CAS Alumni & Development Letter from the Dean The Humanities: A View of the World Natural Sciences: UO Geological Science Field Camp Natural Sciences: Oregon Institute of Marine Biology Natural Sciences: Pine Mountain Observatory Social Sciences: Knowledge in the Round Beyond These Walls: Experiences lead UO alum John Darland '96 on path of opportunity 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Alumni & Development Home Page http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006issue.html (1 of 2)6/18/2007 4:40:41 AM CAS Alumni & Development Letter from the Dean By Joe Stone Dean of Arts and Sciences As a student, I had few chances to participate in formal off-campus learning programs, much less study abroad. The extent of my travels was pretty much limited to a brief trip to central Mexico and frequent Sunday night dinners in Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande from my undergraduate institution, the University of Texas at El Paso. But since those college days, in my career as an academic economist, I have had many occasions to both travel abroad and work with colleagues from around the world. The perspective I gained from these experiences is invaluable to me. At the University of Oregon, I am impressed by the many opportunities that our students have to participate in learning experiences that stretch well beyond the gates of our main campus. Students who want to study a foreign language or explore a different culture can choose among study abroad programs throughout the world. Summer field camps in geology and anthropology and community literacy programs in English give students arenas in which to apply their knowledge directly to real-world problems. Students interested in marine biology can spend a term at the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology located on the Oregon coast, or those who prefer to learn about the stars can visit the Pine Mountain Observatory in central Oregon. In almost every academic unit at the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS), students can participate in internships or research projects in both urban and rural communities. http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006dean.html (1 of 3)6/18/2007 4:40:44 AM CAS Alumni & Development The high percentage of students who choose to participate in off-campus programs has helped make the University of Oregon a leader among public institutions. The recently released "Open Doors: 1998-99 Report on International Educational Exchange," issued by the New York-based Institute of International Education, ranked the UO among the top ten public institutions in percentage of students who study abroad. In 1997-98, the Open Doors report showed the UO to be the top international university in percentage of students who participate in study abroad programs and in percentage of enrolled international students. In addition, prestigious scholarships, such as the Fulbright, continue to give many UO students opportunities to study abroad. In the past 27 years, over 135 UO students -- many in the liberal arts -- have received these scholarships. This interest abroad doesn't just stop with graduation. Many liberal arts graduates hold jobs in international settings. Some graduates have served as U.S. ambassadors to foreign nations, including Kent Wiedemann '73, ambassador to Cambodia, and Victor Tomseth '63, ambassador to Laos. For several years, the UO has ranked between fifth and fifteenth among the nation's colleges and universities in supplying Peace Corps volunteers. In earning a college degree today, students need to have the opportunity to learn how to apply their learning, especially in ways that round out their intellectual maturity and nurture their ability to analyze problems, craft alternative solutions, and communicate them clearly. For this issue of Cascade, we chose to highlight just a few of our off-campus learning opportunities in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. We hope you enjoy these glimpses of the academic lives of our students outside our campus gates. Photo by Jack Liu http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006dean.html (2 of 3)6/18/2007 4:40:44 AM CAS Alumni & Development 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Updated March 27, 2001 UO HOME ADMISSIONS FINANCIAL AID CAS HOME SEARCH http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006dean.html (3 of 3)6/18/2007 4:40:44 AM CAS Alumni & Development The Humanities A View of the World UO student throws a pinata bash at the Interamerican University Studies Institute in Queretaro, Mexico. (Photo by Laurie Rodgers) Many of Zachary Davis' favorite authors -- Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer -- wrote during the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and all revered Italy and its artists. It was this love of English literature that first made Davis consider living in Italy. "Going to Italy was the best way to both learn the language and to place myself in a position where I would be surrounded by the fruits of the authors, artists and architects in which I was interested at the time," Davis says. Davis graduated from