MELTING GLASS CEILINGS | SCIENCE COMICS | MILLENNIAL BURNOUT SPRING 2021 EXPLORING the MYSTERIES of the MIND UO NEUROSCIENCE ON THE RISE T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F O R E G O N We make each other better. Together, we can do so much. We believe that the best relationships are built on respect, shared values and a belief that we add value to each other. At the start of the new year, we proudly welcomed Valentine Ventures, one of Central Oregon’s leading wealth management firms, to our ASI team. The merger is based on a commitment to shared values and the ongoing pledge to take amazing care of our clients. Together, the services we offer our clients will be even better. Serving the Pacific Northwest asiwealthmanagement.com 800.377.1449 SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY RENEWABLE BUILDING MATERIALS At Seneca, sustainability is in our roots. Our tree farm has 92% more timber than it had 25 years ago on those same acres. For every tree harvested, we replant four more. The timber harvested goes on to be made into renewable building materials. Seneca is proud to uphold its legacy of sustainable Follow the Seneca Family of forestry and renewable building materials. Companies on Facebook & Instagram SUSTAINABLE CELEBRATE A BRAND NEW BOUTIQUE HOTEL IN EUGENE, OREGONCREATE There’s always something new to discover at The Gordon Hotel at the FORESTRY 5th Street Public Market. Unwind in CONNECT one of the 82 spacious guestrooms. Discover a new favorite art piece or create your own. RENEWABLE BUILDING MATERIALS The possibilities are endless... and the experience is unforgettable. At Seneca, sustainability is in our roots. Our tree farm has 92% more timber than it had 25 years ago on those same acres. For every tree harvested, we replant four more. The timber harvested goes on to be made into renewable building materials. BOOK NOW at thegordonhotel.com Seneca is proud to uphold its legacy of sustainable Follow the Seneca Family of A sister Hotel to the Inn at the 5th forestry and renewable building materials. Companies on Facebook & Instagram 541.762.0555 | 555 Oak Street, Eugene, TOHER M 9A7G4A0ZI1NE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 5 dialogue FROM THE PRESIDENT THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON SPRING 2021 • VOLUME 100 NUMBER 3 PUBLISHER George Evano gevano@uoregon.edu | 541-346-2379 MANAGING EDITOR Matt Cooper Science Drives mattc@uoregon.edu | 541-346-8875 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Alice Tallmadge Our Optimism CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION Oregon Media info@oregonmedia.com | 541-389-4383 PUBLISHING ADMINISTRATOR Shelly Cooper scooper@uoregon.edu | 541-346-5045 The challenges of the last year have challenges on her way to uncommon reminded us of many things: the achievement in chemistry, physics, and PROOFREADERS Jennifer Archer, Sharleen Nelsonvalue of human connection, the need mathematics. As a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, INTERN Griffin Reilly to support those most vulnerable, and the she’s part of a program preparing her for WEBSITE OregonQuarterly.com resilience and strength of our community. graduate school through demanding research MAILING ADDRESS The pandemic has also illuminated the projects—but her personal story is no less 5228 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-5228 undeniable power of science and innovation. inspiring than her academic success. EMAIL quarterly@uoregon.edu PHONE 541-346-5045 We turned to science to identify the new Speaking of research, you’re sure to enjoy ADVERTISING SALES Ross Johnson, Oregon Media coronavirus and determine how to limit its our coverage of a new campus partnership ross@oregonmedia.com | 541-948-5200 spread. Science also led to the creation of between science and comics. Under this OREGON QUARTERLY is published by the UO in January, safe, highly e ective vaccines in record time, interdisciplinary research program, students April, July, and October and distributed free to members of the which is key to our recovery as a university, and scientists come together to produce alumni association and cost-sharing schools and departments. community, country, and world. graphic narratives illustrating and explaining Printed in the USA. © 2021 University of Oregon. All rights reserved. Views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Scientifi c discovery is also one of the faculty members’ research. the UO administration. cornerstones of the University of Oregon Also featured: Kara Clevinger, assistant CHANGE OF ADDRESS Alumni Records, teaching, research, and service mission. department head in English and winner of 1204 University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403-1204; Our past is steeped in scientifi c inquiry and a remote-teaching award; Adrian Parr, new 541-302-0336, alumrec@uofoundation.org innovation. Science informs our present and dean of the College of Design; Anne Helen propels our future. Petersen, MA ’07 (English), whose viral ADMINISTRATION President Michael H. Schill, Provost and Senior Vice In this issue of Oregon Quarterly, you’re article on Millennial burnout was an internet President Patrick Phillips, Vice President for University getting a glimpse into that future. In the sensation; and Namratha Somayajula, a Clark Advancement Michael Andreasen, Interim Vice President for coming decades, neuroscience promises to Honors College graduate of international University Communications Jennifer Lindsey, Vice President provide new therapeutic strategies to treat studies who now writes on topics such as for Student Services and Enrollment Management Roger diseases while also playing an increasingly air pollution, water access, and consumer Thompson, Vice President and General Counsel Kevin Reed, important role in areas beyond medicine, protections for Human Rights Watch. Vice President for Finance and Administration Jamie Moffitt, including education, consumerism, and the And don’t miss the Duck Tale: Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation Cass Moseley, Vice President for Student Life Kevin Marbury, justice system. journalism students who examined a Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Rob Mullens, Executive The fi eld will o er lasting improvements fascinating incident from the Cold War era Director UO Alumni Association Raphe Beck in human health, the economy, and society, and then turned their investigation into a UO INFORMATION 541-346-1000 and the UO—which has a rich history in compelling book that explores timely and neuroscience and unbridled momentum timeless issues of borders, propaganda, and HONORING NATIVE PEOPLES AND LANDS today—will help lead the way. Our feature governmental overreach. The University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the connects the dots from the founding of These are complicated but optimistic traditional homelands of the Kalapuya people. Following the Institute of Neuroscience in 1979 to an times. I feel, more than anything, hope and treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were exciting new undergraduate neuroscience gratitude for our university community and dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the United major to key questions being explored by the better days ahead. States government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in Western Oregon. Today, their descendants our researchers. They are examining the link are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde between neural circuits and behavior, the Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the pathways of reward, addiction, and memory, Siletz Indians of Oregon, and continue to make important and even the potential for computational contributions in their communities, at the UO, and across the land now referred to as Oregon. approaches to unlock insights into how the brain operates. The University of Oregon is an equal-opportunity, The issue also features one of our stellar affirmative-action institution committed to cultural Michael H. Schill diversity and compliance with the Americans with young scholars: Nicole Wales, of Coos Bay, who overcame staggering childhood President and Professor of Law Disabilities Act. This publication will be made available in accessible formats upon request. 6 OREGON QUARTERLY | S P R I N G 2021 CHARLIE LITCHFIELD, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS dialogue CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS DIALOGUE 6 6 From the President 10 Letters INTRO 13 14 Campus News 17 Empowering through Education 18 Drawn to Science 20 Explorer by Design 22 Profile: Kara Clevinger, Online Educator 23 Bookmarks OLD OREGON 33 34 Boosting the “Burnout Generation” 36 On the Watch 38 Protests Behind, Wildfires Ahead 40 Class Notes 40 Class Notable: Greg Walden, Congressman 42 Class Notable: Talisa Shevavesh, Modeler 48 Ducks Afield 50 Duck Tale: Classroom 15 50 28 FEATURES 24 AN OPEN MIND Neuroscience will offer lasting improvements in human health, the economy, and more, and the University of Oregon will help lead the way BY JASON STONE 28 MELTING GLASS CEILINGS Nicole Wales has distinguished herself through research in physics and chemistry, and by what she’s overcome BY ED DORSCH ON THE COVER UO neuroscience is enabling progress in how Parkinson’s disease is diagnosed, hearing problems are detected in infants, and treatments for motor disorders are improved ILLUSTRATION BY TIM JORDAN, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS; PHOTO BY DARKDAY CC-BY 2.0 18 8 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 DUSTIN WHITAKER, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (TOP); COURTESY OF JULIA MUELLER AND ZACK DEMARS (MIDDLE); AUDRA MCNAMEE THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 9 dialogue LETTERS Robert Bailey, with Garth Brooks, hit because Dad’s job required it, they enjoyed a high note with each other’s company and, because Bill was winter readers single, my mom was often the university’s official hostess at donor events. Bill was an inspired orator, just as later President Dave Frohnmayer would be, and still maintained his Southeast coast pronunciation of particular words. Dad kept copies of Bill’s speeches for the beauty of the language and quoted him often. Today, I have a couple of those speeches tucked into a file where they’ve stayed with me for almost 40 years. Bill is the originator of my favorite quote, that I often use to explain what inspires my career in university fundraising and the nobility of supporting higher education: “Scholarship and philanthropy are each, separately, among the most powerful forces at work shaping the future of our society. In combination, they may be unsurpassed in their capacity to improve the human condition.” No one’s ever said it better. Laura Simic, BA ’86 (public relations) Boise, Idaho Amazed, Touched, and Inspired I admired the fine publishing work evident in the winter 2021 number. It is rare for any magazine I receive to amaze (as did news of the world’s smallest milling machine said to be found in the beautiful, mysterious new building across Franklin Boulevard), to touch (as did Brian Trapp’s moving essay), and to inspire (as did Emily Halnon’s report on the doings of an old friend from law school, Barney Mann). Singing Bailey’s Praises Brooks fans. To celebrate our 36th wedding Thank you to the Quarterly staff for your work. anniversary, we were among the 60,000 at I was so happy to read about Robert Bailey Frank Gibson, JD ’79 Autzen and just 10 yards from the stage. What (“Friends in ‘O’ Places”) in the winter 2021 Eugene, Oregona bonus thrill to have UO alum Robert Bailey issue. I had the pleasure of knowing Bob as perform “Shout!” Yes, the crowd did erupt and we took music classes together. What a sweet Autzen was never the same that night. Bailey Design Flaw in Story? and talented man. He used to sit down at the made all Ducks proud. In the winter 2021 issue of Oregon Quarterly, piano in the EMU and in no time, a crowd the article entitled, “Tour de Force,” by Ed would gather. I knew that he went on to sing Craig Weckesser, BS ’64 (journalism) Dorsch, described many of the design elements backup for Wynonna Judd, but I had no idea Olympia, Washington of the new Knight Campus that he observed he was performing with Garth Brooks. What a great success story! Boyd a Force for Academia on his tour with Robert Guldberg. Mr. Dorsch described glowingly how the building was Deborah Mitchell, BMus ’78 I appreciated your tribute to Bill Boyd in the designed to support the goals and fulfill (music education) winter 2021 issue. In 1978 my family moved the needs of the people working within it. Coburg, Oregon to Eugene when my dad became UO’s vice Unfortunately, he never mentioned any of the president for university relations. Bill was the designers or architectural firms responsible Damian Foley’s “Friends in ‘O’ Places” (Winter tall, imposing, quietly gentle personification for the design innovation he witnessed. In fact, 2021) brought back wonderful memories of wisdom to me. The Simic family spent a lot the only designer credited in his article was for me and my wife. Yes, we are Garth of time with Bill (always, informally “Bill”) Professor Richard Taylor, for the carpet he 10 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 BLUES JOHN PHOTOGRAPHY designed on the bottom floor. months in another country and get a taste This may not seem important to most of the average citizen’s lifestyle—for example but good design does not grow on trees. It in Thailand or Cambodia. Perhaps they would requires hours of effort, creativity, thought, return to the USA with a “renewed sense of trial, technical input, experimentation, testing, appreciation” for the world of opportunity and review. A process of collaboration with offered in the USA! consultants, manufacturers, and, of course, Robert McCarty, BA ’73 the stakeholders the facility will serve. When (elementary education) the designers are not mentioned that effort San Diego, California is taken for granted. That shouldn’t happen when the subject of the article is a building. For the record, the design was a partnership Doing Right by Her Dad between Ennead Architects, New York, and Bora Architects, Portland, and no doubt I just finished reading the autumn 2020 utilized the talents of people trained by the Jeffrey Ostler edition of Oregon Quarterly and as usual, School of Architecture & Environment at the found it relevant and interesting. My father, university served by Oregon Quarterly. Another Side to Genocide Dick Nooe, was a U of O alumni and Phi Steve Parker, BArch ’83 The famous passages of the Declaration Beta Kappa graduate in 1957, after losing his San Leandro, California of Independence are included in the first part, sight in the Korean War in 1953. He passed or body, of the document. Following this is a away in 2018. However, I have not been able Editor’s note: The inside cover of the winter long list of grievances against King George to bring myself to cancel the subscription, III. One grievance reads, “He has excited since the features are so enjoyable and bring issue credited designers