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March 25
Student Union
University of Wyoming
Campus

Lenora Bohren
National Center for Vehicle Emissions Control and Safety Lab at Colorado State University

Consumer Tip:

When negotiating a car purchase, beware when additional products or service are added at “no extra cost.”

Lenora Bohren is the Director of the National Center for Vehicle Emissions Control and Safety (NCVECS), with a joint appointment in the Anthropology Department, at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She received a B.A. in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University in 1965, an M.A. in Anthropology from Colorado State University in 1973, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Anthropology from CSU in 1995. Dr. Bohren has worked closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution issues, including as manager of a national survey on vehicle emission control device tampering. She has managed many projects for NCVECS, including several in Mexico, Michigan and Texas. She is currently the Principal Investigator for the Human Factors Section of the On Board Diagnostic Center at NCVECS where she conducts surveys and focus groups. One of her special areas of expertise is Technology, Culture and the Environment. She has contributed to the literature and presented papers on the socio-economic context of both domestic and international environmental issues.

Stephanie R. Bryant
Staff Attorney
Wyoming Insurance Department

Stephanie R. Bryant is the staff attorney for the Wyoming Insurance Department. Since March, 2001, she has provided legal assistance to the department staff. She supervises the consumer affairs and policy review section. In addition, she represents the department in administrative actions against insurance companies and producers. Prior to her work with the insurance department, Ms. Bryant practiced law in the areas of taxation, estate planning, business planning and bankruptcy. Ms. Bryant received her B.A. in Economics and her law degree from the University of Wyoming .

Kate Copen
Collections & Financial Counseling Officer
UNIWYO Credit Union

Kate Copen has been at UniWyo Federal Credit Union for over 3 ½ years, where she is the Collections Officer and Financial Counseling Representative. Kate has attended numerous collections and bankruptcy trainings, including a national CUNA sponsored Financial Counseling and Collections conference last March. She is an active member of the Laramie Kiwanis Club and Laramie Noon Toastmasters. She achieved her Competent Toastmaster Award last June, after less than one year with the club. Kate is currently pursuing her MA in Communications and plans to pursue her MBA beginning in the fall of 2004. "Buying New & Used, Leasing and Financing"

Arlene Delaney
Director of the Consumer Protection Unit
Wyoming Attorney General's Office

Arlene Delaney is the Director of the Wyoming Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Unit, a position she has held since 2002. She had been in the Wyoming AG’s Office, Water and Natural Resources Division, for three years prior to that. Ms. Delaney has also been a senior legal assistant and office manager to several private law firms and public agencies, including the Cheyenne Police Department. She also has a broad range of business, managerial, consumer and public relations experience, and knowledge of advertising, marketing and medial relations. Ms. Delaney has also been a small business owner. She has given many consumer education presentations around the State to various groups, including high schools and senior centers. She attended the Laramie County Community College as well as the University of Wyoming.

Sam Dunnuck
Vic President for Lending
UNIWYO Credit Union

Sam Dunnuck has a Bachelors Degree in Marketing from the University of Wyoming and graduated from the University of Oklahoma Commercial Lending School in 1979. He is a veteran, serving in the US Army during 1970 and 1971. He has attended several Credit Union National Association lending and management schools. He has worked in financial institutions for over 20 years and has experience in consumer, commercial, and real estate lending. Dunnuck has served on the Laramie City Council, as Mayor of Laramie, and in the Wyoming House of Representatives. He is active in local organizations including Boy Scout Troop 137, Ark Regional Services, United Way , and the Cowboy Joe Club. "Buying New & Used, Leasing and Financing"

Floyd A Esquibel
Wyoming Representative for House District 44, Laramie County

Representative Floyd A. Esquibel lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming , and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming . He also received a Master of Social Work, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver . He has served four years in the Wyoming House. He is retired from the Wyoming Department of Employment. Representative Esquibel is a member of the Kiwanis Club and the Latin American Association, among other things. He is married to Jacqueline. They have three children.

Gail Gordon
Business Development and Family Economics Specialist
University of Wyoming

Gail Gordon is the business development and family economics specialist for University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service and is in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. She develops programs and teaches classes in personal financial management, consumer issues, and small business development. She also is an instructor in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences. Gordon has an MBA from the University of Wyoming and is a certified business counselor. Governor Geringer and the U.S. Small Business Administration, Wyoming District, have recognized her for her support of Wyoming’s small business community.

