PSU Magazine Winter 2000

'88 served as parochial vicar at St. Cecilia Parish in Beaverton. Brenda Treichler is a training administrator with GT Wireless in Tampa, Florida. '87 Mark Houser is part owner of Houser Construction, Inc., in Bend. Ivan Nance MBA is retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and serves as mayor of Prairie C ity. Paul Schoenlaub is a senior chemist with the Oregon State Department of Environmental Quality Laboratory in Portland. Van Allen PhD '94 is on a fellowship with the Houston– area office of the U.S. Depart– ment of Housing and U rban Development (HUD). Allen's community outreach activities in Galveston County have received national attention. He is working with communities, often in high poverty areas, and businesses to revitalize neigh– borhoods. A llen was previously on the faculty at University of Houston-Clear Lake. Patricia "Trish " Trout MA is the vice president for marketing and development at Mt. St. Joseph, the oldest and largest continuing care center in Oregon. Trout formerly was director of development at St. Mary's Academy in Portland. '89 Rebecca Dinsmore MS '93 is a process manager at Bonneville Power Administration, a federa l power marketing agency in Portland. Fr. Richard Thompson is pastor at St. Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Astoria. Thompson previously Jess Fahland is a software engi– neer with Keith Mathis Marta Colburn '84, MA '95 and her parents made national headlines in October when they were kidnapped and held hostage for two days by tribesmen in Yemen, located on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. Colburn says that in many ways, Portland State got her into the situ· ation, but it also helped get her out. While attending PSU in the early '80s, Colburn focused on Middle East studies. She also met her first husband, a native of Yemen, on campus. Stints of living in the Middle East followed. In 1989 she returned to Portland State and went to work in the PSU Middle East Studies Center, eventually becoming deputy director. She also earned a master's degree in political science. PSU helped instill in Colburn a love for the history, culture, and languages of the Middle East. In 1998 she returned to Yemen to direct the American Institute for Yemeni Studies in San'a, the capital city. The institute supports scholars and students 24 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1999 who have come to Yemen to live and study, as well as native Yemeni scholars. This past fall when Colburn's parents were visiting, the three of them were kidnapped while traveling between cities on a sightseeing trip. Members of the Bani Jahr tribe held them hostage demanding the release of 25 fellow tribesmen who were detained in connection with an explosion that damaged an oil pipeline. The Colburns were treated well by a host family in the tribe's village. So how did PSU help Colburn out of this situation? "I was first introduced to the culture and society of Yemen at Portland State," she says. Colburn also took three years of Arabic at PSU, which she speaks fluently. Even though she was not able to talk her way out of this situation, Colburn says her knowledge base helped. She also had made Yemen friends in high places at PSU, including the nephew of the prime minister. The prime minister personally negotiated her release. Colburn, her husband, Bruce Paluck, and their six-year-old son, Cole, are returning to Yemen this month. She's giving up her job at the American Institute, not because she's scared or turned off to the country, but because she and her family want to experience life in another place and culture. The job hunt is going well, and Colburn-who is in demand-has her sights set on Morocco or Syria. -Kathryn Kirkland Computer Consulting and Training, Inc., in Lake Oswego. John Hill is an engineer with Universal Avionics in Redmond, Washington. Jin Lan is president of OCTAXIAS Company, LLC, in Vancouver, Washington. Lan also is vice chairman of the Pacific Northwest International Trade Association's China Business Center. He formerly was international marketing director for Powell's Books. Julie Rippon writes short stories and poetry. Some of her works were included in Young America Sings Wes tern States Poetry, published by National Poetry Press. Rippon formerly was a police officer for two years with the Washington County Sheriff's Department. '90 Rich Hohnbaum MPA is the new administrator for Falls City, Oregon. Previously, Hohnbaum worked for 18 years with United Parcel Service. In the past two years he had served as city manager and interim city administrator in several small Oregon towns. Hohnbaum, his wife, and two children live in Sherwood. Keith McNeilly is director of risk management and loss control at TNT Management Resources, Inc., a professional employer organization in Salem. Jo Smith is manager of the Los Angeles office of Drake Beam Morin, an outplacement agency. Smith lives in Santa Monica, California. She previously oper– ated her own firm in Portland . '91 Jeffrey Duerr MS is an assis– tant professor of biology at George Fox University in Newberg. Duerr, who earned a doctorate in zoology at the University of Hawaii, previously held a teaching post at Warner Pacific College. Alan Jones is an engineering project manager at NACCO Materials Handling Group, Inc., in Greenville, North Carolina. The company designs, manufac-