1998_05 Insight May 1998

              «-
Alumni Achievers
Bill Jones
Secretary of State, California
by   Erin   Maxwell
Staff Writer
Student body president ;
Fresno State was just the beginning for one agricultural business major.
Bill Jones went on to be
elected first as a state legislator who served as minority
leader in the Assembly and
was elected California's secretary of state.
"Fresno State was a great
experience, both for me and my
wife, who I met there." Jones
said, chuckling.
He continues to use his skills
in agricultural business management to
run the family ranch, which is located
Fresno. The experience and understanding he
gained at Fresno State, Jones said, still serves
him well in an office where he deals with issues important to the state, including ;water
management.
"Going to Fresno State was a learning
process." Jones said. "Learning to be able to
work with people, especially people with political backgrounds."
Elected in 1994, Jones has built a list of
accomplishments, including
conducting the state's first
elections summit, which
reviewed California's
election laws in an effort to help guarantee
a fraud free voting
system. He has also
worked to establish
the Voter Fraud Task
Force.
Jones has concentrated on the issues of water management, trade and agriculture and is working to
a stable and efficient water supply system
for the state.
Jones also worked in office
with other Fresno State graduates, including Assemblyman Charles Poochigian,
who he pointed toward the office of student
body president while both were attending
Fresno State, and State Senator Jim Costa.
Jones was also sworn into office by a Fresno
State graduate, Chief Justice Marvin Baxter.
In addition to his role as secretary of
state. Jones is currently serving as
California's chief elections officer.
Dwain Cowan
Chemist, Johns Hopkins
by   Erin   Maxwell
Staff Writer
The    young
chemist who got
butterflies in his
stomach each time
he had to present his
findings to a group of
his peers at Fresno
State, and who was also
so nervous on one occa-
sion that he lost hi:
breakfast by the side of
the'road on his way to a
presentation, went on tt
speak in front of classes of
America's best and brightest students in the field of
science as a professor at
Johns Hopkins University.
Dwaine Cowan, known
those in his field as, "the father
ganic conductors and superconductors,"
graduated from Fresno State with a bachelor
of science degree in 1958.
Over the years. Cowan has written nearly
200 articles, acquired four patents and written two books. He is a long-standing member of the American Chemical Society, the
American Physical Society and a fellow of
the American Association for the Advancc-
nent of Science. Cowan is currently
professor  emeritus  at  Johns
Hopkins and gives high praise to
Fresno State.
"I think it set the tone for
the course of my entire career,"
Cowan said. "That was due in
large measure to the faculty
members at Fresno State
who really first shared with
me three things: their thirst
for knowledge, their enthusiasm for science and
their enthusiasm for humanity. They did this
not just by words, but
really by how they behaved.
"I did undergraduate research
Fresno State with three different
people." Cowan said. "The first was George
Kaufman...he kind of turned me loose in a
laboratory, let me make all kinds of mistakes
and wasn't very critical. Things were really
very lively...I've always appreciated the faculty at Fresno State for keeping track of me
over the years and encouraging me."
Cowan went on to earn his Ph.D. at
Stanford University and do post graduate
work at Cal-Tech. After 34 years of teaching
at Johns Hopkins, Cowan again resides in
Fresno.
Outstanding Accomplishments
Several Fresno State grads receive national, state awards, recognition
by Erin Maxwell and John Michael
Morgenstern
Staff Writers
"You went to Fresno what?"
"Fresno? Where's that?"
"Sure, you have a degree...but from where?"
This is the nightmare Fresno State graduates face. That
four years of intensive study will be paid back in rejection
letters and unemployment checks. What exactly happens
to people who graduate with a degree from Fresno State? ,
They have gone on to become an astronaut, a California Supreme Court justice, a Hollywood set designer, a
Pulitzer Prize nominated photojoumalist, the mayor of a
major metropolitan city, among other things. And with
pride, they hold their heads up and proclaim, 'I went to
Fresno State!'
These are the stories of 10 of Fresno State's most successful alumni. The list crosses all boundaries of gender, race or
class. Their stories are a tribute to the entire university, not any
one department. Insight selected these 10 with the help of the
Fresno State Alumni Association's Jacquelyn Long and various
university departments.
These are not the university's only success stories. There
are many more — far too many to publish here. Among them
are national agribusiness leader and philanthropist Earl
Smittcamp; CNN Washington D.C. bureau journalist Daniel
. Silva; NFL quarterback TrentDilfecj^Lggrunymty college
president and outstanding educatojapB)      fffiKason.
 Focusing on outstanding gradalitoafetaportant in a year
that has been fraught with controversy for Fresno State.
A few student athletes have been accused and even convicted of crimes leading to suspensions from their teams. The
"60 Minutes" television show journeyed to the cttmpus to
investigate. Fresno State has been the butt of jokes, from the
comic strip "Scrimmages" to 'Tonight Show" host Jay
Leno. Throughout the controversy, President John Welty
has defended the university and the quality of the education
offered here.
"I would match the dedication of our faculty and the
opportunity for students to learn here against almost any
university in the country," Welty said. "I certainly would put
us in the top 10 percent of all public universities in that
regard. So we need to remeniber that we have a good
university; one that's going to-get better."
Students come to Fresno State from all over the nation *
to get an education and to prepare to enter the 'real world.'