Ennead Architects of New York and Bora Architects of Portland, and domestic insurrections amongst us, and has to mind the stories my father always told builder Hoffman Construction of Portland. endeavoured (sic) to bring on the inhabitants about his college experiences. He found the of our frontiers, the merciless Indian environment to be so supportive of a person Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an who was blind and had many funny stories Creating a wonderful new campus building requires more than just one wealthy man. undistinguished destruction, of all ages, sexes about his life with Theta Chi fraternity. He and conditions.” had started at the U of O, I believe, in 1950, Dozens of architects and engineers—many of them trained at the U of O—labor for years on The warfare on the American frontier but found that after being a star football player in his small high school, he was the design. Hundreds of skilled craftspeople— wasn’t one-sided, as posited in Jeffrey Ostler’s book (Surviving Genocide, Winter 2021). It just a “little fish” on the university football many educated at the U of O—work for team. The Korean War was on and he joined the contractors who built the “exhilarating was a brutal struggle, with atrocities on both environment.” Yet your publication consistently sides. Indians on the war path wiped out the Marines. He was raised in Redmond, entire towns in New England during King Oregon, and although he left the state after neglects to mention any of these contributions Philip’s War in the 17th century. graduation, he instilled in his family a love of when you write about new campus buildings. all things Oregon. We continue to visit every Your paean to the new Knight Campus is a Philip Ratcliff, BA ’79 (journalism) five years and Eugene is one of our favorite case in point. I look forward to future articles Salem, Oregon places. recognizing the many hands that work to I want to add that my father was a feminist improve the university campus and education. A Positive Perspective? before his time and he would have been so Robert Drucker proud to see the inclusive nature of OQ and Seattle, Washington Unfortunately, I will have to agree with the way it keeps systemic racism and other Anthony Traglio, BA ’76, (Winter 2021) social justice issues at the forefront. Keep up that the Quarterly has fallen into the trap of Dearth of Diversity the wonderful work!“Progressive thought” rather than take an Diversity, equity, and inclusion are in the educated look at the issues and present articles Marikathryn Nooe Oakley conversation everywhere these days, and on both sides—Liberal and Conservative! Neenah, Wisconsin rightly so. I’m pleased to see the magazine So much for an education that teaches UO continue to address it in various ways. But students “critical thinking” . . . how SAD! perhaps the discussion is not happening You have come to publish only on “thought at the top at the University of Oregon. I see that exhumes the negative” . . . rather than We want to hear from you. in the magazine masthead that only three “focus on the positive”! Submit your letters by email to quarterly@ of the top 11 administrators are women, As a UO grad who moved to San Diego uoregon.edu, at OregonQuarterly.com, or and two are “interim.” Seems a little out of and had a quite successful business career by mail to Editor, Oregon Quarterly, 5228 balance these days. in sales, I ask you: How successful would I University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403- have been if I “focused only on the negative”? 5228. Published letters may be edited for Patricia Squire, BS ’67 (journalism) Perhaps these students need to spend three brevity, clarity, and style. Lake Oswego, Oregon YOU DON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO EXPERIENCE UNFORGETTABLE Action packed adventures await in Southern Oregon. Between the true blue waters of Crater Lake and the prehistoric tunnels of the Oregon Caves is a land of lush farms, vineyards growing every variety of grape, wild rivers, waterfalls, hiking trails, breweries, craft coffee shops, restaurants, and picturesque downtowns to shop and stroll. Experience Southern Oregon hospitality from the center of it all. Choose from three unique Ashland properties. Downtown Ashland - Historic Ashland Springs Hotel Enjoy mineral soaking baths, historic ambiance, lush gardens, retro-modern design, and more. BOOK YOUR GETAWAY & SAVE! NeumanHotelGroup.com Ashland Springs Hotel • Lithia Springs Resort Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites • LARKS • Luna Cafe • Waterstone Spas 14 Campus News 17 Empowering through Education 18 Drawn to Science 22 Profile: Kara Clevinger, English BACK TO NATURE In her printmaking, art major Lily Cronn examines the natural world and how we engage with it. This 12- by 48-inch triptych of sunflowers (right) is titled 6pm—the time during late summer when the blooms start to shrivel, according to Cronn, a member of the class of 2021. “Often our perception of flowers and plant life hinges on this idea of visual perfection and objectification, which is not reflective of the life and natural cycles of the plant,” she says. “I find decay fascinating, beautiful, and reflective of the relentless passing of time.” YOU DON’T HAVE TO TRAVEL FAR TO EXPERIENCE UNFORGETTABLE Action packed adventures await in Southern Oregon. Between the true blue waters of Crater Lake and the prehistoric tunnels of the Oregon Caves is a land of lush farms, vineyards growing every variety of grape, wild rivers, waterfalls, hiking trails, breweries, craft coffee shops, restaurants, and picturesque downtowns to shop and stroll. Experience Southern Oregon hospitality from the center of it all. Choose from three unique Ashland properties. Downtown Ashland - Historic Ashland Springs Hotel Enjoy mineral soaking baths, historic ambiance, lush gardens, retro-modern design, and more. BOOK YOUR GETAWAY & SAVE! NeumanHotelGroup.com Ashland Springs Hotel • Lithia Springs Resort Ashland Hills Hotel & Suites • LARKS • Luna Cafe • Waterstone Spas THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 13 MORGEN OLSEN, PRODUCT DESIGN, CLASS OF 2022 intro CAMPUS NEWS Center of Attention RoseMarie Beatty credits the University of Oregon for providing, she says, “the roadmap of my life.” She’s helping other Black students reach their destinations, as well. The 1992 public relations graduate recently became the lead donor for the Lyllye Reynolds- Parker Black Cultural Center Scholarship Fund, which will create scholarships ranging from $750 to $5,000 for students affiliated with the Black Cultural Sociology major Isaiah Allen Center. Recipients will be chosen in the Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center based on factors including volunteer service to the Black Cultural Center, participation in Student Task Force in 2015. the Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies program, and the With the center open, Beatty encourages donors and alumni pursuit of a minor in Black studies. to step up to support scholarships and programming. Beatty, director of human resources at Donor Network West, “I was lucky,” she says. “I received scholarships as well as a Bay Area nonprofit for organ donation, was proud to see the significant financial support from my mother and grandmother, 2019 opening of the Black Cultural Center at 15th Avenue and which allowed me to graduate without any student loans. But I Villard Alley. The 3,200-square-foot facility serves as a portal had friends who were not so lucky. As alumni, we should help on Black heritage and culture and was sought by the Black open the doors for students.” Earthquake early warning has come University of Washington, among to the Pacific Northwest. other partners.ShakeAlert—a system that Warnings will be transmitted by provides critical seconds of warning the wireless emergency alert system— ahead of a major quake—is now available sometimes called the Amber Alert to the public in Oregon. Using more than system—that exists on all smartphones. 1,000 seismic sensors across the Pacific Oregonians are also encouraged to Northwest and West Coast, the system download and install apps that say detects earthquakes and delivers alerts to “powered by ShakeAlert”—experts say smartphones and other wireless devices, it’s preferable to have multiple warning while triggering sirens, emergency systems given alerting times can vary broadcasts, and other warnings. depending on the device. University of Oregon geophysicist Doug Says Toomey: “This is a monumental Toomey, other university researchers, achievement for the West Coast, for and the UO Oregon Hazards Lab are the state of Oregon, and for the many pivotal to the project, which is led by the individuals and groups that are US Geological Survey and includes the contributing to Oregon’s resilience.” 14 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 EDEN McCALL, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (BLACK CULTURAL CENTER) SOUNDS OF THE SEALS Weddell seals of Antarctica have long been known for their size (up to 1,000 pounds), appetites (some eat 100 pounds of fish daily), and swimming abilities (80-minute dives on one breath). Now hear this: they also regularly produce chirps, whistles, and trills at frequencies inaudible to humans. University of Oregon biologists Paul Cziko and Lisa Munger made the discovery after installing an ultrasensitive broadband digital hydrophone at their oceanographic observatory under the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Seventeen percent of the seals’ known call repertoire was found to be ultrasonic, or above the audible range for the human ear, they report. It’s a breakthrough in the understanding of pinnipeds—fin-footed mammals, including seals, sea lions, and walruses, which were thought to vocalize only at sonic levels. Still unknown is the purpose of the high-frequency calls—they could be for communication or a form of “echolocation,” a biological sonar used to navigate in limited visibility while locating friends, foes, or prey. “You never know what you’re going to find when you’ve got eyes and ears in the ocean, especially in Antarctica,” Cziko says. Sturdivant at the California Capitol in Sacramento “I was locked into the news and was in shock about the previous president refusing to accept the election results. I knew that being an electoral college voter really mattered.” —ERIN STURDIVANT, SOPHOMORE AND POLITICAL SCIENCE MAJOR, ON BEING AN ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTER IN CALIFORNIA THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 15 EDEN McCALL, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (BLACK CULTURAL CENTER) ELLIOT DeVRIES (SEALS); COURTESY OF ERIN STURDIVANT intro CAMPUS NEWS UO BY THE NUMBERS 63,810: COVID-19 tests performed through March 21 by the UO COVID-19 Monitoring and Assessment Program, the largest testing program in Lane County 24: Percentage of Oregonians who said they will not get vaccinated for COVID-19, in a December survey by Benjamin Clark, codirector of the Institute for Policy Research and Engagement 152.4 million: Dollars in 2019–20 grants, contracts, and competitive awards, issued to UO researchers in a record-setting cycle 3 million: Dollars the UO will receive, over 10 years, from a jury verdict in the Arco debit card class-action lawsuit, to pursue research that benefits Oregon consumers 19: Number of December days that Max, UO police chief Matt Carmichael’s German Shepherd, was missing after bolting from a Columbia River Gorge rest area (he was found, injured but alive, near The Dalles) 16 to 1: Current student-to-teacher ratio TRACK-AND-FIELD ATTRACTION Coming soon to public spots throughout Eugene: elements of Historic Hayward Field.Reconstruction of the University of Oregon’s iconic track-and-field venue began in 2018. Salvaged materials not used in the new stadium were recently made available through a community application process, and more than 15 groups and individuals proposing creative projects were awarded wood, metal, and other materials (to ensure community needs are met, individuals were unable to buy or take mementos). TrackTown USA plans to inlay pieces of wood into medals for top finishers at the US Olympic Team Trials, slated for June. The Oregon Track Club and the Eugene Airport will place a hands-on Hayward Field display near baggage claim, complete with original seats. Kidsports plans to use stair treads from the east grandstand to create benches in its new facility at Civic Park. “I’m honored to lead an effort to use the remnants of a building that meant so much to me personally for the benefit of an organization that serves so many in our community,” says Katy Polansky Garney, BS ’04 (business administration), MBA ’05 (general business), Seats from Historic Hayward Field a member of Kidsports’s board of directors. “I can see no greater use for this storied sports history than allowing it to continue through Kidsports’s mission of letting all kids play.” 16 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 NIC WALCOTT, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (CARMICHAEL FAMILY) intro PRISON EDUCATION PROGRAM Empowering through Education BY EMILY HALNON AU niversity of Oregon program that provides education to on televisions throughout the 14 prisons in Oregon.incarcerated Oregonians is expanding with a boost from the The prison education program partners with the Oregon Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, one of the largest supporters Humanities Center, the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics, of the arts and humanities in the United States. and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art to give incarcerated students Under the UO Prison Education Program, faculty members and access to community programs recorded on campus. Through the campus students have joined people who were incarcerated for award, a student who earned a bachelor’s degree through the UO discussion-oriented courses in Salem prisons. while incarcerated will be hired to manage the TV programming. The program developed from the UO Inside-Out Program in 2007, With the Mellon gift, educational packets will also be provided to building upon the national program of that name based at Temple individuals in special housing, including solitary confi nement and University, which brings college students together with incarcerated mental health units, and to those who are too infi rm to attend in- men and women to study as peers in a person activities. seminar behind prison walls. The UO At no time in my This expansion, according to Cohen, program has expanded to include not- was developed in response to requests for-credit workshops, book discussions, life previously had I from participants with the hope that these and distance-learning courses. Hundreds encountered such an off erings could be a gateway for additional of campus students and more than 1,000 intense concentration of education. He would like the UO to develop incarcerated people have gone through a model for colleges and universities the program, which has become one of the compassion and empathy nationwide that seek to expand