Lora Huston
Executive Vice President
Wyoming Automobile Dealers Association

Lora Huston serves as the Association’s chief lobbyist and coordinator for all legislative activities on the state and federal levels. She also serves as the Secretary for Wyoming First, Inc., a vehicle service contract program owned by the Wyoming Automobile Dealers Association. Ms. Huston develops and maintains relationships on behalf of the Association with various state agencies and regulatory bodies, and serves as the “voice of the franchised automobile dealer.” Ms. Huston received her B.A. in journalism from the University of Wyoming in 1993. She is also active in various trade and community groups.

Roy A. Lesh
Insurance Standards Consultant
Wyoming Insurance Department

Roy A. Lesh is an Insurance Standards Consultant for the Wyoming Insurance Department. Specifically, he reviews property and casualty contracts to ensure compliance with Wyoming law. In addition, Mr. Lesh assists the department and Wyoming citizens with claim handling practices and provides technical advice. Mr. Lesh joined the department in 1985. Prior to his work for the state, Mr. Lesh was an adjuster with General Adjustment Bureau and then Allstate Insurance Company. Before leaving Allstate, Mr. Lesh was a Unit Claim Manager for Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming. Mr. Lesh received his Bachelors of Arts from Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado.

Jessica Lowell
Journalist
Wyoming Tribune-Eagle

Jessica Lowell is a national award-winning journalist, who has been writing, reporting and editing for 18 years in Maine , New Hampshire , New York and Wyoming . As senior writer at the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle in Cheyenne, Lowell covers economic development and business issues, including consumer protection. Her work has also won local acclaim.

Garth Lucero
Senior Counsel with the Consumer Protection Division of the Office of the Colorado Attorney General.

Garth Lucero is a graduate of Regis College (1974) and the University of Colorado School of Law (1977). For the past 20 Years, Mr. Lucero has engaged in general civil litigation, administrative law and senior management in various divisions of the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, overseeing such areas as consumer protection, antitrust, consumer credit, public utilities, and general civil litigation division. Prior to joining the Attorney General’s Office, Mr. Lucero was a staff attorney for Denver Legal Aid. Mr. Lucero currently is a senior manager for the Colorado Attorney General with primary duties in consumer protection, legislation and public information. Mr. Lucero has written numerous consumer protection laws in Colorado, has testified before legislative committees in Congress, served on numerous state and national task forces, and is a member of various professional organizations and committees involved in his areas of practice.

Carole J. Makela
Ph.D., CFCS Colorado State University.

Carole J. Makela's appointment is in the School of Education and the Department of Design and Merchandising. She coordinates the Consumer and Family Studies Program. Her strong interest in consumer issues has included being editor of the Journal of Consumer Affairs, continuing serve on Colorado’s Division of Insurance Producer Advisory Council, and work with Dr. Bohren on the consumer perspective of auto emissions. She is also on the Board of Directors of the Credit Counseling Service of Northern Colorado-Southeastern Wyoming. Click here for her presentation "Auto Insurance Wyoming"

Mike Massie
Wyoming Senator for Senate District 9, Albany County

Senator Mike Massie lives in Laramie, Wyoming, and received a bachelor’s degree in education and history with a minor in economics from the University of Wyoming, and he also received an MA in history. He served four years in the Wyoming House before being elected to his first term in the Wyoming Senate. He is a member of the Laramie Sunrise Rotary, the Laramie Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Wyoming Association of Professional Historians, among other things. He is married to Ruth Massie. They have two children.

Philip Nicholas
Attorney in private practice in Laramie, Wyoming and a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, House District 14

Representative Phil Nicholas is currently an attorney in private practice in Laramie, Wyoming. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Wyoming’s College of Law in 1979.He is also a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives, House District 14, and a member of the Judiciary Committee. Nicholas has an extensive legal work history, which includes serving as an Assistant Attorney General for Wyoming. Nicholas has served on multiple professional committees, and has been admitted to practice before the Wyoming, Colorado, and Oregon Supreme Courts. In 1979, Nicholas was admitted to practice before the United States District Court, District of Wyoming. He is an active member of the American Bar Association, the Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, and the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

R. David Pittle
Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Consumers Union

R. David Pittle is the Senior Vice-President of Technical Policy of Consumers Union (CU), a nonprofit group dedicated to consumer issues. Since 1982, he has supervised CU’s product-testing laboratory, the source of the popular and objective product ratings found in Consumer Reports. CU is known for its extensive work in testing automobile and tire safety, among other things. Dr. Pittle has also served as a Commissioner on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission from 1973-1982, where he was heavily involved in the federal regulation of consumer product safety. Dr. Pittle received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He has also taught electrical engineering at the University of Wisconsin and at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He is the author of numerous articles in professional publications, and has received many awards for his work as a lifelong consumer advocate. Radio Programs: #1, #2, #3

George E. Powers
Attorney with Sundahl, Powers, Kapp and Martin
Cheyenne , Wyoming

George E. Powers, Jr. originally came to Wyoming in 1975, spending three years navigating throughout the Red Desert for a small uranium exploration company. He enrolled at the University of Wyoming Law School, receiving his Juris Doctorate with honors in 1982. After graduating from law school, he moved to Cheyenne and joined the firm of Godfrey and Sundahl, now known as Sundahl, Powers, Kapp & Martin, LLC. Over the last twenty years he has been involved in numerous cases relating to a variety of insurance related issues. He is married to Marguerite Herman and has three children. He coaches the East High School Mock Trial team.

Laura Polacheck
AARP attorney

Laura Polacheck is an attorney for the AARP in Washington, D.C. Specifically, she is the senior legislative representative for the Department of State Affairs at AARP, where she analyzes legislative and regulatory proposals and policy for the AARP in many areas relating to consumer protection. Prior to joining the AARP, Ms. Polacheck was a staff attorney with the Center for Auto Safety, a consumer protection organization founded by Ralph Nader and Consumers Union. She has also served as a project attorney for the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and as an attorney-advisor for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ms. Polacheck has also served as Chair of the Consumer Affairs Committee of the District of Columbia Bar. Ms. Polacheck received her undergraduate degree with honors from the University of Wisconsin, and a law degree from the George Washington University Law School.

Mary "Dee" Pridgen
Associate Dean and Professor of Law, College of Law, University of
Wyoming

Dee Pridgen is Associate Dean and Professor of Law, at the University of Wyoming’s College of Law, where she has taught since 1982.Her subjects include Consumer Protection, Contracts, Antitrust, Communications Law, Constitutional Law, and Internet Law. She received her Juris Doctorate in 1974, from New York University, and a B.A. in 1971, from Cornell University. She is a member of the Order of the Coif and Phi Beta Kappa. Pridgen has been a Fulbright Scholar/Lecturer, at Tokyo University; Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law, the University of Maryland School of Law, and the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. She also served as Staff Attorney, for the Federal Trade Commission, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Washington, D.C. Pridgen's publications include two treatises aimed at practicing attorneys, Consumer Protection and the Law, and Consumer Credit and the Law, both published by West Group. She is also a coauthor of a law school casebook entitled Consumer Law: Cases and Materials (West 2d ed.). She has written articles and reports on consumer law, and has given presentations at international consumer law meetings in Helsinki, Finland and Auckland, New Zealand. Click here for her presentation "

John Schiffer
Wyoming Senator for Sheridan/Johnson Counties

Senator John Schiffer lives in Kaycee, Wyoming, and received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colorado College in 1967. After serving four years in the Navy, he and his wife Nancy returned to Wyoming to continue ranching. He was appointed to a vacant position in the senate in 1993 and has been elected three times since then. Senator Schiffer has served on the highway and transportation committee, has been chair of the senate judiciary committee, and is currently the chair of the senate appropriations committee, as well as being the vice president of the senate. His wife Nancy is a teacher in Kaycee. They have two children. Senator Schiffer continues to earn his living as a rancher.

Bob Stauffacher
Program Manager and Chief Compliance Officer
Wyoming Department of Transportation

Bob Stauffacher is the Program Manager and Chief Compliance Investigator of the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT), Compliance & Investigations Section. Previously, he was with the Wyoming Highway Patrol from 1981 to 1993. He is currently an associate member of the National Association of Fraud Examiners. He is a Past member Wyoming Highway Patrol Association, Wyoming Peace Officers Association and Johnson County Peace Officer Association. He has attended Casper College, the University of Northern Florida, and Laramie County Community College. He has also been on task forces to develop auto dealer legislation, fuel tax legislation, and has authored WYDOT’s current auto dealer rules and regulations.

Dick Weber
Owner Valley Motor Honda
Sheridan, Wyoming

Dick Weber is the owner of Valley Motor Honda in Sheridan, Wyoming. This family-owned business has been in existence since 1961, with the entire family having worked in the dealership in some capacity. Weber is the President of the Sheridan YMCA Board of Directors and member and past President of the Rotary club and Sheridan Recreation District. His dealership has received the Presidents Award from American Honda Motor Co. for four consecutive years. Weber is in his second year as a Wyoming Auto Dealers Board member.