the University of Oregon in the winter of 1999 with a double major in English and Italian. He counts the time he spent studying abroad in Perugia, Italy, through a university program, as one of the most important parts of his undergraduate education. "Seeing the Italian lifestyle both freed me from prejudices about http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006humanities.html (1 of 4)6/18/2007 4:40:50 AM CAS Alumni & Development European culture and encouraged me to change the way I think about American culture," he says. Each year, nearly 600 students -- mostly undergraduate -- participate in one of seventy study abroad or internship programs sponsored by the university in more than forty countries. The program has grown quickly over the past ten years, says Thomas Mills, director of the Office of International Education and Exchange. Recently, it has expaZnded into less traveled areas, such as Vietnam, Thailand, Russia, India, Nepal, and parts of Africa. These study opportunities appeal to students throughout the College of Arts & Sciences, especially in the humanities with its many foreign language course offerings. "A study abroad experience can tie together a lot of the pieces of the educational puzzle for the typical undergraduate," says Barbara May, an associate professor of Romance languages, who has directed programs in Spain and Mexico for more than twenty years. Kevin Kono, a UO law student who graduated in 1991 with a B. A. in psychology and Spanish, took advantage of two UO Spanish language programs during his undergraduate years. One was in Queretaro, Mexico, and the other in Seville, Spain. Kono recalls the moment during his stay in Seville when he realized that he'd reached a milestone in his language development. He had struck up a conversation with an elderly Spaniard sitting in the Plaza de Espana. The man was missing most of his teeth and had a very thick Andalucian accent, which meant that he only pronounced about half of every syllable and never pronounced the letter 's'. "We had a nice conversation about the weather, Seville, the Plaza, and I was able to express myself nearly as well as I can in English," says Kono. "More importantly, I could understand nearly everything he said!" Most study abroad participants agree that the best way to learn about another country's language and culture is to live there. Tristan Bodle (BA '93), a political science and Spanish major who spent time in Quito, Equador, and Seville, Spain, says his experiences abroad influenced his decision to become a teacher. "I now work with many immigrant students, and I believe my experiences overseas help me relate well with them," says Bodle, who teaches high school history and Spanish in Daly City, California. "I love to tell my students about life in South America and Spain and to share my experiences and pictures http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006humanities.html (2 of 4)6/18/2007 4:40:50 AM CAS Alumni & Development with them." Robert Davis, associate professor of Romance languages, recalls that his first study abroad experience in Madrid, Spain, changed his life "intellectually, emotionally and personally." His experience "started a lifelong relationship with a new place, its people and its culture." For students taking Spanish or the other Romance languages, the UO offers extensive opportunities to study abroad. Italian language students can apply to travel to the Italian hillside town of Perugia or the Tuscan city of Siena, and one student a year is selected to participate in a yearlong direct exchange program with the Collegia Ghislieri/University of Pavia. The French language program gives students the chance to study in Lyon, France's second-largest city; Poitiers, a small city about the size of Eugene; or Angers, the gateway to the Loire Valley, says Barbara Altman, an associate professor of Romance languages. Study abroad opportunities also exist for students taking East Asian, Scandinavian or Germanic languages and literature courses, theatre arts, and many other liberal arts subjects. "I almost insist that my graduate students spend some time abroad," says Stephen Durrant, professor of Chinese literature. "The first time there can be disorienting, but the study abroad program allows them to be slightly sheltered." Students can earn university credits for approved study abroad courses, allowing them to use financial aid. However, most trips are self-supported and many students can't afford them, says Mills. Scholarships are crucial to making the program accessible to all academically qualified students. Each student will experience the program in his or her own way, but all are bound to find it a transforming experience, says Gina Psaki, associate professor of Romance languages. "It helps them see the world and themselves through different eyes and become more thoughtful and sophisticated citizens." http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006humanities.html (3 of 4)6/18/2007 4:40:50 AM CAS Alumni & Development 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Updated March 27, 2001 UO HOME ADMISSIONS FINANCIAL AID CAS HOME SEARCH