Read on about 10 of the best and the brightest that this
university has produced.
Lee P. Brown
Mayor, Houston, Texas
by John  Michael
Morgenstern
Staff    Writer
The story began in the
small farm community of
Wcwoka, Okla.
Lee P. Brown was bom on
Oct. 4. 1937. to a family of
farmers. He moved to the
Fresno area to achieve his college education at Fresno State. In
1961, he earned his bachelor of
arts degree in criminology. Brown
immediately went to work as a patrolman in San Jose. Brown has
served as the sheriff of Multnomah
County, Ore.
He has received master's degrees
in sociology and criminology from San
Jose State and the University of California at Berkeley, respectively. Eventually,
he would earn a doctorate in criminology
from UCBerkelcy >-	
Brown served as Commissioner of Public Safety in Atlanta, Ga.; he was Commis-'
sioner of the New York City Police Department; and Chief of Police in Houston. Tx.
In 1993, Brown served as the Director
of the National Drug Control Policy (a.k.a.
the "Drug Czar") under President Clinton.
Brown
' is currently
the mayor
of Houston,
Organiza-
l   around
United
have recognized Brown's
commitment to law
iforccment, with
irds that include:
"The International
Leadership-Award"
from B'nai B'rith; "Father of the Year Award"
from     the     National
^M   Father's Day Committee;
W A^k    A^m   the Justice
J A^M ^^ Award" from the- Martin
-m^^■ Luther King. Jr. Center for Non-
Violent Social Change: the "Public Service Award" from the American Society of
Public Administration": and the "Police
Leadership Award" from the Police Executive Leadership Forum.
Marvin Baxter
California Supreme Court Justice
by John  Michael
Morgenstern
Staff    Writer
California Supreme
Court Justice Marvin
Baxter reminisces about
his first day at Hastings
College of Law.
"It was the first day
of classes," Baxter said.
"During an assembly,
the dean said, 'Look to
your right and then look
to your left. Two out of
three of you won't be
here next semester.'"
"Well, I was sandwiched    between    a
Harvard graduate and a
Yale graduate." Baxter said.
"They were both staring at me,' the little
Fresno State graduate, thinking the dean was
talking about me."
Both the Yale and Harvard graduates finished law school. And so did Baxter.
Marvin Baxter was bom and raised in
the small town of Fowler, just outside of
Fresno. In 1957, he graduated from Fowler
High School. Baxter moved to Fresno to attend Fresno State. During his senior year.
Jennifer O'Rourke
Supervising Editor, KABC-TV, Los Angeles
Baxter had worked the seat of student body
president.
Baxter was selected as a
Coro Foundation Fellow in
Public Affairs. It introduced
him to politics and inspired
him to enter law.
In 1962 Baxter graduated with a bachelor's degree
in economics. "When  I
started (college) I didn't
know I would go into law."
Baxter said. "After Coro, I
decided to go to Hastings.
Staying in was difficult, but
I did it." Baxter earned his
juris doctorate degree from
Hastings College of Law
in 1966.
Baxter served for two
years as deputy district attorney in Fresno County,
went on to a 13-year career as a partner in the law firm of
Andrews, Andrews, Thaxter. Jones. & Baxter
in Fresno. He then assisted Gov. George
Dcukmcjian. Baxter served as an associate
justice of the Fifth District Court of Appeals
before being appointed to the California Supreme Court.
"I would pick a Fresno State graduate
against any other graduate in the country,"
Baxter said. "Looking back, Fresno State was
a wonderful experience."
by John  Michael
Morgenstern
Staff Writer
Jennifer O'Rourke was homeless. She
and her son slept on the ground in the Fresno
Stale amphitheater because she cou|dn't afford a place to live. She had just gone through
a divorce. Yet. O'Rourke knew that the future held something for her.
"I used to say, because of my background
[as a divorced mother] and roots [in Fresno],
that I wasn't going to get very far in the [mass
media] business," O'Rourke .said. "If I
couldn't hit the stars, than I was going to hit
the moon, and that wasn't so bad. But I see
now that I can hit the stars."
Indeed, as supervising editor for KABC-
TV in Los Angeles. O'Rourke has hit the
stars.
O'Rourke received an Emmy award in
1996 for news broadcasting and a nomination for her work in editing. O'Rourke just
won two more Emmys in 1997. The Emmy
award broadcast will air the end of May.
Other accomplishments include six Associated Press awards for editing and three for
live newscasts; two Radio-Television News
Directors Association (RTNDA) awards for
editing and shooting; two Best-in-the-West
awards; and a Women in Media award and
nomination.
But her greatest achievement by far has
been pursuing her college education from
Fresno State to a position as the managing
editor of one of the largest telcvi
sion stations in the United States.
KABC-TV is the ABeaffiliate in
Los Angeles, the faojlielei
market in the nation.
O'Rourke attributes a
great deal of her success to her
educational experience at
Fresno State.
"I was a little bit older
than the other students,"
O'Rourke said. "But I felt
so energized by the students and all the camaraderie and everything that
was going on around
me. The instructors really took a one-on-one
approach."
O'Rourke   be-
:ame managing
editor       at
KABC in September 1997.
Her most recent work was
the   Academy
Awards.     She
worked as a floor
director, organizing the incoming
shots   from   the
camera operators.
As her career
continues to reach
new heights,
O'Rourke has