access to largest in the nation. in a gathering of people. educational materials for those who are Program Director Shaul Cohen, an isolated during incarceration. associate professor of geography, says Says Cohen: “We see our work as studies have consistently shown that deeply intertwined with a core mission of higher education during incarceration the University of Oregon: to enhance the allows students to recognize and develop their abilities, helps people social, cultural, physical, and economic well-being of our students, fi nd employment, reduces the likelihood of returning to prison, and Oregon, the nation, and the world. according to the Rand Corporation, a global policy think tank, makes “A single day of education or a single course can be a transformative both prisons and society safer. experience for an incarcerated student.” For their part, participants say the impact of education can scarcely be measured. Emily Halnon is a staff writer for University Communications. “At no time in my life previously had I encountered such an intense concentration of compassion and empathy in a gathering of people,” says Bobby, an incarcerated participant. “Nothing could be of greater value.” Classes are off ered in geography, English, political science, sociology, environmental studies, philosophy, family and human services, and confl ict and dispute resolution. They have also been conducted in partnership with the Clark Honors College. While the pandemic has introduced new challenges, the future is promising. Due to coronavirus safety precautions, in-person classes have been suspended and technology constraints inside prisons have limited instruction to assignments such as readings and essays. But a $481,000 boost from the Mellon Foundation will enable the program to offer new educational opportunities to Oregonians in prison. The funds will support training and instruction for additional educators and will enable the broadcasting of more UO programming THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 17 NIC WALCOTT, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (CARMICHAEL FAMILY) intro COMICS STUDIES Rose Gibian Clark Honors College; art and technology, comics studies; class of 2021 Drawn to Science Partner: Tim Cohen, physics“I was trying to envision what an Researchers and students bring interdimensional creature that makes complex concepts to life universes would look like. They ended up through illustrations being these lava lamp-like creatures. Their bodies can move around and change color and shape based on how they’re feeling.” BY LEWIS TAYLOR The University of Oregon Science/Comics Interdisciplinary Research Program pairs students and science professors to create dynamic illustrations of subjects not normally seen in a comic book—complex concepts such as neuromodulation of brain states, biological populations in space, and the search for dark matter—in an artistic mode not normally seen in a textbook. Under the program, selected students receive fellowships of $1,000. Since its launch in spring 2020, the partnerships have given rise to a growing stack of brightly illustrated and entertaining comics that are used for science communication. Students and faculty members agree: the creative collaboration is challenging but enriching. “It was maybe the coolest experience I’ve had at the University of Oregon,” says Audra McNamee, a junior in the Clark Honors College majoring in math and computer science and minoring in environmental studies and comics and cartoon studies. “There’s this built-in hook with comics. It’s not like you’re picking up a novel or a scientific article . . . you can pick up a comic about anything. It’s friendly. It won’t bite.” The partnership is housed within the comics studies program, which offers a first-in-the-nation comics minor. Kate Kelp-Stebbins, associate director of the program and an assistant professor in the Department of English, says the fellowship offers great opportunities for students, makes science more accessible, and creates new interdisciplinary connections across the university. The brainchild of Tien-Tien Yu, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics, the collaborations are partially funded through a National Science Foundation grant that earmarks money for science with “broader impact.” “It’s a really fantastic way to bridge these two parts of campus that traditionally don’t have a whole lot of interaction with each other—the humanities and the hard sciences,” Yu says. “As a scientist, part of my goal is to make science more accessible in the sense that knowledge of the work that’s being done at UO belongs to everybody in the community. We should all have access to it and here’s this very digestible way of sharing that knowledge.” Lewis Taylor is communications director for the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation. 1 8 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 Chloe DaMommio Marine biology; class of 2022 Partner: Jayson Paulose, physics “This comic is so much better than something I could have made on my own. I can see it being one of the things I’m going to be proudest of in terms of art that I’ve created.” Audra McNamee Mary HubbertArt and technology, comics studies; class of 2021 Clark Honors College; mathematics and computer science, environmental Partner: Tien-Tien Yu, physics studies, comics studies; class of 2022 Partner: Luca Mazzucato, biology and mathematics “If you have a better understanding of “I love drawing things and I do have lots of things science, you can appreciate the technical I’m confused about. I want to research them and aspects of art better. If you also have an then explain them with comics. Comics offer appreciation of art, you can appreciate you the ability to lay out things in this gripping, the beauty of nature and science better. graphical way and both show things visually, and They work in tandem.” also keep people entertained visually.” THE HISTORY MUSEUM (POKAGON) intro LOST AND FOUND Parr’s Portuguese Water Dog, Savannah, will occasionally be accompanying her to campus contribute in a meaningful way,” Parr says. “This is something that people in the college have been doing for a long time.” Parr says the college and university must fl ex what she calls “our emancipatory imagination” for environmental and social justice, an argument she makes in her book, Birth of a New Earth (2017). “We have to be able to imagine a world that’s diff erent than the world we live in at the moment,” Parr says. “And imagine a diff erent kind of relationship to—not just to one another but to people we’ve never met, and to future generations.” Patrick Phillips, provost and senior vice president, says, “The College of Design is somewhat unique nationally in the scope of its educational programs and the breadth of its scholarly and creative work. Adrian’s work and background, which span art, analysis, criticism, and policy work, match this breadth nearly perfectly. We are very fortunate to have her joining us as dean.” Since 2013, Parr has served as chair on water and human settlements for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. An Explorer The new dean of the College of Design has This appointment has sent her on site been described as a philosopher, poet, cultural visits around the globe, from rural Tanzania critic, environmental activist, author (she’s to the Rohingya areas of Bangladesh, to by Design written eight books), and fi lmmaker (her 2016 north of the Arctic Circle. One visit, to the documentary, The Intimate Realities of Water, slums of Nairobi, particularly shaped Parr’s won more than a dozen awards, including philosophy and trajectory. She spent time with Adrian Parr will help the UO Best Documentary at the 2016 United four women who lived in shacks, trying to fl ex its imagination in the International Independent Film Festival). understand how water and sanitation aff ected pursuit of environmental But after a lifetime of getting lost on their everyday lives. and social justice purpose to better know the world, perhaps “I would accompany them collecting water, “explorer” is the title most suited to Parr, given washing clothes, taking care of their children,” BY ALEX NOTMAN CIPOLLE her curiosities and breadth of experience. The Parr says. “It may sound corny, but there is such latter includes an interdisciplinary scholarly a strength of character, in the face of adversity, As a kid in Sydney—growing up at the acumen that connects the dots between in all the women I spent time with. As a theorist confl uence of the Blue Mountains, architecture and cultural criticism, aesthetics, and philosopher, it does underscore the fact the Australian bush, and the Pacifi c political theory, and environmental studies. that there are so many other ways of knowing Ocean—Adrian Parr liked to get lost. An activist at heart, Parr sees her work— the world. Not everything can always be “I used to play this game where I’d like to and the college’s longstanding commitment summarized by reason and logic.” see how lost I could get until that moment to sustainability—dovetailing nicely with the What she learned from these women Parr where you get a little freaked out and think, university’s new environment initiative, a focus included in the documentary, The Intimate ‘I’ve gone too far off the path,’” says Parr, her on bringing design and other areas of expertise Realities of Water. She wanted the women to accent mellowed after nearly two decades in to bear toward environmental and social justice. represent themselves in their own terms and the United States. “The college is incredibly well-poised to calls the film a collective undertaking. Parr 2 0 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 SHIRLEY CHE STUDIOS We have to be able to imagine a her aunt, who lived next door to the Parr home in Sydney, is multimedia artist Julie Rrap. world that’s different than the When Parr, an only child, wasn’t wandering the forest or world we live in at the moment. bodysurfing, she tagged along with her family on art adventures, traveling in a station wagon to exhibitions throughout Europe. “Those are my formative childhood years,” Parr says. “It was very free.” sends funds raised through screenings of the documentary back to Parr comes to the UO from the University of Texas at Arlington, the women. where she was dean of the College of Architecture, Planning, and “As a white woman coming in and benefiting from this, I wanted Public Affairs. She holds a PhD in cultural studies and philosophy to create a structure where they were also beneficiaries of the from Monash University in Melbourne and a master of arts from the research,” Parr says. Department of Politics and Philosophy at Deakin University in Geelong. Parr’s commitment to resilience and justice will buttress the Joining Parr in Eugene is husband and Associate Professor Michael college’s own priorities, be that the School of Architecture & Zaretsky (MArch ’98)—the new head of the Department of Architecture— Environment’s Design for Spatial Justice Initiative or the School and their middle school-age son, Yehuda, and high school-age daughter, of Planning, Public Policy and Management’s newly launched Shoshanna. (Their oldest son, Lucien, lives in Cincinnati but is Sustainable Communities and Public Good academic residential considering a move to Eugene.) And, of course, their beloved Portuguese community (ARC). Created by University Housing, the ARCs Water Dog, Savannah, has become a Eugene resident as well. are programs that help students find a community based around “I’m sure everyone at the UO will get to meet Savannah at some point, shared interests and passions for inquiry. because I often bring her with me to things,” says Parr, laughing. Parr has also had a lifelong engagement in the cultivation of arts. She is related to two world-renowned contemporary artists: Alex Notman Cipolle, MA ’11 (journalism), is a staff writer for the her father is performance artist and printmaker Mike Parr and College of Design. THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 21 intro PROFILE Kara Students often learn best when they learn from each other. Kara Clevinger is making it happen, despite a global pandemic.Or more accurately, because of a global pandemic: with the Clevinger temporary shift to remote teaching, the assistant department head adopted methods that are inspiring students and educators alike. Clevinger is playing to strengths of the online realm, bringing students together for courses—she teaches SENIOR INSTRUCTOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH composition and 19th-century BY MATT COOPER, OREGON QUARTERLY American novels—and also the PHOTO BY JULIA WAGNER, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS human connections people need to be healthy, especially in a time of isolation. Working with colleague Nick Recktenwald, Clevinger last spring guided peers through the herculean job of redesigning classroom-based curricula for computers and laptops. For students, she incorporated thought-provoking online discussion boards for each assignment; the give-and-take between students posting comments and exploring each other’s ideas quickly became so enriching her own conversation prompts went unnoticed. For her eff orts, Clevinger received a UO Remote Teaching award. “With online instruction, students have much more time to process questions and think about their responses,” Clevinger says. “It’s also more democratic—it’s not just whoever is the bravest and speaks up in class, everybody is speaking and everybody’s voice has the same weight. “Peer-to-peer interaction is so helpful to their learning—they raise the level for each other. My students are producing far better writing in my online classes than my in-person classes because of that engaged discussion. It’s so cool to see.” 2 2 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 2021 CONNECTING OVER KANYE BOOKMARKS Clevinger also established a SHORT TAKES: Latest titles of interest from alumni and faculty discussion board for nonacademic authors. Visit oregonquarterly.com/bookmarks for more, or to purposes. Students can weigh in on almost anything that comes to mind. submit a book for consideration. “It’s basically, ‘Hey, what are you doing to keep sane during this pandemic?’” Clevinger says. “Students have shared their paintings or that they’re learning to play guitar—we’ve had a conversation about best Kanye West albums, and I’ve learned what’s cool for me to stay young and hip. It’s important they feel connected. It helps all of us persist through this—I draw inspiration from them, too. If they can keep going and stay positive, I can too.” PRIORITIZING PRACTICE Becoming a better writer is about doing it over and over, and often coming up short. But failure is anathema for students who live in a world of grade point averages and test scores. Clevinger circumvents this with labor- based grading: students are assessed in part on how much eff ort they put into writing, not just what they produce. GAGA FOR A WAWA PRETZEL A native of Philadelphia, Clevinger has acclimated to the Pacifi c Northwest in all ways but one: she dearly misses her beloved Wawa pretzels, a