http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006humanities.html (4 of 4)6/18/2007 4:40:50 AM CAS Alumni & Development UO Geological Sciences Field Camp Geology students near deformed rocks. (Photo by Martin Miller) The 1999 earthquake disasters in Turkey and western Columbia no doubt led many people to wonder how such a quake would impact the Northwest. For University of Oregon geology faculty and students, the quest to understand such natural phenomena leads them to spend countless hours gathering as much information and data about the earth as possible. Combining field investigations with laboratory experiments and theoretical studies is essential. For students majoring in geology, the UO Geological Sciences Field Camp provides the field training and background needed for geology, mining, petroleum, and environmental and engineering careers. During the six-week camp, geology majors from the UO and other universities apply their knowledge to actual work in the field. Students produce geologic maps, sections and columns, and are introduced to high-tech surveying techniques using total http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006geology.html (1 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:02 AM CAS Alumni & Development station and Global Positioning System technology. Ray Weldon, associate professor of geology, describes the field school as a kind of "boot camp" for geology majors. He says, "It tends to be a bonding together and a culminating experience in their geological career." The 2000 field camp will take students to Dillon, Montana, in June, where they will spend the first week in the nearby "Frying Pan" locality -- an area with excellent bedrock exposures, rock formation diversity, and simple fold structures. Becky Dorsey, assistant professor of geology, will introduce students to the basics of geological mapping, field stratigraphy, and related essential skills of observation, description and interpretation. During the next four weeks, students will work with instructor Martin Miller to complete three mapping projects near Dillon. Students will map glacial landforms and deposits, deformed Paleozoic bedrock, and the complex structures of the Block Mountain area, which were formed during at least two distinct thrusting periods. The final week in central Oregon with professor Ray Weldon will involve active faults and recent volcanic features. Students will make an air photo geologic map of a portion of the "Crack-in-the-Ground" fault, a late Pleistocene basaltic tuff ring filled with basalt. Andrew Mead, a senior geology major who attended the 1999 field camp, says the highlight was the synthesis of all the material he had learned during class. "Most of the students, including me, had the 'Ah ha!' reaction at some point during the camp or possibly even after the camp when it hit us how much we had actually learned." While the camp gives students the confidence and training needed to work in the field, Mead says perhaps the most important skill gained is "learning how to work in groups, which is something that we had to do right off the bat. To an employer, this is probably the most valuable thing one can get out of the experience." For more information, visit Web site: http://darkwing.uoregon. edu/~dogsci/fieldcamp.html. http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006geology.html (2 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:02 AM CAS Alumni & Development 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Updated March 27, 2001 UO HOME ADMISSIONS FINANCIAL AID CAS HOME SEARCH http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006geology.html (3 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:02 AM CAS Alumni & Development Oregon Institute of Marine Biology Dave Frohnmayer and students at OIMB explore the Oregon coast. (Photo by Jack Liu) There are some things that students just can't do in Eugene, like walk the tidal flats of Coos Bay in search of specimens for a marine biology research project. But at the University's Oregon Institute of Marine Biology (OIMB), located in the coastal fishing village of Charleston, 120 miles from Eugene, students and faculty can engage themselves in studying the many unique habitats located along the southern Oregon coast. OIMB provides opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate course work and research. Up to forty-five undergraduates are in residence during the spring and fall terms, and as many as 100 students -- including those from other universities -- participate in the summer term. Throughout the year, approximately ten to fifteen graduate students are also at OIMB, pursuing research leading to either a http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006oimb.html (1 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:11 AM CAS Alumni & Development master's or doctoral degree. OIMB Director Lynda Shapiro describes the environment as electric, and one in which the learning goes well beyond the classroom. "OIMB is unique because classes are hands-on with a lot of emphasis on participatory learning. Students get to learn in the environment that they are studying; they actually hold living