CAS in the Media | Washington State University

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From Pullman to Star Wars

November 3, 2017 adriana

Musician Paul Henning, WSU alumnus and Pullman native, to speak at university

Staring out at Kamiak Butte from Washington State University’s campus about 20 years, Pullman native Paul Henning, just like so many other college students, wondered what direction his life was going.

The young music major couldn’t have imagined that he would soon be living in Los Angeles, working in the film scoring business, nor that nearly 20 years later, he would be part of the team working on the newest “Star Wars” films.

“I remember being in those seats and having no idea what to do,” Henning said of his time at WSU.

Henning, who has now been working in LA since 2000, will return to Pullman next week where he will deliver various presentations throughout the week. His main presentation is set at 7 p.m. Monday in the CUB Auditorium, during which he will share his story of going from Pullman to working on the score for “Star Wars.”

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Northwest Public Radio

More than just music at WSU

November 1, 2017 adriana

Co-assistant leaders of WSU Marching Band say job is about forming bonds, spreading Cougar spirit

Experiencing a Washington State University football game or sporting event would not quite be the same with a recorded playing of the fight song or without the steady beat of a drum line.

“Think about what would happen if there was no music,” said Brent Edwards, co-assistant director of the Washington State University Marching Band and instructor in the School of Music.

The marching band delivers something unique not only to the university, but to the community as a whole. Edwards and his co-assistant director, Sarah Miller, clinical assistant professor of music, are part of the team that builds that ever-spirited group of musicians.

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News

Salmon Sex Reshapes Rivers

November 1, 2017 will.ferguson

Many forces shape the planet’s rugged features: wind, water, fire, and, of course, salmon sex.

That’s the conclusion from Washington State University researcher Alex Fremier and colleagues in a study that’s billed as one of the first attempts to quantify the earth-shaping power of spawning salmon. They titled their study, in part, “Sex That Moves Mountains,” and it’s a new take on the ways living things transform habitats.

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Exploding Head Syndrome

November 1, 2017 will.ferguson

Brian Sharpless, Director, Psychology Clinic — Brian Sharpless

The unusual name will certainly get your attention, but fortunately Exploding Head Syndrome is not life-threatening or physically harmful. In a recent study more than 10 percent of people experienced the syndrome, a sleep disorder in which crashing or exploding sounds make it difficult to fall and stay asleep.

Dr. Brian Sharpless, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Washington State University and author of Sleep Paralysis, explains that instead of the auditory neurons in the brain shutting down in the process of going to sleep, they all fire at once causing the loud noises.

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Radio Health Journal

Researchers Look for Dawn of Human Information Sharing

November 1, 2017 will.ferguson

Every day, information washes over the world like so much weather. From casual conversations, tweets, texts, emails, advertisements and news stories, humanity processes countless discrete pieces of socially transmitted information.

Anthropologists call this process cultural transmission, and there was a time when it did not exist, when humans or more likely their smaller brained ancestors did not pass on knowledge. Luke Premo, an associate professor of anthropology at Washington State University, would like to know when that was. Writing in the October issue of Current Anthropology, he and three colleagues challenge a widely accepted notion that cultural transmission goes back more than 2 million years.

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