staple of the Wawa convenience store chain on the East Coast known for these salty-soft, doughy delights. Caspar David Friedrich: Nature planning, public policy and “A Wawa pretzel is so clutch—when and the Self by Nina Amstutz, management, Timothy W. Wood, Cristy assistant professor of history of art Coughlin, and Caitlin Rasplica Khoury you hit a Wawa store and they’ve and architecture just made a fresh batch and they’re Buckets by Grant Lemons, BS ’15 hot, you’ve scored,” Clevinger says, The Unanswered Letter: One (advertising) and Phillip Nguyen laughing. “You have to experience it, Holocaust Family’s Desperate Plea and then you’ll know.” for Help by Faris Cassell, MS ’90 The Trail Back Out by Jadi Campbell, (journalism) BA ’80 (English, women’s studies) All Students Can Succeed: A Half Caregiving for Alzheimer’s Disease: Century of Research on the A Personal Journey by William Effectiveness of Direct Instruction by Harris, BS ’64, MS ’65 (political science) Jean Stockard, professor emerita, THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 2 3 AN OPEN MIND UO neuroscience— an area of research excellence and a popular new major— promises to unlock how the brain works BY JASON STONE In the 21st century, one of the most thrilling fronti ers of human thought is the instrument of inquiry itself. “Perhaps the greatest discovery of humankind is the realizati on that the mind—its thoughts, emoti ons, memories, and aspirati ons—is the result of patt erns of acti vity bouncing around inside the most complex structure in the known universe,” says David McCormick, a biologist and neuroscienti st at the University of Oregon. That sounds grandiose, but it’s no exaggerati on. When you start looking into the human brain, even the basic numbers are mind- boggling. You have about 86 billion neurons, each with around 1,000 connecti ons to other cells. Neural impulses speed through your head at around 260 miles per hour. You’ve doubtless heard the brain compared to a computer. Well, check out these tech specs: your 100 trillion synapses and 100,000 miles of axons perform, on average, 10 quadrillion operati ons per second, and your head contains 2.5 million gigabytes of storage space. If absorbing all this data makes your brain 24 O R E G O N Q U A R T E R LY | S P R I N G 202 1 AN hurt, that’s an illusion. While the body’s sensati on of pain occurs inside the brain, your gray matt er itself has zero pain receptors.At the UO, smart people have had brains on their minds for decades. From FACULTY innovati ve beginnings half a century ago, neuroscience has grown into an academic endeavor that connects scholars across disciplines, advances the university’s RESEARCH internati onal reputati on, and drives important research breakthroughs. OPEN H I G H L I G H T SAN INTELLECTUAL HOMEWhile many insti tuti ons labored to fi nd an intellectual home for this emerging discipline, at the UO a culture of research collaborati on provided a solid foundati on. A multi disciplinary faculty group established the Insti tute of Neuroscience (ION) in 1979, to build, as its website states, “a highly collaborati ve, integrated group where biologists and psychologists work together to dissect the development and functi on of the nervous system.” Biologist Judith Eisen, whose Administered through ION, a graduate program in neuroscience soon developed, research on early development focuses off ering robust training to students across disciplines. The Center for Translati onal on individually identi fi ed neurons, was Neuroscience (CTN) was founded in 2015 to promote transformati ve science for elected to the American Academy of social change and train graduate researchers. And in the fall of 2020, neuroscience Arts and Sciences in 2018. debuted as one of the UO’s newest undergraduate majors. In laboratories and classrooms across campus and beyond, UO researchers are At the Phil and Penny Knight tackling questi ons that will help shape our future understanding of the brain and its Campus for Accelerating Scientific peripheral nervous system. Impact, neuroengineer Tim What mechanisms generate the brain’s large diversity of neurons? How do these Gardner is unlocking clues to the neurons “wire up” into functi onal circuits, and how do the circuits produce behavior? workings of short-term memory by What are the circuits of reward, addicti on, memory, and cogniti ve fl exibility? studying birdsong. Such questi ons are more than just academic. Centered as it is on the essence of what makes us human, neuroscience is being used with life-changing impact. While medical applicati ons of neuroscience may be the fi rst use that comes to mind, neuroscience research fi ndings are also widely used in fi elds including business, technology, law, mental wellness, government, and educati on. Professor and Philip H. Knight Chair Phil Fisher, director of the Center for Translati onal Neuroscience, is an expert in child development who studies the eff ects of early, traumati c experiences, such as child abuse and neglect, and strives to address them. In EEG data, Nicole Swann, “At CTN we are conducti ng world-class research using our state-of-the-science an assistant professor in human faciliti es to understand the basic brain mechanisms that underlie both mental physiology, found markers that can health diffi culti es and well-being across the lifespan,” he says. aid the diagnosis of Parkinson’s “We employ these discoveries to craft innovati ve interventi on and preventi on disease and fi ne-tune therapeuti c programs that can be implemented at scale, in setti ngs around the United States treatments for motor disorders. and globally. We also focus intensively on eff ecti ve science communicati ons in order to impact social policy.” Jennifer Pfeifer, of the Center for Fisher’s lab houses a research program that helps children and families facing economic and social adversity. The center also includes researchers campus- Translati onal Neuroscience, addresses wide whose work runs the gamut of stages of human development, addressing adolescent anxiety and mood disorders everything from academic achievement and adolescent risk-taking to smoking by using neuroimaging to study brain cessati on and cancer preventi on. development and structure. “CTN’s pipeline from basic science to programs to policy is unique to the UO and has evolved in the strongly collaborati ve and entrepreneurial culture of this university,” Fisher says. “I’m not sure it could have happened anywhere else.” WIDE-RANGING BENEFITS McCormick, Presidenti al Chair and director of ION, says the insti tute is similarly engaged in research that benefi ts humanity. Discoveries made at the UO are Biology professor Shawn Lockery’s enabling progress in diagnosing Parkinson’s disease, detecti ng infant hearing research on the neuronal basis of problems, fi ne-tuning motor disorders, and improving short-term memory. behavior led to major innovati ons in “I’m parti cularly excited about a $5 million grant we’ve recently received from the the use of roundworms (C. elegans) Nati onal Insti tutes of Health,” he says. “Along with fi ve of my colleagues spanning a for lab work and drug discovery. T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F O R E G O N 25 CLOCKWISE FROM TOP RIGHT CORNER: Philip Fisher, of the Center for Translational Neuroscience; the UO pioneered the use of zebrafish now used internationally for research; Breyaundra Woods, class of 2022, works in the Social and Affective Neuroscience (SAN) Laboratory, which studies human goals and motivation. BELOW: In the lab of biology professor Chris Doe, of the Institute of Neuroscience, research focuses on Drosophila—the common fruit fly—and the development of stem cells into neural circuits. Lab students (left to right) Kate Walsh, Keiko Hirono, Mubarak Syed, Aref Zarin (sitting), Casey Doe (Chris’s son), Emily Sales, and Sen-Lin Lai in Room 303 of the Lewis Integrative Sciences Building in 2019. number of disciplines, I’m part of a team that will investi gate research is especially relevant now, when we are in this world cogniti ve fl exibility—the neural mechanisms behind our ability where there’s oft en just too many things going on for us.” to quickly shift our att enti on among diff ering tasks. This project is just the kind of collaborati ve research challenge that att racted me to Oregon in the fi rst place. Outside of the UO, there are MODELING THE BRAIN’S BUILDING BLOCKS only a couple of other places in the world that have the number While some neuroscienti sts concentrate on biology and of people and skill sets and a criti cal mass like we do for this anatomy and others focus on patt erns of behavior, sti ll others parti cular type of research.” specialize in theoreti cal and computati onal methods. Ulti mately, the researchers hope to address conditi ons such Luca Mazzucato, an assistant professor in biology and as att enti on defi cit disorder, schizophrenia, and other psychiatric mathemati cs and a coprincipal investi gator on the NIH diseases. But the potenti al outcomes could also help everyone grant, explores human behavior through stati sti cal physics, focus on the competi ng tasks of learning, work, and daily life. informati on theory, and machine learning. He notes that the Biologist Cris Niell, a coprincipal investi gator on the grant, notes “knowledge experts” from various fi elds bring more than that the project has parti cular resonance in the current era. their own research methods to UO neuroscience—each “So many of us are facing additi onal responsibiliti es discipline also contributes a diff erent lens of understanding. and distracti ons,” Niell says. “We have kids at home doing “The theoreti cal part of neuroscience is based on neural schoolwork and we’re trying to avoid scrolling on our phones networks—these are the most fascinati ng objects to me,” to fi gure out who won the electi on and things like that. This Mazzucato says. “While a colleague trained in biology 26 O R E G O N Q U A R T E R LY | S P R I N G 202 1 NIC WALCOTT, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (SAN LAB AND NGUYEN, OPPOSITE PAGE); CHRIS DOE (ION LAB); CHARLIE LITCHFIELD, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (FISHER, ZEBRAFISH) NEW MAJOR IN N E U R O S C I E N C E Nicole Dudukovic, a senior instructor of psychology and faculty member with the Robert D. Clark Honors College, is fascinated by memories, how they change over ti me, and why two people may Neuroscience major Minh Anh Nguyen remember the same event diff erently. connects UO mentors and high Asked to recall her inspirati on for helping to school students from underserved communities interested in STEM create a neuroscience major at the UO, she says the reason research and healthcare careers was obvious. “Given the existi ng faculty excellence in neuroscience at the UO, it seemed like a no-brainer—pun intended— will tend to picture them as an organic system and a to create a neuroscience major,” says Dudukovic, who computer scienti st will think of them more algorithmically, directs the new undergraduate program. “There’s a lot of as programs—with my training in physics, I tend to picture dynamic energy and trending awareness surrounding this something more like a spin glass, a physical substrate.” fi eld, and I think this is a great example of the UO building Cogniti ve functi ons emerge from the collecti ve acti ons of further in an area of strength.” many, many neurons, he explains, and experimental research The fi rst of its kind at a public university in Oregon, now furnishes massive data sets of these neural impulses. the major is already popular, especially among students Theoreti cal physics, in turn, is used to interpret all that data. interested in careers in research or healthcare. Since the “My research takes experimental data on animal behavior, program debuted last fall, 88 students have signed up to and neural data, and puts them together to build a model pursue a bachelor of science or arts in neuroscience. that hopefully can explain the computati on that occurs in a Breyaundra Woods, a junior from San Diego, says she certain brain area to produce a behavior, our sense of vision wanted to sign up on the same day she learned that the or taste, or even how we make decisions,” Mazzucato says. new major became offi cial. While neuroscienti sts are making breakthroughs in “Neuroscience pools knowledge from many diff erent training arti fi cial neural networks to learn and perform programs, and I think of the major as a bridge that will help tasks, Mazzucato says his work is more connected to undergraduates identi fy and connect with their specifi c foundati onal biology. areas of research interest,” Woods says. “Everyone is very “I want to have a model that not only explains the cogniti ve excited about the potenti al to pull people together from functi on we study but also reproduces the building blocks diff erent parts of campus and form something like a family.” of the brain—the neurons and chemical processes,” he says. Isabelle Cullen, a senior from Dover, New Hampshire, “The work my lab is doing with computati onal models is has always been moti vated to understand auti sm performed in constant dialogue with my colleagues’ labs, spectrum disorder. The new major is the one she’s been where they work with living brains. A lot of our work at ION waiti ng for. is done in this way, as a close collaborati on between theorists “This is a great major specifi cally for students and experimental researchers.” who want to get directly involved in research as The future of neuroscience looks expansive, reaching far undergraduates,” says Cullen, who is planning to apply beyond the lab and clinic. The Society for Neuroscience for PhD and MD/PhD programs. predicts the next 50 years will be a golden era of “There are so many diff erent types of research you can neurotherapeutics, filled with leading-edge research do—from molecular, cellular, behavioral, anatomical, and driving major advances in human health, wellness, computati onal, to more exploratory types of research— economies, and societies. and UO students have the opportunity to get connected At the UO, there’s a palpable, positi ve energy as the new with some of the top people in the fi eld.” major ramps up and neuroscienti sts grow increasingly Neuroscience majors are encouraged to get hands- confi dent their discipline is at the verge of new breakthroughs on experience in a lab and can also hone science and tantalizingly close to solving the human mind’s whole, communicati ons, computati onal, and programming skills. It’s monumental puzzle—one with countless pieces. all part of the rigorous preparati on necessary for advanced “There is literally a neural circuit of anything human,” studies and rewarding careers in this dynamic fi eld. McCormick refl ects. “Art, love, music, economics, friendship— “In creati ng this major,” Dudukovic says, “we thought even fascinati on with the brain.” about the kinds of qualiti es that our faculty look for in Jason Stone is a sta writer for University Communications. prospecti ve graduate students, and we designed the major so that it provides this kind of training.” Visit around. uoregon.e