organisms in their hands and examine their place in the environment." Graduate student Matt Kay says his experience as an undergraduate has everything to do with his decision to pursue his master's degree at OIMB. He remembers the term he spent at OIMB during his junior year as the most engaging and rewarding period of his biology education. "Undergraduates are presented with the privilege of interactively studying organisms in their ecosystems: slogging through mudflats, slipping through the intertidal zone, peering into plankton through a microscope, and exploring seemingly alien life forms in laboratories," he says. "In my view, OIMB was a sort of 'science camp,' where students were -- like it or not -- totally immersed in the subjects they were studying," Kay says. "This immersion was the result of long classroom hours, frequent field trips and social interaction that was restricted to classmates, graduate students and teachers -- all individuals who are focused on science. Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of being at OIMB was that our studies transcended intangible theory and the two-dimensionality of a text book." Students at OIMB have access to five teaching laboratories, three dormitories, a dining hall, and recreational facilities. In addition, last year, OIMB celebrated the construction of two more research laboratories and the Loyd and Dorothy Rippey Library. Rick Cowlishaw, who is pursuing his doctoral degree, says OIMB has the feel of an old research station, which was a real attraction for him. The good mix of research and education at OIMB provides for a stimulating environment, he says. "Having the education program at OIMB also provides the opportunity to teach and interact with students from not only the UO but also from colleges and universities across the nation." Find out more about OIMB at http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/ ~oimb/. http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006oimb.html (2 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:11 AM CAS Alumni & Development 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Updated March 27, 2001 UO HOME ADMISSIONS FINANCIAL AID CAS HOME SEARCH http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006oimb.html (3 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:11 AM CAS Alumni & Development Pine Mountain Observatory Each of PMO?s Cassegrain reflecting telescopes is housed in its own domed building. (Photo by Mark Dunaway) Nearly thirty miles southeast of Bend, on a perch 6,400 feet above sea level, the three telescopes of the Pine Mountain Observatory (PMO) peer up into one of the darkest skies on earth. "A dark sky is important because the darker the sky, the better for observing faint and distant objects," says the Pine Mountain director Gregory Bothun, a University of Oregon astronomer and physicist. Oregon's only professional astronomical observatory, Pine Mountain has been in operation since 1967. Its three telescopes -- with mirrors of 15, 24 and 32 inches are used for both research and educational purposes. PMO is one of the few professional observatories open to the public at night. http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006pmo.html (1 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:18 AM CAS Alumni & Development Public viewing (for age ten and up) takes place on Friday and Saturday nights from Memorial Day through September. Following an introductory lecture, visitors can observe a variety of celestial objects such as the moon, planets, nebulas, and galaxies. Experienced amateur astronomers from the Friends of Pine Mountain Observatory group (FOPMO) are on hand to answer questions and operate the telescopes. Observatory staff members provide demonstrations of one of the latest techniques available to astronomers: gathering images with a supersensitive electronic "CCD camera" and enhancing those images with the aid of computers. "We get 2000-3000 visitors a year," Bothun says. "And many people are surprised to learn how professional astronomy is done these days -- not by looking through a telescope with the human eye, but with modern detectors and digital imaging." The observatory also hosts amateur "star parties" at which local astronomers bring their own telescopes, and set them up around the observatory site. Bothun says they are happy to host the parties because they get more people directly involved in astronomy. For those not able to make the trip to the observatory, the FOPMO have an active outreach to Oregon schoolchildren, visiting 200 to 250 classrooms a year. These sessions, available in Spanish or English, teach students about modern astronomy, digital images and digital processing with the help of small digital cameras and computers provided by the FOPMO volunteers. The advent of "digital astronomy" and the rapid expansion of the Internet are opening another door for delivering the resources of PMO to Oregon schoolchildren. For several years Bothun has been working to make PMO a remote-access observatory. "This means that the telescope will eventually be automatically positioned by commands carried over the Internet from anyplace