PSU Magazine Winter 2000

tures, and markets Hyster and Yale brand industrial forklift trucks. Casey Robertson, an attorney, recently completed a clerkship in the Ninth C ircuit Court of Appeals. Roberts also interned for Safeco Insurance Legal Department in Portland. She is licensed in Idaho and Oregon and her practice wi ll emphasize insurance defense litigation. She lives in Boise, Idaho. Rozella Van Meter MS recently became director of the Fern Ridge Library in Veneta. She has 25 years of experience with libraries, having worked the past five years in Albuquerque, New Mex ico, where she was a library specialist for two high schools. Brad Watkins is director of finance and human resources at LDC Design G roup in Portland . Watkins formerly was chief accountant and office manager. He lives in Banks. '92 Claudia Black MPA is director of communications for the Oregon Department of Corrections. Black also serves as chair of the advisory board for PSU's Department of Public Administration. Wendy Crook MA '97 is chief of the consular section in the U.S. Embassy Foreign Service in Muscat, Oman. C rook participated in the PSU Study Abroad program and writes,".. .! am in touch with many people from that program and have seen some of them on and off over the years. It was an experi– ence I will treasure forever. " Laurel Elmore is division manager at Nationwide Insurance Company's computer systems managing department in Columbus, Ohio. Todd Firestenberg is an account executive at MacDonald -Miller in Portland and is a registered professional engineer in the state of O regon. Larry Jaffe MT is head of the computer consulting division at Bodeen & Jaffe, P.C., a certified public accounting firm in Eugene. Matt Tracy MPA '95 is se lf– employed and a partner at Sky Valley Associates, a solid waste management consulting firm in Portland. Susan Wilson is an academic adviser at Portland Community College's Cascade Campus, and campus liaison for transfer– bound students who are candi– dates for PSU's Bilingual Teacher Pathway (BTP) program. '93 Janice (Morales) Blake is food service director for business services at A ramark Corporation in Portland . John Boots is director of tech– nology administration at Copper Mountain Trust in Portland. Boots' responsibilities include the management and maintenance of ex isting network and systems, as well as developing and implementing new technologies. Judy Corona teaches at the Structured Learning Center, a branch of Salem-Keizer School District's alternative Barbara Roberts High School Programs. She works with expelled, adju– dicated, and referred (for severe behaviors) middle school students. Corona previously taught at Whiteaker Middle School in Keizer. Julie Rea is a staff attorney in the housing law unit at South Brooklyn Legal Services in New York. Rea graduated from NYU School of Law and represents low-income tenants. She writes, "I owe a great debt to PSU- it was one of the few places that I could have received a great education whi le working my way through school, and gone on to do the work that I am doing now." Thomas "Tom" Swafford Jr. successfully completed a series of examinations and is now a licensed registered representa– tive with Lutheran Brotherhood Securities Corp. Lutheran Brotherhood is the first frater– nal benefit society to offer mutual funds as part of its financial products and services. '94 Dee Ann Branchini is office man ager at Emmons Architects in Portland . Branchini also will be working on a multi-family and Head Start project for the Housing Authority of Portland. Gina Kelley is manager at the accounting firm of McDonald Jacobs Marks Johnson, P.C., in Portland . Eleanor Dominguez Klemesrud '93, the first Nancy Ryles Scholarship recipient, was the ideal candidate. Ten years out of school, newly divorced, and with three chil– dren, Klemesrud's dream of teaching needed more than financial aid. The Nancy Ryles Scholarship helps women facing difficult circumstances return to college. Klemesrud, selected from 26 applicants, used the award to obtain her B.A. in social science. Upon graduation, she went on to earn an M.A. in teaching and a teaching certificate in elementary education. A move to Grey Eagle, California, produced a family educator position, where she counseled parents and chil– dren on nutrition. And in 1996, Klemesrud began teaching math and science to seventh- and eighth– graders in nearby Quincy. "I love seventh-graders– they're innocent enough but mature enough (eighth– graders I'm not so sure Klemesrud, pictured her with her husband, Mark, is a successful former Nancy Ryles scholar. about). The interaction with the students is what makes it worth it." Klemesrud is also involved with the Host Math program, which uses community mentors to help kids who have fallen behind catch up with classmates. "It's a lot of work, but I love it. I care a lot for the kids, and it's so great to see them respond." The Nancy Ryles Scholarship fund has helped four women besides Klemesrud complete programs at PSU, with five more currently enrolled. This year's recipient is Lisa Sherman, a Portland resident and mother of three who works as a Rape Victim Advocate in Multnomah County. Sherman will pursue a degree, with hopes of becoming a therapist for victims of sex crimes. The Ryles Scholarship is awarded based on several considerations, including financial need, family, and personal responsibilities. The amount varies, covering tuition, fees, books, and some living expenses, and the scholarship is renewable. For application or donation information, contact the PSU Women's Studies Department at (503) 725-3516. - ]. David Santen '99 WINTER 2000 PSU MAGAZINE 25