du/neuroscience for more. T H E M A G A Z I N E O F T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F O R E G O N 27 NIC WALCOTT, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (SAN LAB AND NGUYEN, OPPOSITE PAGE); CHRIS DOE (ION LAB); CHARLIE LITCHFIELD, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS (FISHER, ZEBRAFISH) GLASS CEILINGS BY ED DORSCH PHOTO BY DUSTIN WHITAKER, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS Nicole Wales has distinguished herself through research into the physical properties of glass— and by what she’s overcome 28 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 I was,” Wales says. “Ambulance rides and staying overnight in the hospital are expensive. That was prett y tough. It took years of working, oft en two jobs at a ti me, to pay everything off .” She worked at Taco Bell and Umpqua Bank. She had sti nts as a tugboat deckhand and a process server for local att orneys (Wales describes the latt er as the most dangerous job she’s ever had). But she persisted, paid her icole Wales will probably not be the only medical bills, and returned to SOCC to take more classes, University of Oregon senior graduati ng this even though she had earned her associate’s degree. June with dreams of becoming a science Wales explored becoming a pharmacist, shadowed a local professor. And there will also be others surgeon, and conti nued learning unti l she ran out of science who represent the fi rst in their family to courses to take. Then she heard about the UO’s Scholarships att end college. for Oregon Scienti sts, a program for incoming physics, However, few of her fellow Ducks spent chemistry, and biochemistry majors. their spare ti me mapping their own brain “I thought I might as well try,” Wales says. She was using an MRI scan and learning code so they accepted and enrolled at the university in 2017. could research the physics of melti ng glass. What really sets “Once I got that scholarship for the UO, I knew I couldn’t pass Wales apart, though, are the challenges she overcame just to get it up,” she says. “That was amazing. It changed everything for to the university, let alone thrive as a scholar and researcher. me. Once I got to campus, things started to pick up.” “I’m an underdog,” says the 28-year-old chemistry and But adjusti ng to university life was challenging. Wales physics major from Coos Bay. “My mom was a bartender felt alienated and struggled to overcome a misconcepti on and my dad was a diesel mechanic. There was never any that she didn’t belong or have what it takes to succeed— expectati on that I would pursue a college degree. But I imposter syndrome. decided to try anyway.” “Between the ages of 19 and 24, I was fi ghti ng every step of While she was growing up, her family didn’t have a the way just to get an inch closer to school,” Wales says. “This computer or internet access. But Wales worked hard at North was in sharp contrast to most of my peers. For them, college Bend High School, earned a 3.93 GPA, graduated in 2010, and was simply something they were expected to do.” excelled at Southwestern Oregon Community College (SOCC). Sti ll, she persisted, receiving Diversity Excellence and Then she faced the fi rst of several diffi cult challenges that Mercer Family Foundati on scholarships. And she volunteered delayed—but never quashed—her promising academic with the Boys and Girls Club of Emerald Valley, working to career. In 2013, her father died by suicide. help girls interested in science. “That was the day I hope will be the worst of my life,” Wales Wales decided to major in chemistry, and thanks to a says. “I can’t even begin to describe the heartbreak. But I can Presidenti al Undergraduate Research Scholarship, she studied say that I would eventually bust through this trauma with a solar cells with Mark Lonergan, a professor of chemistry and relentless new drive.” biochemistry. Then she discovered physics, adding a second Then another setback. Wales suff ers from Graves’ disease, major even though it required another year of school. an autoimmune disorder that aff ects the thyroid. Aft er being Elsa Johnson taught Wales in a physics lab course and became dropped from her deceased father’s health insurance, she a mentor, advising her about research, academics, and careers. tried in vain to fi nd coverage. But this was before current laws “I’ve had some great students, but Nicole just stood out,” that regulate the coverage of preexisti ng conditi ons. says Johnson. “She’s gone through so much tragedy, but she She was unable to get the prescripti on medicati on she needed. kept on going. I knew she was smart, so I encouraged her Left untreated, her conditi on culminated in a thyrotoxic storm—a because I knew she could handle pressure. life-threatening conditi on that could have been easily prevented. “I’ve seen hard-working, smart students waste energy “I woke up in the emergency room and didn’t know where doubti ng their abiliti es because they don’t receive much THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 29 “I don’t give up—ever. I may not The project is part of her Ronald E. McNair Scholarship, a presti gious nati onal program to help students from be the smartest person in any underrepresented segments of society earn graduate degrees. She’s exploring “jamming,” a phenomenon related to the given room. But I’m usually the glass transiti on. Grains of sand can fl ow through your fi ngers like liquid. Pack that sand ti ghtly in a bucket, though, and it most tenacious.” will act more like a solid because those grains are jammed. Wales maps out thousands of possible confi gurati ons of feedback other than a grade. If they lack confi dence, it’s imaginary parti cles in three dimensions, exploring how one diffi cult for them to ask for advice or promote themselves. packing leads to another. What happens, for instance, to Most likely no one is encouraging them to join this lab packed sand when you give it a bump? Do all the grains of or apply for that internship. As a teacher, I tried to push sand rearrange? Or are there a few grains of sand, buried talented students, parti cularly those like Nicole who needed deep in the packing, that move much more than any others? encouragement, to get their names out there and apply.” The answer could reveal secrets about the glass transiti on. Wales met Associate Professor Eric Corwin in fall 2019 “I had to teach myself to program with Python over when she started Foundati ons of Physics, a three-course the summer,” Wales recalls. “My frustrati on trying to sequence. Nicole was a standout student, Corwin recalls; communicate with my computer drove me to tears more when Wales asked if she could join his lab, his answer was an than a few ti mes. I like to stand on my own two feet. That’s exuberant yes. the biggest hurdle I’ve had to overcome in research. I love Wales was accepted to the Nati onal Science Foundati on’s fi guring things out by myself, and I’m stubborn about that to a Research Experiences for Undergraduates summer 2020 fault. I don’t give up—ever. I may not be the smartest person program at the Massachusett s Insti tute of Technology but had in any given room. But I’m usually the most tenacious.” to cancel the trip because of the pandemic. This fearlessness and perseverance is a great combinati on However, that gave her more ti me to help Corwin for a researcher, according to Corwin. MAI NCE D IR investi gate the glass transiti on problem, a physics mystery “Nicole is willing to try new things that she doesn’t know NTAINE E I RIGATION that conti nues to vex researchers worldwide. Glass may be a how to do yet,” he says. “That can be scary. But it’s important SIG LAT common and widely used material, but what exactly happens in physics to push beyond the familiar and the comfortable. N & INSTAL at the molecular level when it changes from solid to liquid She also has the ability to accomplish her research goals. The (and vice versa) remains unclear. combinati on of these two traits makes her special as a scienti st.” Consider a pitcher of ice water, says Corwin: The ice cubes Wales hopes to someday join a university faculty, combining WHO WE ARE are clearly solid, with a crystal structure that’s visibly diff erent her interests in research and teaching with an irrepressible from liquid water. As the ice cubes melt, they become liquid. passion for science. Our mission at Graham Landscape & Design is to serve. Plain and simple. We are at The water exists in the pitcher in two disti nct forms. “I genuinely love physics and the challenges it presents,” our clients’ service to help them enjoy the kind of life they deserve. Our main vehicle Glass is dramati cally diff erent. In solid form, it’s rigid like she says. “Physics is literally everywhere, everything, and for this service is the creation, installation, and maintenance of beautiful landscapes crystal but—unlike crystal—the molecules are disordered. always working!” that our clients love to come home to in Albany, Coburg, Corvallis, Cottage Grove, And glass shift s from solid to liquid very gradually as it heats. As she looks back on everything she’s gone through and Eugene, Junction City, Roseburg, Springfield, Veneta, and the surrounding areas. That’s why a glass blower can create arti sti c shapes. Try that the accomplishment of earning her diploma, Wales conti nues technique with ice, and you’ll just get wet. looking forward. She’s applied to 22 graduate programs, Call us at 541-729-8029 for a FREE estimate today! This gradual, gooey transiti on is one reason glass is such a including MIT, Stanford, and the UO. useful material. Understanding this transiti on bett er could “Mom said, ‘Whatever you want to do, just do it,’” Wales says. lead to innovati ons in manufacturing. Imagine, says Corwin, “She’s very proud of me every day, even those days I don’t feel EXPERIENCED. INNOVATIVE. SUSTAINABLE. cars produced by injecti ng molten metallic glass into a mold. so special and great. My dad would be really proud, I know.” Pandemic precauti ons forced Wales to change her glass research plans. Instead of lab-based experiments, she Ed Dorsch, BA ’94 (English, sociology), MA ’99 (journalism), is a sta writer for University Communications. focused on computer coding, which enables her to work from GRAHAM-LANDSCAPE.COM GRAHAM LANDSCAPE & DESIGN home and conduct experiments using parti cle simulati ons. 541-729-8029 P.O. BOX 5125 30 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 LCB # 8920 EUGENE, OREGON 97405 ON MAI ENT IAINENC D RE I RIGATIONSIG TN A& INSTAL L WHO WE ARE Our mission at Graham Landscape & Design is to serve. Plain and simple. We are at our clients’ service to help them enjoy the kind of life they deserve. Our main vehicle for this service is the creation, installation, and maintenance of beautiful landscapes that our clients love to come home to in Albany, Coburg, Corvallis, Cottage Grove, Eugene, Junction City, Roseburg, Springfield, Veneta, and the surrounding areas. Call us at 541-729-8029 for a FREE estimate today! EXPERIENCED. INNOVATIVE. SUSTAINABLE. GRAHAM-LANDSCAPE.COM GRAHAM LANDSCAPE & DESIGN 541-729-8029 P.O. 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All rights reserved. 20-PO-04228 (12/20) On A i r S t r e am i n g On Demand Enjoy live-hosted classical programming KWAX is a listener-supported service every weekday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. with Streaming live at kwax.com and on Tune of the University of Oregon. We would Peter van de Graaff and Rocky Lamanna. In, Internet Radio, and more! appreciate your support at www.kwax.uoregon.edu/contribute 32 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 34 The “Burnout Generation” 36 On the Watch 38 Capturing Protests 50 Duck Tale: Classroom 15 WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, STREET FAIRE? Once, we had Street Faire—the twice- annual bazaar during which Ducks packed 13th Avenue, perusing tents with handmade candles, wall-sized James Dean posters, and exotic jewelry while vendors offered a mouth-watering menu of ethnic meals. Alas, the fall 2020 and spring ’21 events were canceled due to pandemic concerns, leaving our wallets unnecessarily full and our stomachs unpleasantly empty. All hope turns to the prospect of a fall Faire in October, which will require—as with this talented trio at the fall event in ’84—juggling the health of the campus community and our hunger to have a good time. THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 33 SPECIAL COLLECTIONS AND UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES, UO LIBRARIES Old Oregon COMING OF AGE Petersen, a Millennial herself, says the generation is mischaracterized as lazy and entitled Boosting the “Burnout Generation” BY SHARLEEN NELSON Anne Helen Petersen knows a little bit about Millennials. She As a University of is one. And when her BuzzFeed article, “How Millennials Oregon graduate student, Became the Burnout Generation,” went viral in 2019— Petersen and her cohorts surpassing seven million readers and becoming the online news used as their mantra a platform’s most-read article of the year—she knew she’d hit a nerve. phrase that would later The essay became the source of her 2020 book, Can’t Even: How make it into her book: Millennials Became the Burnout Generation, detailing the challenges for “Everything good is bad. children born between 1981 and 1996. Everything bad is good.” Even though they felt bad about constantly Based on a nationwide survey, historic and academic research, working, they convinced themselves that it was good and that leisure hundreds of interviews with Millennials, and her own experiences, time was bad. Petersen, MA ’07 (English), contends that despite being characterized “We felt guilty about it,” Petersen says. “We said it as a joke, but it in the media as lazy, entitled, and self-obsessed, most Millennials are, was always really true.” in fact, confi dent, ambitious, and achievement-driven. The coronavirus pandemic—what Petersen calls the “great This nurtured and groomed-for-success generation did everything equalizer”—underscored not only this struggle between work and it was told was right but, through no fault of their own, things went leisure, but exposed decades of systemic racism and laid bare the terribly wrong. precariousness of the US economy, she says. As businesses shuttered, Burdened by decades of bad economic policies, crippling college loan the reality of the types of jobs people held and how many jobs it often debt, and the worst job market since the Great Depression, countless takes to make ends meet, brought gender, race, and class issues into overqualifi ed Millennials mired in low-paying jobs have put off adult stark focus. milestones such as saving money, buying a home, or having children. “What COVID has done, not just for Millennials, but for society, “What happened with Millennials,” Petersen says, “is a story of has given us this moment of clarity, a real moment of pause,” Petersen gradual accumulation. It’s not like some mass tragedy that happened says. “All of these things that I talk about in the book were apparent all at once. The policies that were put in place that led to this were before, but Americans