on earth," he says. "The images acquired by the telescope will then be sent in digital form directly to the workstation that is controlling the telescope -- that could be in my office at the UO or at any Internet-connected classroom in Oregon. Very cool." For more information about the Pine Mountain Observatory, go to http:// pmo-sun.uoregon.edu/. http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006pmo.html (2 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:18 AM CAS Alumni & Development 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Updated March 27, 2001 UO HOME ADMISSIONS FINANCIAL AID CAS HOME SEARCH http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006pmo.html (3 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:18 AM CAS Alumni & Development Knowledge in the Round Archaeology students at the Bergen site near Fort Rock, Oregon. (Photo by Dennis Jenkins) Jacquie Enyart, a University of Oregon senior double-majoring in anthropology and classics, was a bit nervous before attending last summer's Archaeology and Geoarchaeology Field School. Not only did she lack practical knowledge of archaeological techniques, she had never even camped before. But she found the field school, a six-week summer program held in south-central Oregon, "absolutely amazing." According to Enyart, within just a few days, the thirty-plus participants became fast friends, camping and working together in the Fort Rock Basin. Enyart gained hands-on experience excavating a 4,000-year-old house pit, a remnant of a home built by predecessors of the Klamath Indians. Best of all, Enyart says, even though she was engaged in very detailed work, the field school helped her grasp the big picture about the ancient http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006social.html (1 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:24 AM CAS Alumni & Development culture she was helping to unearth. "You're in your own little microcosm, and then you stand back and there's this whole house being uncovered," she explains. "You've got your own little thing, but it's part of a much bigger scale." The UO's archaeological field school offers a six-week course focusing on archaeological survey and excavation methods, as well as geomorphological field methods. On weekdays, students live in a tent camp behind North Lake School, with access to kitchen, washroom, and laboratory facilities. Students don't need previous experience to attend the field school, just a strong interest in archaeology. Dennis Jenkins, staff archaeologist at the Oregon State Museum of Anthropology who supervises the school, says about two-thirds of the undergraduates who participate in the program are anthropology majors. But, the program also attracts students of all ages from around the world, and is one of the country's oldest and most established archaeology field schools. Luther S. Cressman, founder of the UO's anthropology department, started the field school in 1937 to study the extent of human history in the Great Basin. Cressman wanted to research a then-controversial theory that human cultures had occupied the area for many thousands of years, a view that was vindicated when he and his field-school excavators uncovered sagebrush-bark sandals below a layer of volcanic ash in Fort Rock Cave. The discovery proved that people had lived in the Fort Rock Basin since before the eruption of Mt. Mazama -- the volcano that blew off the top of what is now Crater Lake -- nearly 7,000 years ago. Jenkins says the find "shocked the scientific community," which had maintained that humans migrated to the Great Basin much later. Several years ago, the UO field school returned to Fort Rock to study the human ecology of the region over a broader time frame. Students are helping to paint a picture of how various cultures lived over thousands of years, as climates and landscapes shifted. "The biggest problem we're addressing is how people relate to their natural environment and how they change their way of life as their natural environment changes," says UO anthropology professor Mel Aikens, who directs the summer program, along with the Museum of Anthropology. Aikens says that without student support, such research would not be possible. "Students are the major contributors," he says. "We're teaching them what to do and how to appreciate it. But they're learning how to learn and contributing to the http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006social.html (2 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:24 AM CAS Alumni & Development advancement of science." He points out, however, that field school students take home more than just a simple understanding of archaeological techniques. "It's more than just admiring a perfectly flaked dart point. It's helping people think in the large," he says. "I think the field school does that in a rather different way than studying a course book." The 2000 field school will be held from June 19 to July 28. More information is available over the Web at http://darkwing. uoregon. edu/~ftrock/index.html. 