelopment from Portland and PSU. He purchased an old church in Louisville for the cur– rent headquarters of Autodemo and rides his electric scooter to work ewryday. Stites and his wife love windsurfing and travel , so they return to Portland occasionally to feed their passions, as windsurfing on the Ohio River is "not that great'' according to Stites. The family-oriented couple also has two toddlers who keep them active. -Kelli Fields FALL 2003 PSU MAGAZlNE 25