are very good at brushing things under the implemented when we were kids or even before we were born. It’s table instead of addressing some of the larger problems that we have, been a sort of slow-motion crisis. and that’s certainly true when it comes to race, and it’s certainly true “There’s only so much people can take. People can break. You can when it comes to economics and equality.” bend and bend and bend to this idea of productivity, precarity, and From the pandemic, the concept of the hybrid workplace and the debt, but then at some point, it breaks people.” future of working from home sparked a collaborative book project 34 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 ERIC MATT What COVID has done, not the Golden Age of American Cinema (2014) and Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too just for Millennials, but for Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman (2017). “She [Karlyn] was incredibly influential,” Petersen says. “The very society, has given us this first class I took at the University of Oregon was called Female Stars, moment of clarity, a real and it opened my eyes to the way female stardom works and to celebrity and celebrity studies, which became my eventual focus of study.” moment of pause. Changing careers turned out great for her, but is she still burnt out? Sometimes. Does she follow her own advice? No, not always. Petersen concedes there are no easy answers or quick fixes for an entire generation’s problems, but the book was never intended to between Petersen and her partner, Charlie Warzel, a tech writer for provide Millennials with a self-help list for avoiding burnout. the New York Times, set for release at the end of the year. Petersen Still, it’s a start. By acknowledging the issues, providing historical contributes to the Times and other publications and produces Culture context, and offering a call to action that it doesn’t have to be this way, Study, a weekly newsletter on the publishing platform Substack. Millennials can take steps to change behaviors. She wanted to be a film studies professor, but the recession and a The pandemic shone a glaring light on serious problems beyond bottoming-out of the academic job market led her to revisit an interest burnout, and Petersen hopes Millennials will also seize this in popular culture and celebrity studies cultivated at the UO. opportunity to find solidarity with others and work for real change. Petersen keeps in regular contact with cinema studies department “I’m hopeful that people are mad,” she says. “And I hope we can head Priscilla Peña Ovalle, former advisor Michael Aronson, and keep that feeling long enough to summon the political will to enact English department Professor Emerita Julia Lesage, who, she says, even larger changes.” “still reads everything that I write.” She was also inspired by Professor Sharleen Nelson, BS ’06 (journalism: magazine, news editorial), is a staff Emerita Kathleen Karlyn, of English and cinema studies, to pen two writer for University Communications. books: Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from Discover Newport at Sunset The Coast You Remember 1-800-COAST44 DISCOVERNEWPORT.COM THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 35 Old Oregon INTERNATIONAL STUDIES On the Watch Lifelong interest in human rights leads to career in advocacy uring her first days on the job at BY EMILY E. SMITHD The international organization investigates Human Rights Watch in 2018, human rights abuses in nearly 100 countries. Namratha Somayajula got a glimpse As a senior associate, Somayajula assists of the work that goes into exposing human researchers working on poverty, inequality, rights violations and advocating for change. and corporate accountability issues. She helped prepare a report on She contributes background research, deregulation of the coal industry and the drafts correspondence, communicates with effects on workers’ health and access to human rights partners, and helps prepare the clean water in Appalachian coal towns. Her division’s press releases, reports, and other role was minor, she says, but the project products for publication. struck a nerve. Somayajula also pens op-eds and blog “I had really never made that direct posts on environmental justice and workers’ association between environmental rights. She’s covered the use of forced labor deregulation and how that impacts the health in Uzbekistan’s cotton fields, the importance of coal workers,” says Somayajula, BA ’17 Namratha Somayajula of access to clean water amid the COVID-19 (Clark Honors College, international studies). pandemic, and US consumer protections. The work reaffirmed for her that terrible The family returned to the states in 2006 “Writing on these topics allows me to shine injustices often involve the most basic resources, and Somayajula’s interest in global human a light on critical issues, collaborate with and such as access to clean water and air—essentials rights continued to grow. learn from colleagues, and apply the skills that many people take for granted. At the University of Oregon, Somayajula I’m gaining,” she says. “It revived an interest that I’ve had for a participated in the honors college Inside-Out Still early in her career, Somayajula says long time in the right to water,” she says, “and program, which brings students and people her role is largely to assist more senior how unequal access to clean water can be who are incarcerated together to study as colleagues in their pursuit of legal advocacy manifested in so many contexts.” peers within prison. The weekly interactions and policy change. But she’s gaining deep Somayajula became attuned to these opened her eyes to the injustices imprisoned insight into the work of protecting and injustices as a 10-year-old in 2005, when her people face, she says. expanding human rights. Belkis Ayón, La consagración II (The Consecration II)(detail), 1991. Collagraph. 91 x 119 in. Courtesy of the Estate of Belkis Ayón family moved temporarily from the Bay Area “It helped me understand how “I have a front-row seat and participate in to the southeastern coast of India. stereotyping and silencing disenfranchised the preparation process to roll [a campaign] “There was a huge disparity in who was groups perpetuates cycles of harm,” she says. out,” she says. “It informs how I would able to access clean water daily, especially in After she graduated, Somayajula approach human rights research and the aftermath of the monsoon flooding that completed a Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace advocacy in the future.” happened that year,” she says. “I didn’t have Fellowship at ReThink Media, a Emily E. Smith, BA ’10 (women’s and gender the human rights language to articulate what communications organization where she studies, journalism: news-editorial), is a writer Extended to September 5, 2021! I was seeing, but I realized it was wrong and studied the effect of media narratives on and editor in Bozeman, Montana. was curious as to how that could be—how it public perception of US nuclear weapons was that so many people could be denied such policy. Then she landed the job at Human Nkame, a solo exhibition dedicated to the work of the late Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón presents forty-eight prints and audiovisual materials that encompass a wide range of the artist’s graphic production from 1986 until a basic necessity.” Rights Watch in Washington, DC. her untimely passing in 1999. Exhibition curated by Cristina Vives and organized by the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba, with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Exhibition Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA. Visit https://jsma.uoregon.edu/exhibitions/nkame or scan the QR code to learn more. jsma.uoregon.edu | 541.346.3027 EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity 36 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 © 2020 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Belkis Ayón, La consagración II (The Consecration II)(detail), 1991. Collagraph. 91 x 119 in. Courtesy of the Estate of Belkis Ayón Extended to September 5, 2021! Nkame, a solo exhibition dedicated to the work of the late Cuban printmaker Belkis Ayón presents forty-eight prints and audiovisual materials that encompass a wide range of the artist’s graphic production from 1986 until her untimely passing in 1999. Exhibition curated by Cristina Vives and organized by the Belkis Ayón Estate, Havana, Cuba, with the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. Exhibition Tour Management by Landau Traveling Exhibition, Los Angeles, CA. Visit https://jsma.uoregon.edu/exhibitions/nkame or scan the QR code to learn more. jsma.uoregon.edu | 541.346.3027 EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity © 2020 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH Old Oregon BIG SHOT Protests Behind, Wildfires Ahead Last summer was dangerous for Trinca covering protests in Portland documentary photographer Mason Trinca. This summer will be the same. BY MATT COOPER During the tumultuous summer and fall of 2020, a photojournalist needed more than cameras and lenses to cover the news. Kevlar jackets, ballistic helmets, and gas masks were also standard operating equipment. News. Worthy. Daily. That was the case for Mason Trinca, a documentary photographer who covered the at-times violent protests in Portland for the New York Times. The city was in the national spotlight repeatedly as activists and protesters clashed with opponents and the police for more than 100 days on issues including Black Lives Matter concerns, the 2020 election, and federal response to protests. agency Wieden+Kennedy—known for its work with Nike—to provide Against a backdrop in which tear gas and rubber bullets were pictures for a campaign on the importance of masks during nightly concerns, Trinca, BS ’13 (environmental studies), suited up in the pandemic. body armor and dove into the fray. Relying on tips from sources, real- What ties Trinca’s various assignments together, he says, is time guidance from the newspaper, and his own instincts, he strove storytelling. All his clients want it: genuine, revealing, human to capture in pictures all sides of a fast-evolving story with subplots moments, whether the medium is journalism, advertising, or including the seizure of protesters by unidentified federal agents and public service. A class in environmental studies first planted in counter protests by right-wing groups. him the notion of storytelling with a camera, and Trinca developed A Trinca photograph provided one of the defining images of the his skills with Sung Park, senior instructor in the School of summer: a bird’s-eye view of shooting victim Aaron Danielson, a Journalism and Communication. supporter of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, taken from “What makes my work—and the work of a lot of photojournalists- a rooftop. turned-commercial photographers—special is that we can pitch the Interviewed earlier this year, Trinca—who lives in Portland with his idea, ‘This is a real story; we’re going to find real people and capture wife, designer Myray Reames (BA ’14, journalism)—was still trying to real moments,’” Trinca says. “People want that more and more.” make sense of last summer’s events. Next up: finding a fresh way to tell the story of this summer’s Covering the protests had drained him physically and emotionally. inevitable wildfires. Far from enjoying some sort of journalistic immunity, Trinca and Trinca has photographed California’s sprawling blazes roughly a fellow reporters received death threats for their coverage. half-dozen times. The saturation news coverage of these catastrophes “We were targeted multiple times, for our coverage both on the left forces him to constantly reexamine his approach in hopes of and right side,” Trinca says. “When we do fair and accurate coverage, producing an uncommon photograph, a different perspective. He’s we get threatened on both sides. People want to exist in their own already begun preparations—shoring up the camera equipment he’ll ecospheres and oftentimes not want to hear the other side of the story, need, working out logistics, girding himself mentally. whether it’s good or bad.” “How are we going to cover the wildfires differently?” he asks. Trinca hadn’t fully processed the protests in part because he hasn’t “What will resonate with audiences when we are constantly slowed down. He recently returned from Liberia on a shoot for a bombarding them with terrible images? How do we bring humanity to commercial client and also finished a job for Wired magazine (he’s that? These are the things I think about for the next disaster.” bound by confidentiality agreements from discussing projects prior to release). He was also retained by the state and Portland advertising Matt Cooper is managing editor for Oregon Quarterly. opb.org | Full Spectrum News 38 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 ORQuarterly_slogans.indd 9 9/17/20 8:43 AM COURTESY OF MASON TRINCA News. Worthy. Daily. opb.org | Full Spectrum News ORQuarterly_slogans.indd 9 9/17/20 8:43 AM COURTESY OF MASON TRINCA Old Oregon CLASS NOTES Indicates UOAA Member (mathematics), CLAUDIA retired after 43 years BRUCKNER Class Notes 1950s as a minister at Holy TEITELBAUM, BS Family Parish in ’77 (general social JOHN WHITTY, southeast Portland. science), retired BS ’54, BL ’56 (law), after 43 years as a Do you ever wish we printed more notes from your class? Your classmates PETE SORENSON, feel that way, too. Submit a note online at OregonQuarterly.com, email retired following 64 legal secretary in it to quarterly@uoregon.edu, or mail it to Editor, Oregon Quarterly, 5228 BA ’73, MA ’79 years as a lawyer California, New York, University of Oregon, Eugene OR 97403-5228. (geography), JD ’82, a in Coos Bay, where he Massachusetts, and former state senator specialized in estate Connecticut, and and chair of the planning, business plans to travel globally Lane Community law, and real estate. with her husband College board, He was twice selected once it is safe given retired after 24 years Coos Bay Citizen of pandemic conditions. as a Lane County the Year, and served Commissioner, the for the Oregon DAVID longest service of Transportation ANTONUCCIO, a commissioner Committee and Bay MA ’79, PhD ’80 in county history, Area Hospital Board. (psychology), retired but continues his after 40 years as a legal practice on 1960s clinical psychologist the Freedom of and reconnected CLASS NOTABLE Information Act. with musical partner A Friend Leaves the House JOE FISCHER, and UO roommate BS ’60, MFA ’63 STEVE ALM, BEd Michael Pierce, Greg Walden has, ahead of him, lots of skiing, camping, and (fine and applied ’76 (elementary PhD ’82 (chemistry), kayaking. And behind: 30 years of public service as a leading arts), of Longview, education), MEd reconstituting their lawmaker who worked across the aisle. Washington, gave ’79 (curriculum college-era band, Walden, BS ’81 (journalism), the longtime US representative for $50,000 to the School and instruction), a now called RainFall, Oregon’s 2nd congressional district, retired in December as the top former US attorney which released the Republican on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. of Art + Design to help Among his achievements, he led passage of the 2018 opioid law— students and faculty and circuit court new album Deluge encompassing more than 70 bills on treatment, prevention, and members deal with judge, was elected on SoundCloud and enforcement—and the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and ongoing impacts of the prosecuting attorney Spotify. Protection Act, which protects nearly a half-million acres in Eastern pandemic. in Honolulu, Hawaii. Oregon from incompatible land use and development. The longtime ally MARK BAILEY, BFA of the University of Oregon supported efforts ranging from neuroimaging AL LEVAGE, BArch ’79 (fine and applied and the humanities to earthquake early-warning systems. ALAN NEWBERG, Throughout his career, Walden strove for bipartisan legislation MFA ’69 (fine and ’77, a principal with arts), contributed because the most important bills, he says, required the broadest support. applied arts), is BBT Architects to the permanent His determination to right wrongs as a lawmaker is owed in scheduled for a in Bend, retired archive of UO Special part to an upbringing in journalism—his father, Paul, was a radio feature exhibition of after more than 40 Collections and broadcaster. At the UO, Walden developed a commitment to the years working as an University Archives impartial pursuit of facts under journalism professors Jack Hart and his sculpture April Karl Nestvold. 