A4 Sunday, September 26, 2010 • THE BULLETIN
U.S. gift for Iraqi students offers primer on corruption By Steven Lee Myers New York Times News Service
BAGHDAD — The shipment of computer laptops that arrived in Iraq’s main seaport in February was a small but important part of the American military’s mission here to win hearts and minds. What happened afterward is a tale of good intentions mugged by Iraq’s reality. The computers — 8,080 in all, worth $1.8 million — were bought for schoolchildren in Babil, modern-day Babylon, a gift of the American taxpayers. Only they became mired for months in customs at the port, Umm Qasr, stalled by bureaucracy or venality, or some combination of the two. And then they were gone. Corruption is so rampant here — and American reconstruction efforts so replete with their own mismanagement — that the fate of the computers could have ended as an anecdote in a familiar, if disturbing trend. The laptops arrived in two shipments, on Feb. 20 and Feb. 23. The original shipping documents mistakenly listed the computers’ destination as Umm Qasr, not Babil, which caused confusion. By April, though, the U.S. military had tracked them down and repeatedly tried to clear them through customs and truck them to Babil. Then, in August, Iraqis auctioned off 4,200 of the computers — for $45,700. The whereabouts of the rest are unknown. In early September, the auctioned computers were recovered, according to Iraqi officials, who nevertheless declined to discuss how or where. Last week there was another breakthrough — of a sort. Iraqi officials in Basra and Baghdad said that arrest warrants had been issued for 10 customs employees at Umm Qasr, all low-level officials. Six were said to have been detained. The officials refused to identify them, though. Nor were the charges made public, leaving the details of the case as shrouded in mystery.
C OV ER S T ORY
THE INDUCTEES, CONTINUED Debi Manwiller, 1978 She went on to attend the California Arts Institute where she earned a bachelor’s degree in acting in 1983. Originally interested in being an actress, Manwiller eventually decided to pursue a career as a casting director. “I decided maybe I’d be better on the other side of the desk,” Manwiller said. She’s been involved in casting hundreds of television and movie projects. Her most notable television projects include “24,” “Chicago Hope,” “Picket Fences” and “Quantum Leap.” Her movie credits include “Rudy,” “Diggstown,” “The Three Musketeers” and “Indian Summer.” Manwiller has 17 Emmy nominations and has won two Emmys for “24” and “Chicago Hope.” She points to her experience at Bend High as integral to her success in Hollywood. “I was bitten by the theatrical bug in high school,” she said. “I was one of the people who liked high school. I didn’t come away scarred or anything. I had a good experience, and my friends then are still my friends today.” No other photo was available.
“I learned a lot of what I do today in there, drafting and welding. Those aspects obviously helped me out later in life,” he said. “It was something I was interested in, and I got a lot out of the school.” He started Kirby Nagelhout Construction Co. in 1986, soon becoming one of the top local construction companies. The company built Pine Marten Lodge on Mt. Bachelor, as well as a variety of public schools and buildings at Central Oregon Community College and other landmark buildings around Central Oregon. Nagelhout estimated he’s worked on half of the region’s middle schools, 75 percent of the elementary schools and every high school in Central Oregon, except for one. “The frustrating part of it is, Bend High is the only school I haven’t worked on,” he said, laughing. Nagelhout is also involved with various local charities like the COCC Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of Central Oregon and the Deschutes Children’s Foundation.
Bend High Continued from A1 Whitley said it was important to keep the tradition going. “The people recognized (last year) weren’t the only ones worthy,” Whitley said. “The school is 100 years old.” This year, the inductees will connect more with students; several will come and speak to classes.
He is believed to be the first Bend High student to attend and graduate from Harvard University. Niskanen went on to earn a master’s degree and doctorate at the University of Chicago’s Department of Economics. Among other positions, Niskanen served as the director of special studies for the U.S. Secretary of Defense, as the director of economics for the Ford Motor Co. and as a professor at the University of California at Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy. He was also a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, and in 1981 was named to the council of economic advisers by President Ronald Reagan. In 1985 and 1986, he
classroom on their off time. “He set it up so we could go in and do experiments, and mess around with electronics and do physics experiments,” he said. “He kept us out of trouble and made it really fun.” Ray is involved in various local organizations, including the Oregon State University Foundation Board of Trustees and the Volunteers in Medicine clinics.
Janet Stevens, 1965
Rod Ray, 1974
William Niskanen, 1950
Kirby Nagelhout, 1974
He went on to work full time for Chambers Construction Co. as a carpenter and a supervisor on projects around the state and the Sunrise Lodge and Summit lift terminal at Mt. Bachelor. Nagelhout pointed to his experience and teachers in the shops at Bend High as a key to his eventual success.
served as the acting chairman of that council. Niskanen credits his parents and several Bend High teachers, including his music and math teachers, with his success. “I was privileged to have several really unusually good teachers,” he said, pointing to Dr. Don Pence, who went on to serve as music director at Central Oregon Community College. Working for the school newspaper, he met The Bulletin’s then-owner, Robert Sawyer, who helped him get into Harvard. “I owed a lot to him,” he said. The author of 10 books, Niskanen became chairman of the board of the Cato Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C., in 1995, and later chairman emeritus; he currently serves as distinguished senior economist for the Cato Institute.
He went on to attend Oregon State University, where he received his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, then earned a master’s degree and doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Ray is the president and CEO of Bend Research Inc., and has worked for the company since 1983. He holds 17 U.S. patents related to his work. He is also the CEO of Bend Research Pharmaceutical Process Development Inc. He points to John Barton, his high school physics teacher, who piqued his interest in science. “Bend High meant a lot to me and did a lot for me,” he said. “It gave me a great start.” Barton, Ray said, expected students to go to college and tried to keep them out of trouble by allowing them to spend time in his
She went on to attend the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism, from which she graduated in 1976. Stevens, whose family owns The Bulletin, started as a proofreader at the newspaper when she was 15. Since then she has also worked as a reporter, columnist and editorial writer, and has focused many of her editorials on advocating for people with disabilities and the importance of volunteerism. “I was very lucky because I grew up in a family where language was a big deal, and I had a series of good English teachers,” she said. “They encouraged good writing in a way I don’t think happens too much now. They encouraged love of literature.” While her focus has been writing, Stevens’ favorite teacher in high school was Janet Cruikshank, a chemistry teacher who was supportive even as Stevens struggled through the course. In addition to her work at the newspaper, Stevens also has served on the boards of Grandma’s House, the Oregon State Public Defense Commission and High Desert Museum. In 2009, the Network of Volunteer Administrators named her Adult Volunteer of the Year for her service at Grandma’s House, a home for pregnant teens, and teenage mothers and their children.
To Whitley, it’s about remembering the people who came before him. Without that collective memory, the football stars, science standouts and class presidents of today will become nameless faces smiling from a dusty trophy case. “How quickly we forgot who people are,” he said. “I don’t want us to forget who these people are.”
“Oregon’s history is really a series of one-highschool towns. Through the ’50s and ’60s, the culture and history was all surrounding the high school. Now we have three or four high schools in Bend, but Bend High really is the history of Bend.”
Sheila G. Miller can be reached at 541617-7831 or at smiller@bendbulletin.com.
— Bend High counselor Gary Whitley, who helped start the hall of fame