Class Notes

Nate Clayberg ('97 journ. & mass comm.) has been hired by the Buchanan County (Iowa) Economic Development Commission as its new Economic Development Director. The mission of the BCEDC is to unite the communities of Buchanan County in their efforts to retain and recruit business and industry. Focus is also on new investment, job creation/retention, opportunity, and serving as a resource of information for the communities it serves. Nate spent the last year overseeing the Sartori Health Care Foundation in Cedar Falls, and the previous six years as the Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Promotions at the University of Northern Iowa.

With the guidance and advice of USDA Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) agriculture advisor Eric Dolbeare and an Iraqi linguist on the Fallujah embedded (e)-PRT and assistance from the U.S. Marine Corps Battalion 1/7, Iraqi farmers in the area successfully produced, harvested and sold hybrid seed corn to the Iraqi government late in 2009. This was the first time since the late 1970's to early 1980's that hybrid corn was produced and sold in Al Anbar Province. While the government paid the same price for the hybrid corn as it does for corn produced from locally grown seed, the hybrid corn sold at a premium price on the local market due to its high quality. In 2008, Eric began examining grain production in Fallujah. He found that, although corn is the third most important grain crop in the area, corn produced from locally grown seed is frequently harvested as forage for cattle due to very low yields result from poor genetics. In consultation with district agriculture officials, Eric developed a plan for training Iraqi private sector agriculture professionals to serve as distributors of the trial hybrid seed. The e-PRT staff worked with a middle eastern distributor for a U.S. company that provides worldwide technical services to train the agriculture professionals, who then distributed the seed to 400 farmers. When the hybrid corn was harvested last fall, it yielded 150 bushels per acre - five times the yield of locally grown seed corn.

Bruce Becker, founder of the National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute based at Washington State University, is one of "Power 25" leaders recognized in February by "Aquatics International" magazine. He is a physician and a research professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology, home to WSU's kinesiology programs. "From producing ground-breaking research to changing safety standards, these industry leaders are pushing the envelope and striving to reinvent aquatics," said the magazine's editors. Becker's childhood experience with polio introduced him to the therapeutic effects of aquatics, the magazine said in its profile of him. After retiring from his Spokane medical practice, he launched the aquatics institute in 2008 with support from the National Swimming Pool Foundation.

MS (1963); PhD (1967) Professor of Business Emeritus, U of Alberta U of Alberta Alumni Honour Award, 2009

We met in Soc 134 class. Lee's last year (already accepted a job offer in Texas), Rachel's first semester. Sat 2 seats away from each other the first day of class. By the last day of class we were sitting beside each other and going out for pizza after class for our first date on December 10th, 2000. We even walked together to Curtiss Hall to check out our final grades. After a long distance relationship, we were married after Rachel graduated on August 10th, 2002. Living currently in Houston and we make it back to Iowa several times a year.

I met my wife Karen (Young, Forestry/Pest Management '82) on Valentines Day 1981 at a friend's graduation party. I proposed the next Valentines Day and we are now celebrating our 30th Valentines Day. It has always been a special day; more special than our anniversary which is September 11. We have been blessed with two wonderful, fun children and currently have a daughter, Katy at Iowa State creating her own Cyclone memories.

Chuck and I met the summer of 1979, before our junior year at ISU. His fraternity( Alpha Gamma Rho) was mad at my sorority (Kappa Alpha Theta) because we turned them down for an event : ie Homecoming or Varieties. He decided to be the peace maker and ask me out. Two years later to the date of our first date we were married. Sept 5 1981

Robert Rooks, '78 DVM, is the 2010 recipient of the Don Mahan Award, the highest honor presented by the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association. The award recognizes the contributions of an individual to organized veterinary medicine, the community, and the animals. Rob opened All-Care Animal Referral Center in Fountain Valley, Calif. in 1987 as one of the first specialty referral practices in the area. It has been recognized for its cutting-edge diagnostics and treatment options and was one of the first practices to offer kidney transplants, arthroscopic surgeries, and one-site MRIs.

Mr. & Mrs. Arato 2008 ISU Graduates Married 8/8/09

Sandra Trca-Black of Alloy Virtual Assistance returned home with three honors from the AssistU Community Recognition Awards held recently in Minneapolis. Voted both Virtual Assistant (VA) of the Year and Most Supportive Community Member by her peers, Trca-Black was also named Top Portal Poster for her contributions to the online community. This was her second consecutive year as Top Portal Poster. “Sandra exemplifies what our community, and what Virtual Assistance, are all about,” said Stacy Brice, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer of Baltimore, Maryland based AssistU. Virtual assistance is a relatively new profession, combining the latest in online and administrative technologies with across-the-board administrative and personal support for small business owners, professionals, and busy individuals. Location of neither VA nor client matters. Virtual assistance was formalized as a profession by Brice. Assisting clients in an off-location capacity since the mid-1980’s, interest grew in her services and the demand for virtual assistance grew. She responded by creating a professional training program, AssistU, in 1997. Over 600 students have graduated from the program. More information is available at www.assistu.com. Trca-Black, a 2005 graduate of AssistU, had nearly ten years of administrative experience before founding Alloy Virtual Assistance that year. Her clients have included businesses close to home as well as on both coasts. Based in her home office in rural Iowa, she is connected to her clients by phone, fax, email, and the Internet. Clients’ professions have included life coach, spiritual director, direct-sales consultant, orchard owner, writing coach and educator, and bookkeeper. More information is available at www.alloyva.com.

Masters of Science Curriculum & Instructional Technology Iowa State University / 2001

Luke, Charlotte, and Sean Burke are our 3-year-old triplet grandkids. Their parents, Jeff '91 and Deanna '95 McCarthy, live in Naperville, Ill.

Russell "Rusty" Chesmore ('85 civil engr.), Vice President and Transportation Business Unit Leader at Mead & Hunt, Inc., and his co-worker Jim Borg were jointly named 2009 Engineer-of-the-Year by "Wisconsin Builder," a leading architecture, engineering, and construction trade journal. The recognition was in part for Chesmore and Borg's work on the Lake Delton and State Hwy. "A" project in Wisconsin. Rusty served as project manager on the job, on which several government agencies and contractors teamed up to repair the road while increasing Dell Creek Dam's capacity so the entire project was completed within six months, well short of the two years that had been estimated for completion. Rusty lives in Verona, Wisc.

Biggest Smile Madeline was smiling from ear to ear after the big Cyclone victory over the Huskers this year!

Messiest Moment Madeline had a blast playing in & eating ice out of the cooler at her first Iowa State Football game!

Messiest Moment

Biggest Smile

Best Cyclone Spirit

Dallas and his namesake

Yum

FanFest 2009 5o yd line

Madeline Grace Etler is the daughter of Dan ('95) and Theresa ('98) (Uchytil) Etler of Shawnee, KS. She enjoys cheering on the Cyclones with her mom & dad and all of her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends who are Cyclone fans, too!

Parker's chillin' in his ISU duds.

Parker's smiling and thinking about Iowa State!

Best Cyclone spirit