1–25 at Northwind architect, contractor, more than 150 “Mr. Nestvold taught us you need to be thorough but keep your Art, Port Townsend, and developer in photographs from opinion out of it. You don’t have to be nasty to get a story,” Walden Washington, Central and Eastern documentary projects says. “Keep it to the facts.” including carvings in Oregon. in the 1970s and ’80s The advice served Walden well as a state and federal lawmaker who fine wood up to nine on Eugene’s Luckey’s built relationships and kept his personal views to himself. As he and TERRY SHANLEY, Club Cigar Store, his wife, Mylene Walden, BS ’81 (marketing), look ahead, Walden feels feet tall. a 1977 psychology only satisfaction for what he accomplished. Junction City, and the “I’m not one of those cranky, grumpy members leaving public alumnus, was hired as former logging town office,” Walden says. “I really enjoyed it. Politics really is a people 1970s business development of Valsetz. business—it’s about making friends and building relationships. That’s manager for Portland- how you get things done.” VICTORIA “VICKI” based Deacon —Matt Cooper, Oregon Quarterly FORD, BS ’73 Construction. 4 0 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 COURTESY OF GREG WALDEN 1980s and financial company Peak-Ryzex. Corvallis, was public policy and responsible for the planning services to featured in the management), MCRP supervision and current and retired Corvallis Gazette- ’97 (community and implementation of Composer MICHAEL federal employees 1990s Times regarding her regional planning), events, programs, HARRISON, BMus and members of the architectural style in customer relationship and communications ’83, released Just military. TILAK MANDADI, projects including manager with the while building a Constellations, an MS ’90 (computer and the Beazell Forest Eugene Water and global network of album performed by COLEEN ST. information science), Education Center Electric Board, spoke alumni, family, and the award-winning CLAIR, JD ’87, was chosen as a guest in Kings Valley, the to the City Club of friends to support the vocal ensemble was appointed a speaker for HT-NEXT Monroe Community Eugene regarding the university. Roomful of Teeth and prosecutor in the 2020, an educational Library, and the Long 2020 Holiday Farm featuring Harrison’s criminal division and networking Timber Brewing Fire, rebuilding, and CHANG-RAE LEE, innovations in tuning. of the Office of the experience for building, also in multiyear recovery MFA ’93 (creative Attorney General of hoteliers and Monroe. timelines. writing), was profiled MONA BUCKLEY, the Commonwealth of technology solution in the New York BA ’85 (public the Northern Mariana providers, to discuss STEPHANIE KEMET GATCHELL, Times January 31 for relations), was Islands. the future of guest STOWELL, BA ’90 BS ’93 (leisure studies My Year Abroad, his appointed president experiences at Disney (Asian studies), was and services), MS sixth novel, which and CEO of the BRAD TRACY, BA Parks. named director of the ’98 (exercise and the newspaper said Government ’88 (finance), was ABQ BioPark Zoo in movement science), is “about letting Employees’ Benefit appointed senior vice LORI STEPHENS, Albuquerque, New became director yourself plunge into Association, a president of sales in BS ’90 (general Mexico. of the Office of the world, even when nonprofit membership North America for science), MArch ’98, Alumni Affairs it hurts.” association offering Maryland-based IT owner of Broadleaf JEANNINE PARISI, at Eastern New insurance products service management Architecture in BA ’92 (planning, Mexico University, Will Power “ Scholarships are the primary reason I have this opportunity to pursue a college degree.” Semeredin Kundin (political science and planning, public policy and management) Is the UO in your Will? giftplan.uoregon.edu Gifts from alumni and friends like you make it possible for outstanding young leaders like Semeredin Kundin to pursue their educations at the UO. Contact us 541-346-1687 | 800-289-2354 | giftplan@uoregon.edu THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 41 Old Oregon CLASS NOTES ELLEN SHAW, trade organization American Voices BA ’93 (journalism: for the real estate program to discuss magazine), became industry. what needs to be done acting forest to address violence supervisor for the San SUNIL SHENOY, against Asians and Bernardino National MBA ’96 (general Pacific Islanders Forest in Southern business), was nationwide since the California, where appointed senior start of the pandemic. she has worked since vice president and 2015, following a general manager of EDUARDO PONCE, career with the US Intel Corporation’s BArch ’98, was hired Department of State. design engineering as a senior project group, leading architect in the Dallas- CAMARA design, development, Fort Worth, Texas, BANFIELD, BA validation, and office of St. Louis- ’95 (international manufacturing of based architecture studies), JD ’02, chief intellectual properties firm KAI Enterprises. criminal deputy and system-on-chips prosecutor in Clark for client and data TASHA County, Washington, center applications. McFARLAND, BA was appointed ’99 (news editorial), Superior Court judge, LEAF WADE, BS became a board a first for a woman of ’96 (economics), member with the color in the county. was appointed an Family Access CLASS NOTABLE institutional trader Network Foundation Model Citizen BOBBY LEE, BS for Optiver, a Dutch and will work with ’95 (sociology), proprietary trading staff to improve the The redesigned Portland International Airport promises to MS ’98 (public firm and market lives of needy children “wow” when work finishes in 2025. But a scale model of the affairs), formerly maker for exchange- in Deschutes, new-look PDX is already turning heads. director of Seattle’s listed financial Crook, and Jefferson That’s thanks to Talisa Shevavesh, MArch ’14, a model builder Office of Economic instruments. counties. with ZGF Architects, a firm retained by PDX and headquartered in Portland. She led a team that painstakingly built an extraordinary, Development, was 20- by 30-foot model of the reimagined main terminal, complete with named chief of staff JESSICA WOOD, JOE OLLIS, BS “greenery,” plastic “travelers,” and the project’s iconic flourish—a for Portland Mayor JD ’96, joined the ’99 (computer sprawling, undulating wooden roof. Ted Wheeler. Grand Rapids, and information Designers can visualize ideas with computer-generated images or Michigan, office of science), was hired as sketches. But Shevavesh says a physical model of wood and plastic CAMERON BURKS, Dickinson Wright, principal, chairman built by hand is still “the most honest way” to represent architecture. of the board, and chief “Even in the most accurate 3D computer-generated image, you BS ’96 (sociology), was focusing on municipal can’t fully trust it—it can be manipulated to mess with lighting elected to a second law and finance, investment officer or make spaces seem larger or smaller,” Shevavesh says. “With a term on the city and economic for the Peak Group, physical model, what you see is what you’re going to get.” council in Lafayette, development. a Texas-based real Shevavesh connected with her future employer while studying California. estate investment at the UO Portland campus; ZGF staff taught a course—Context JAY LEO, BS ’97 company focused of the Architectural Profession—on “real life in an architecture firm,” she says. Coupled with the skills she gained working in the DEREK LAU, (political science), was on single-family fabrication shop with John Leahy, a senior instructor in the School BS ’96 (computer named president of residential properties. of Architecture & Environment, Shevavesh saw model-building as a and information Touchmark, a full- promising path in architecture. science), a certified service retirement The completion of the PDX models, after roughly five years, international property living company based 2000s was bittersweet for Shevavesh. She hopes she’ll soon get another and residential in Beaverton. opportunity to create an intricate architectural design in miniature. “It was a labor of love,” she says, laughing. “The whole team is specialist, was named KENJI SUGAHARA, hoping this sets a precedent for the type of involvement models can 2021 president of DANIEL WU, BArch JD ’00, president have in a project going forward.” Hawai‘i Realtors, a ’97, was interviewed and chief executive —Matt Cooper, Oregon Quarterly statewide professional on MSNBC’s officer of Salem- 4 2 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 COURTESY OF THE PORT OF PORTLAND OLLI-UO HAS GONE VIRTUAL! At the University of Oregon Thought-provoking lectures, discussions, and study groups for adults 50 and better. Six or twelve-month memberships available to you or a friend. Join OLLI-UO From Your Home LEARN MORE 800-824-2714 • 541-346-0697 • osher.uoregon.edu EO/AA/ADA institution committed to cultural diversity. ©2021 University of Oregon. cpe24341 THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 4 3 Old Oregon CLASS NOTES based Drone Service Rubicon Programs, to community Magazine’s “40 Under streaming, download, was featured in the Providers Alliance, a nonprofit based development director 40” list for significant and CD. Wallowa County was appointed to in Richmond, for Salida, Colorado, contributions to Chieftain of Enterprise the Federal Aviation California, that where he has worked the public transit 2010s for her role as chief Administration focuses on workforce since 2018 as a industry. financial officer and Drone Advisory development and planner. general manager of Committee, which promoting economic RACHEL DAVID GRACON, Terminal Gravity advises on issues mobility in the East SEAN ANDRIES, HENDERSON, BS PhD ’10 Brewery and Pub. related to unmanned Bay. BS ’06 (theater arts), ’08 (communication (communication and aircraft systems. was selected by disorders and society), received a US ERIC STRAUBHAR, SUSAN KLEIN, Gov. Kate Brown sciences), owner Fulbright Specialist BS ’14 (journalism: CHRIS DEMASKE, MFA ’04 (painting), a to join the board of the Hazelnut grant for his work advertising), PhD ’02 studio art professor of directors of the Hill confectionery as a professor of joined the Idaho (communication with the College of Oregon Cultural company in Junction integrated media at Conservation and society), an Charleston, South Trust, which funds City with her Gonzaga University in League’s external associate professor Carolina, won a more than 1,400 husband Ryan, was Washington. relations team as in culture, arts, and grant from the Oregon nonprofit featured in the Salem marketing manager, communication at Pollock-Krasner organizations in the Capital Press for a LAUREN TIERNEY, with a focus on the University of Foundation, which arts, heritage, and story about their BA ’12, MS ’15 protecting wild places Washington Tacoma, supports emerging humanities. online business. (geography), became in the state. was featured in and established graphics assignment the university’s international visual ALEX FRIX, JD HEATHER LAKEY, editor for the DeFOREST collegiate newspaper, artists. ’06, was appointed MA ’08 (philosophy), Washington Post, BUCKNER, BA the Ledger, for public defender for was named the which she joined in ’15 (general social a discussion JENNIFER San Juan County in inaugural McNally 2017. science), a defensive of journalism, THOMAS, MA ’05, Washington. Family Chair in lineman with the education, projects, PhD ’10 (theater arts), Philosophy and CARLY Indianapolis Colts, and pastimes. chair of performance NICHOLAS Human Ecology at GABRIELSON, BS was selected as the and communication HUDSON, BA ’06 the College of the ’13 (political science), 2020 recipient of DAVID arts at St. Lawrence (political science), Atlantic in Mount campaign manager the Polynesian Pro CONSTANTINE, University in New director of the Desert Island, Maine. for US Rep. Peter Football Player of the BMus ’03, MMus ’05 York, published Office of Student DeFazio, worked Year Award by the (music performance), Inclusive Character Orientation, DIANA door-to-door in Polynesian Football a percussionist Analysis: Putting Leadership, and MARKOSIAN, Georgia to help Hall of Fame. gunnery sergeant Theory into Practice Engagement at Texas BA ’08 (history), Democrats win the with the United for the 21st Century A&M International published Santa US Senate during the SARA GOODRUM, States Marine Theatre Classroom, University, received Barbara, a 216-page, January 5 election BS ’15 (human Band, performed which centers on the 2021 Doris clothbound coffee runoffs in that state. physiology), was at the January 20 representations Michiko Ching table book that promoted to minor inauguration of of race, gender, Award for Excellence chronicles the story GEORGE KRAMB, league hitting President Joe Biden class, ability, and as a Student Affairs of her journey from BS ’14 (economics), coordinator for the at the US Capitol in sexual orientation, Professional. Russia to the United made the Forbes “30 Milwaukee Brewers, Washington, DC. and promotes a States. Under 30” list for making her the first more inclusive ERIC FLORIP, BS consumer technology woman to hold that CAROLE performance practice ’08 (magazine), public SCOTT ORDWAY, as the cofounder of position in a Major DORHAM-KELLY, for the classroom and affairs coordinator MMus ’08 (music Rightdevice, which League Baseball MS ’03 (counseling, the stage. for C-TRAN, a public composition), educates patients organization, the team family and human transportation composed the undergoing surgeries said. services), PhD BILL ALMQUIST, provider serving 40-minute song cycle and guides