University graduates make cultural strides
Ron Toomer
In the world of entertainment, the alumni of the University of Nevada, Reno have left an unexpected mark, influencing everything from rollercoasters to sitcoms to the freedom of YouTube.
Amy Carothers, director of Alumni Relations, admits UNR gets a bad rap outside of Northern Nevada. She said there are plenty alumni who are improving the University’s reputation.
Over 130 years, UNR students like Delora Zajick have gone on to sing soprano in the opera, Joey Gilbert boxed on the reality TV show “The Contender” and pianist Lorie Line founded her own independent record company, Lorie Line Music, Inc., that now grosses $5 million annually.
Other UNR alumni achievements have penetrated deeper into American culture. Graduate Charlie Douglass invented the “Laff Box” in the early 1950s, which is heard every time Al Bundy or Frasier Crane makes a joke.
“Who would have thought of that? It is really unique,” Carothers said.
Other alumni have made screwier contributions to American culture. Ronald Toomer has been credited with creating the corkscrew roller coaster.
“I didn’t invent anything, anywhere, I just made it work,” Toomer said.
He said he was working at a roller coaster factory in Mountainview, Calif. in 1971. His bosses brought in the idea of the roller coaster, and they soon went to work on it. He said he never thought any idea was impossible especially the corkscrew roller coaster.
Alumnus Tim Casey made a recent impression on the Internet. Interim Editor of Nevada Silver and Blue magazine, Melanie Robbins, jokingly said he saved the Web.
Casey switched his major to electrical engineering in 1984 to avoid taking a foreign language class, which led him to a career as an intellectual properties lawyer. Casey started working for MCI, a phone company and Internet Service Provider. He got into this part of the law when copyrighted material on the Internet was becoming an issue.
At first, content companies like Timer Warner were pressuring the government to allow them to sue the ISPs and Web sites for pirated material that their users post or e-mailed. Robbins said if ISPs were sued, Internet prices would skyrocket and lawyers’ fees alone would have buried sites like YouTube.
She said Casey was able to write a law that gave ISPs and Web sites protection from being sued as long as they took down the material within a reasonable amount of time.
“If it hadn’t been for him the law would allow content companies to sue Internet Service Providers,” Robbins said. “I think he is the guy who saved the Internet.”
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