PSU Magazine Summer 1990

Ramon Torrecilha (BS, '86 MS) has been awarded a Ru ral Policy Fellowship from the Woodrow Wil– son National Fellowship Founda– tion. Torrecilha, a student of soc iology at the University ofWis– consin , is specia li zing in demog– raphy, race re lations and poverty. The fellowship provides up to $ 18 ,500 plus tuition for 12 months of full-time research and wri ting. Ralph Wells (BS ) won first place in the Petri auditions. The $6,000 scholarshi p is the Northwest reg– ion's largest music study award. Wells plans to use the scholarship to study opera and languages in Italy and German . Wells. who hopes to audition for opera com– panies in Germany, made hi s pro– fessional debut six years ago. '85 Dennis E. Hema n (BS ) has joined West One Bank Oregon's business banking division as vice president of income property loans . James S. Kidd James S. Kidd (BS) has joined Sloy, Dahl & Holst , Inc., a regis– tered investment firm in Portland. Kidd , a certified financial planner, provides fee-based asset manage– ment and financial planning serv– ices to indi vidual and institutional clients, including small to medium size pension plans. Linda Mourer (BS ) is a corporate officer in the Merchant Sales Divi– sion of US Bank in Seattle. '86 Mark Holady (BA) has been hired as an assoc iate at Spooner & Much , P.C. Attorneys at Law. PSU 28 Cartooning for Japan Timothy J. Smith ('87 BA) is joining the growing number of Portland cartoonists ach iev ing success outside their home town. Smith was recently awarded a five-year contract with Kodansha Publishing of Tokyo, Japan, to produce a bi-weekly strip ca lled "Kit & Bimbo. " "I hate working for other people. That's why I got into thi s profession ," explains Smith. After spending time in Los Angeles working in the film industry, he says he was "burned out ," and decided to return to Portl and and finish his degree. Seeing the success of Lincoln High School classmate Matt Groening (creator of "The Simpsons"), spurred him on to try cartooning. The Kodansha contract came soon after acquiring an agent through a Village Voice newspaper advertisement. While he's done some illustrating as a hobby for the last 10 years, Smi th admits that he's still very new at professional cartooning, and the Japanese style takes some getting used to. "The Japanese strips are much more detailed, and they don't want you to anthropomorphize (humanize) animal characters," says Smith. "They don't understand that. " But there is more opportunity for novice cartoonists in Japan , he explains. "They 're really into comic strips." Smith, who never considered himse lf an artist, finds drawing the strips a challenge, but one he enjoys. He is also working on a satirical book about the Exxon Valdez di saster titled , ''Alaskan Sea Otter, Nature's Perfect Worker." Holady is a graduate of Northwest– ern School of Law, Lewis & Clark College. Muhemmed Popoola (BS, MPA '88) is the director of Environmen– tal Services at Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup , Wash . Popoola came to the United States in 198 1, and worked his way through college as a housekeeper at Emanuel Hosp ital. In his pre– sent position with Good Samari– tan , he is responsible for a two million dollar operating budget. '87 Susan G. Hamende (BS) earned a master's degree in Adult Educa– tion from Oregon State Universi ty last spring , and is a part-time in– structor atTruckee Meadows Com– munity Co llege in Reno , Nevada. Roger Moore (BS) reports that he works for Freightliner Corpora– tion in Portland. Moore is one of six service engineers providing technical support and information to the corporation's dealer net– work for all of the Uni ted States and Canada. '88 Phillip Lucas (BA) has just com– pleted his MA degree in Religious Studies at the Uni versi ty of Cal ifo rni a at Santa Barbara , and is preparing to write hi s dissertation for a Ph.D. He writes th at a news– paper artic le hi ghlighting hi s MA thesis appeared in the San Fran– cisco Chronicle in December. Carmen Smith (BS) has been awarded the Certificate in General Insurance by the Insurance Insti– tute of America. Smith, who works for State Farm Insurance Company in Salem , completed three national exams to earn the certificate. In Memoriam Janet Elaine Adkins ('72 BS) di ed June 4 in Oakland County, Mich., of a doctor-assisted suicide. She had alzheimer's dis– ease. Mrs. Adkins, 57, had been an instructor of English as a sec– ond language at Portland Commu– nity Co llege for 13 years. She also taught piano. She is surv ived by her hu sband Ronald , two sons, mother, and three grandchildren . The family suggests remembr– ances be contributi ons to the PSU Foundation for music scholar– ships. Virginia Kosydar, M .D. ('8 1 BS and '84 BS ), died March 20 of heart disease at the age of 31. Dr. Kosydar earned her medical de– gree from Oregon Health Sciences University in 1988, and was serv– ing her residency there at the time of her death. She is survived by her husband Douglas Hancock, daughter Anna Marie , mother Frances Kosydar, three brothers and a sister. Garo Arakelyan ('87 BS) died May 14 of a heart attack . Arake– Iyan, 43, worked for Portland State Univer ity a a scientific in– strument technician. He had been with PSU si nce 1979. Mr. Arake– lyan was an officer of the Arme– nian Community of Oregon , and led local efforts to aid victims of the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. The Armenian Community has es– tabli shed a fund to benefit hi s sur– viving family, wife Mary Kath– leen and four chi ldren.