medical ’05 (counseling MCRP ’06 Clark County, “Girl in the Snow,” a decisions. GABRIELA psychology), was (community and Washington, was premiere recording GUAIUMI, BS ’15 appointed president regional planning), named to Vancouver- available through NATALIE MILLAR, (biology), was hired as and CEO of was promoted based Mass Transit Acis Productions for BS ’14 (accounting), a public safety officer 4 4 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 in Rohnert Park, following stints for Honors College), was MMus ’19 (jazz Corps announced logistics monitoring California. municipalities in hired as marketing studies), was named that BRENNAN for Oregon dairies, Oregon and Montana. and promotions Eugene’s “Best Rising McLEAN, BS joined Boston-based JANIE REED, BS manager for the Star Jazz Drummer” ’18 (business firm REMUS Capital ’15 (journalism), a CHRIS BREWER, Astoria Downtown in the 2020 Best of administration), a law as its first Black former UO softball BS ’16 (business Historic District Eugene Staff Picks by candidate with USMC Entrepreneur in player and cofounder administration), Association and Eugene Weekly. Recruiting Station Residence. of a ministry called a former Ducks will also oversee Orange County, Church on the Dirt, distance runner, the Astoria Sunday BRIANNA HAYES, California, will attend TAYLOR JONES, was selected for finished 32nd in the Market. BA ’18 (political officer candidate JD ’19, BRYAN the 2020 Olympic 2020 World Series of science), was quoted school this summer. WILLIAMSON, JD team, which will Poker Online. LATHAM in the Keystone, a ’19, and SUZANNE compete in the WOOD, MA ’16 Pennsylvania news MICHAEL PATTON DAIGLE, JD ’20, summer 2021 games CRYSTAL BROWN, (anthropology), website, for a story JR, BS ’18 (business were hired in US after being delayed MS ’16, PhD ’19 was chosen to assist about the election administration), bankruptcy court for by the coronavirus (political science), was Four Rivers Cultural of Vice President attended a retreat for the Western District pandemic. hired as an assistant Center of Ontario Kamala Harris, those considering of Washington in professor in the with coordination of who, like Hayes, is priesthood in the Tacoma, serving MEGAN von Department of Social the annual Tradition a member of Alpha Archdiocese of in chambers and BARGEN, BS Science and Policy Keepers folklife Kappa Alpha, the Portland. courtrooms. ’15 (planning, Studies at Worcester festivals in 2021 and first intercollegiate public policy and Polytechnic Institute, 2022. historically African BRANTLY FULTON, LAURA QUEEN, management), joined Massachusetts. American Greek- PhD ’19 (chemistry), BS ’19 (Clark Honors WGM Group’s KEN MASTRO- lettered sorority. cofounder and CEO College, mathematics), Bozeman, Montana, SHELBY MEYERS, GIOVANNI, BA ’17 of LAMAR IoT, a research assistant office as a planner, BLArch ’16 (Clark (music, Japanese), The US Marine which provides with the Oregon State THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 4 5 Old Oregon CLASS NOTES University Oregon US Army Air Corps Tyler Moore Show, died Climate Change during World War II, January 30. He earned Research Institute, he studied painting fi ve Emmys for the was lead author for under art professor show and an Oscar a study indicating Jack Wilkinson and nomination for the that the Columbia lived, worked, and screenplay of the 1979 River basin will see an exhibited in New York, fi lm A Little Romance, increase in fl ooding Paris, Tokyo, and and made his feature over the next 50 years elsewhere. His works directorial debut with as a result of climate are in collections Just Between Friends change. including those of (1986), starring Ted the Metropolitan Danson. Museum of Art in Thanks to Bill Spears, BS ’71 (community service and 2020s New York City and the D AVID MACKIN, public affairs), we’ve identified the Hayward Field Musée National d’Art BS ’57 (history), died tractor driver in the winter edition’s “Old Oregon” DIEGO CARDIEL, Moderne in Paris, and January 5. He was photo. It’s his dad, William Roy Spears, a dual Canadian MArch ’20, joined the have been purchased a member of the citizen who immigrated with his family to the area in 1929. design staff of Bend- Alpha Tau Omega Roy married Edna Pike and moved into her family’s home on and collected by based BBT Architects, Moss Street in Eugene in the 1940s; he worked for UO grounds entities including fraternity. Active in crews through the 1960s and died in 1984. His son Bill worked where he will focus Merrill Lynch, the ROTC, David became for Clackamas County’s planning and engineering office for on sustainability Jordan Schnitzer a second lieutenant 30 years and retired to Anderson Island, Washington, where concepts and the space Museum of Art, and in the US Army. he served as a volunteer firefighter and is a commissioner where science and the Portland Art He worked in the for the Anderson Island Park and Recreation District. Bill’s community interact. Museum. lumber and fi nancial brother, Jim, still lives in Eugene. services industries, BRYCE DOLE, BS HUBERT E. retiring from Wells ’20 (journalism), CHRESTENSON, Fargo Advisors in joined the Pendleton- PhD ’53 (mathematics), 2019. He loved Ducks based East Oregonian died January 2. He football and was a as a reporter on retired from the Navy legend in handball, public safety, county Reserve as a lieutenant representing the government, and commander and Olympic Club of San public health. taught mathematics Francisco in national for more than 30 and international ERIC WATERS, years, including stints tournaments. BS ’20 (human with Whitman College physiology), joined in Washington, Reed MAUREEN the Washington, College in Portland, BERNARD, BA ’58 DC, laboratory of and the University (fi ne and applied arts), Curative, one of the of Ghana. He was died December 29. primary coronavirus a fi sherman and She was a longtime testing providers in outdoorsman who, supporter of the the US, and works as with wife Doris, built College of Education, a supervisor in RNA a cabin in the Trask the Jordan Schnitzer extraction. River valley and Museum of Art, planted hundreds of and other university trees. entities. IN MEMORIAM OTTO FRIED ALLAN BURNS, a VICTOR SNIECKUS, , BA 1955 art alumnus who PhD ’65 (chemistry), ’49 (fi ne and applied became an Emmy- died December 18. arts), died December winning writer and As a professor at 31. After serving in the creator of The Mary Queen’s University, 4 6 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 Ontario, Canada, she served as FACULTY IN he was known for undergraduate and MEMORIAM his contributions to graduate program organic synthesis coordinator. She GARY MARVIN and a reaction used was also Eugene’s MARTIN, PhD in the preparation of 2006 Slug Queen, ’65 (education), pharmaceuticals and Slugretha. died January 11. agrochemicals. He He served as a was also director of JANE TODD, professor, associate Snieckus Innovations, MA ’79 (Romance dean, and acting a company dedicated languages), MA ’81, dean during 35 years to small molecule PhD ’83 (comparative with the School of synthesis for the literature), died Music and Dance, pharmaceutical February 2. Bearing where his work with industry. a lifelong interest in young people was a French literature and source of joy. SHELDON language, she taught BERNARD AVERY, French, humanities, STEPHEN MA ’67, PhD ’70 and women’s studies PONDER, an (history), died April at Reed College in associate professor 26. Described by his Portland. She started emeritus who taught family as a man “who a translation business journalism for more saw humanity in all,” and translated more than 20 years, died he was a professor than 90 books and August 8. He was of history at Harford hundreds of shorter an award-winning Community College in texts for university teacher known Maryland. and trade presses, and for his patience art museums. with students and EUGENE “GENE” their research and SAYLER, CHRISTOPHER writing. BS ’67 (economics), BJORK, BS ’95 died December (leisure studies RENNARD 22. Honorably and services), died STRICKLAND, discharged from the March 5. A member dean of the School Navy as a lieutenant of the proud South of Law from 1997 to in 1969, the avid Eugene High School 2002 and a faculty traveler and golfer Axe community, a member until his managed Sayler’s youth sports coach, retirement in 2006, Old Country Kitchen a beloved member died January 5. eatery in Portland of the Portland Trail Strickland was and Beaverton and Blazers staff in the Osage and a citizen served as a state 1990s and a lifelong of the Cherokee representative from Ducks fan, he most Nation. He strongly 1987 to 1991. recently worked for supported the Learfield/IMG as incorporation of TK LANDÁZURI, director of business Indian law courses BA ’78 (speech: theater development, and into the curriculum arts), died February his tenure working and taught a popular 8. She worked at either directly with seminar on Indian the university for 35 or for the University law and policy. years, including 18 of Oregon lasted in the philosophy more than 26 years. department, where THE MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSIT Y OF OREGON 47 Old Oregon DUCKS AFIELD 1 2 3 4 Ducks Afiel 1. MARY STOTT KUHL (right), BS ’92 (psychology), We love Duck migrations! and her daughter, ELLE, a family and human Send photos of you, classmates, family, services major and member of the class of 2022, at the end of el Camino de Santiago in Fisterra, Spain, and friends showing UO pride during a trip before the pandemic 2. GRANT HOSFORD, BS ’66 (political science), MS ’69 worldwide. Visit OregonQuarterly. com and submit a high-resolution (counseling), sent Valentine’s Day greetings from Dash Point, Washington, where he kept cool with JPEG image. “Cold Duck” 3. KRISTEN VOGT VEGGEBERG, BA ’08 (medieval studies), and her 3-year-old, Jane, at the Art Institute of Chicago, where masterpieces including Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte were available despite the closure of some exhibits due to pandemic precautions 4. MICHAEL MELLUM (left), BS ’69, DMD ’72 (Oregon Health and Science University), and his brother, DARRELL, BS ’77 (leisure studies and services), shed their facemasks for a photo at Tom’s Thumb, a rock formation more than 3,000 feet above Scottsdale, Arizona 48 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPR ING 20201 Studio S Collection The Studio S Collection of bathroom faucets and accessories was inspired by the cool, modern look of urban spaces. Studio S has details and modern silhouettes that will stand out in the bathroom, creating interest and an aesthetic that’s sure to impress. Studio S Collection sets the tone for this urban-inspired bath collection. Visit our showrooms today. thefixturegallery.com SHOWROOMS: SEATTLE | PACIFIC | TIGARD | SALEM | EUGENE | BEND Old Oregon DUCK TALE Janis Boyle Da, Roseburg again in the New York Times’ “On This Day” we’re just throwing away the syllabus.column in January 2019. That story became the collaborative, As journalism students at the University investigative reporting book, Classroom 15, BY JULIA MUELLER of Oregon, we learned about the story when published internationally by Anthem Press AND ZACK DEMARS Professor Peter Laufer, James N. Wallace in January. It’s a story quite literally ripped Chair of Journalism, brought the column into from the footnotes of history that nonetheless class soon after to test our reporting skills. embraces the bleeding edge of the modern Could we locate the elementary student political landscape—misinformation, Some of the most memorable educators named in the column? Could we get her to xenophobia, propaganda. It explores that fear are the ones willing to throw out the talk to us about the pen pal a air? of the “other,” but also the dogged desire to syllabus in pursuit of a higher lesson. We found her—and when we called her connect and communicate and understand. When a fourth-grade teacher in Roseburg, to discuss her moment in the limelight, we The project culminated in a 21st-century Oregon, did just that during the height of the completed the assignment. But we also found revival of the pen pal project that never was. Cold War, he sent the US state department a multifaceted, forgotten story about borders, We collected new letters from Southern and J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI into a tizzy. governmental overreach, and propaganda. Oregon fourth graders—pencil-and-crayon In a search for pen pals from the farthest- We started with disparate, disjointed missives about Oregon rain and Marcus away place they could imagine, teacher Ray articles written by Laufer’s reporting class Mariota—and this time made sure those McFetridge in 1959 had students write to students. But curiosity called us to continue letters arrived at the farthest-away place they their congressman, longtime Eugene resident beyond the classroom, and a cohort of could imagine. Closing a 60-year loop, lead Charles Porter, in hopes he could help them nine students was soon meeting regularly, author Zack Demars arrived in December establish correspondence with a grade-school working long after the class had ended. 2019 at Gymnazium 14, a primary school in class in the Soviet Union. We dug through archives and through Rostov-on-Don, Russia, with the new letters. Porter dutifully took the idea to the decades for new leads and neglected “The students I met were most excited state department, which responded with government fi les. We strung our distinct when I put my Instagram handle on the ambivalence, and there the project died. stories into a narrative that explored what whiteboard and they all got to ‘follow’ me,” But the class’s e ort triggered news stories exactly happened in that rural Oregon Demars says. “In my head, that ability to and editorials—not just in the Roseburg classroom in the throes of the Red Scare. We connect is what the fourth graders of 1960 News-Review but also the New York Times examined how the incident might resonate would’ve been most excited about, too.” and even the Russian paper Pravda—and now that the Iron Curtain has fallen but new the school district was inundated by letters. walls—from fi gurative political tensions to a Julia Mueller, BA ’20 (Clark Honors College, Some expressed concern about possible literal US border wall—have risen. journalism), was managing editor for Classroom Soviet propaganda in American classrooms; “We are not writing a book!” our stalwart 15: How the Hoover FBI Censored the Dreams of others decried the government’s stonewalling professor kept reminding us, even as he Innocent Oregon Fourth Graders. Zack Demars, of a simple class project. pushed our manuscript to publishing BS ’20 (journalism, political science), was lead But after the class’s 15 minutes of fame, the houses. We’re not writing a book; we’re author. Visit linktr.ee/classroom15book for pen pal project was dead—until it showed up telling a story. We’re not writing a book; more information or to buy the book. 50 OREGON QUARTERLY | SPRING 2021 COURTESY OF JULIA MUELLER AND ZACK DEMARS OREGON QUARTERLY 5228 University of Oregon Eugene OR 97403-5228 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED