Alumni abound on U.S. senator's staff
U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman clearly values NMSU graduates; eight work in his Washington, D.C., and New Mexico offices.
Ocean Munds, '96, is a constituent services representative in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Munds, from Santa Fe, interned with Bingaman and has been a staff member for the past several months.
"This is very rewarding work," Munds said. "In my job, you can actually see government working for the people because we help constituents with a variety of challenges that they may be having. Plus, we have the best boss."
DeAnza Valencia, '96, of Farmington, N.M., is a legislative correspondent who responds to constituents' concerns about tax, budget, labor, campaign financing, Hispanic, telecommunications and pension issues.
Karla Bulsterbaum, '96, of Las Cruces, is a legislative correspondent handling U.S.-Mexico border, immigration, public lands, energy, agriculture and environmental issues.
David Pike, '86, of Las Cruces, is a systems administrator in Bingaman's Washington office. He has worked for Bingaman for 11 years.
Caroline Buerkle, '90, of Las Cruces, is a constituent services representative responsible for handling health, domestic violence and welfare reform issues.
Jeff Husom, '92, of Las Cruces, is financial manager for Bingaman's Washington office. He oversees budget, payroll and personnel matters.
Ernie Trujillo, '77, of Nambe, N.M., is a constituent services representative who works in Albuquerque. He deals with community outreach, casework, Hispanic issues and represents Bingaman at events.
Alice Salcido, '74, directs Bingaman's Las Cruces office. She also is a constituent services representative responsible for U.S.-Mexico border and health issues. Salcido, from Dona Ana, has worked for Bingaman for 15 years.
Dan Trujillo, '92
An old cowhand, with extended RAM
When Clay Calhoun, '82, '86, says he'll work on a project "till the cows come home," he generally means it. Calhoun is director of cost and performance data for an outfit called Cattle-Fax, a Denver-based market information and analysis service for cattlemen.
An agricultural economics graduate and former ASNMSU president (1982-83), Calhoun came to Cattle-Fax by route of a string of jobs in which he honed both his experience in computing and his knowledge of things agricultural. In his new position at Cattle-Fax, he works with feedlots all over the country to compare cost and performance information for use in making marketing and management decisions.
He says the job is "great fun."
Calhoun lives in Kiowa, Colo., with his wife, Nancy Oschwald, '84, and their four children: Sarah, 12; Evan, 9; Ryan, 6; and Amie, 2.
Jess Williams, '85, '97
Liaison develops links
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Patricia L. Quintana, '80, '87, is NMSU's new legislative liaison. A
native of Taos, N.M., she received a bachelor's in animal science and a
master's in agricultural and extension education at NMSU.
In her new job, Quintana is the university's liaison with the Legislature, the Governor's Office and other governmental entities. She also will work to develop links with nonprofit and grassroots organizations and communities throughout the state. She previously was the liaison for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, and before that was with Ganados Del Valle in Los Ojos, developing a lamb marketing business and working in producer/community |
Comic touch wows 'em at Montana State
Hunter Lloyd, '92, teaches Montana students the ins and outs of computer science these days, interspersing his lectures with humor. It comes naturally to him.
Lloyd, who won a stand-up comedy competition in Phoenix in 1991, has opened for comedians such as Jerry Seinfeld, Bobcat Goldthwaite, Pauly Shore and Tim Allen. But living on the road is romantic only for a while, and after about 18 months, he said he'd had enough.
Using his business administration background from NMSU, Lloyd took a job as Montana manager for Enterprise Rent-a-Car.
Then he enrolled as a graduate student at Montana State University. Now he lectures to four sections of computer science students and peppers them with jokes and "new material."
"I have Hunter at 8 a.m.," one student says. "There is no way I would ever make that class if anyone was teaching but Hunter. Not only do I go, I stay awake."
In his spare time, Lloyd hunts, which, ironically, makes him hunter Lloyd!
Jess Williams, '85, '97
Web site highlights Hispanic culture
Marie Stoy, '91, and her husband Alvaro Velazquez run a bilingual World Wide Web site called "en Espanol.com." It's a great resource for Spanish-speaking web surfers, and an educational tool for people who want to learn more about the Hispanic culture. Some articles appear in Spanish, some in English.
"By the way, I have a page dedicated to New Mexico and now proudly have a link to NMSU!" says Marie, who works at CNN Interactive in Atlanta.
Check out her web site at www.enespanol.com.
Alum notes Canadian connection
Abe Sallaj, '64, of Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, points out a relationship between NMSU, Canada's Mount Allison University, and his own family.
The Mount Allison Record recently reported that many of Mount Allison University's science students and faculty members choose NMSU for post-graduate and sabbatical research. Charmed by the culture of the Southwest, they have dubbed NMSU "Mount Allison South."
Sallaj's son, Philip, is a 1996 Mount Allison University graduate.
The elder Sallaj, an NMSU civil engineering graduate, worked in the Middle East before immigrating to Canada in 1967. He became a Canadian citizen in 1972.
The Brothers of Outdoor Zestful Endeavors, nine NMSU alumni and other friends, annually spend five days in a cabin on the Los Pinos River in northern New Mexico. They fish, talk, play bridge, toss frisbees, get in some putting practice and repair the cabin. Front row, from left, are alumni Ben Boykin, '53, Bob Riley, '61, Jerry Garing, '53, and Charles Murphy, '54, with his dog Sheenu, the group's mascot. Back row, from left, are Bob Callaway, '54, Dave Holt, '61, Jim Blevins, '53, Jon Aderhold, '56, and Dick Mullins, '56.
Proof that lifelong friendships begin in dormitories are six "Aggies of Breland Hall," agriculture students who met in 1966. Recently, they got together to reminisce about good times at NMSU. From left are Jerry Williams, '69, Jim Atwell, ex-'68, Ken Rea, '69, Ed Sceery, '71, '73, '78, John Mocho, '70, and Jim Finley, '68. The friends met at Rea's home in Albuquerque.