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon Updated March 27, 2001 UO HOME ADMISSIONS FINANCIAL AID CAS HOME SEARCH http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/cascade/2000spring/200006social.html (3 of 3)6/18/2007 4:41:24 AM CAS Alumni & Development Beyond These Walls Experiences abroad lead UO alum John Darland '96 on path of opportunity John Darland and his son Jackson at a doubutsu koen (animal park) in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. (Photo by Hillary Darland) There's a quote by Saint Augustine that I particularly like, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel, read only a page." I'm the kind of person who prefers to read the entire book. After graduating from the University of Oregon in 1996 with a degree in sociology, my wife, one-year old son and I moved to Japan. During my previous four years at the UO, I had run -- along with my family -- Oregon Adventure, a company that organizes home-stay visits and learning activities for Japanese students. I realized that this was the kind of career I wanted to continue and decided I should go to Japan to improve my language skills and learn the business culture. It seemed to be the perfect way to complement my work and educational experiences. http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/alumni/2000spring/200006darland.html (1 of 4)6/18/2007 4:41:34 AM CAS Alumni & Development Traveling to any foreign country requires a certain amount of flexibility. However, going with a one-year-old and having a wife eight months pregnant, required major flexibility. (You must have a sense of adventure as well!) Most of our friends told us we were crazy, but we figured people had been having babies in Japan for a lot longer than they have in the U.S. and seem to be doing fine, so we didn't worry. Plus my wife and I had both traveled to Japan before, which made adjusting to the customs and culture much easier. Living in Japan was an amazing experience. Through the Japanese Exchange Teacher (JET) program, run by the Japanese government, I taught English at a public high school for girls in Fujioka-city, Gunma-prefecture. The purpose of the JET program is to expose students to English-speaking foreigners and their cultures. I was the first American teacher that these kids had had. Previously, only one foreign teacher had been at the school and that was six years earlier, so most people weren't used to having someone like me around. I noticed that I was more aggressive in my approach to education -- especially in challenging the curriculum and grading systems for the English classes. When I first arrived, the students were graded on just one final test, which primarily required short-term memorization. By the time I left, students were graded on a much broader proficiency system. I was fortunate to have been placed in a school that was flexible; I knew many people in other schools who felt they were human tape recorders. While teaching, I worked on building my relationships with the schools, businesses and people I had previously known, and I also tried to make as many new connections as possible. Even though I was an ocean away from my alma mater, it was two new friendships with people who happened to be affiliated with the UO that played a pivotal role in my personal and professional development. The first was Ingyu Oh, my former UO political sociology professor from Korea. I had stayed in contact with him since college, and during my years in Japan, we became good friends. He also continued to have a major impact on my education. Professor Oh could speak and read several languages, and knew about many different countries in general. I spent a lot of time working with him on an independent study research topic, "A Historical Analysis of Japanese Education." Professor Oh helped me see things in a different light and encouraged me to learn to figure out why things are the way they are. For instance, why did Japan go through the particular changes that it did in education. He taught me that learning about other cultures and their histories is a great way to understand our own culture and the changes it has gone http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/alumni/2000spring/200006darland.html (2 of 4)6/18/2007 4:41:34 AM CAS Alumni & Development through. He was an inspiration. Toward the end of my first year in Japan, I met Mr. Tak Takhara, a UO alum and member of the Tokyo Ducks club -- a 250-plus member club of UO alumni that would do anything just to have an excuse to visit Oregon and the UO campus once every couple of years. So began another new realm of opportunity through a university connection. Tak and I had many things in common -- we both played soccer, liked jazz and believed that our jobs/careers should include our friends and be fun. We started to communicate weekly. He began to help Oregon Adventure, of which I am still a partner, by arranging for students to get their visas and doing orientations for students going on short-term home-stays -- both of which enabled Oregon Adventure to have permanent representation in Japan. During this time, Tak also started a business with Ken O'Connell, a professor in the UO Department of Fine and Applied Arts, called Imagination International, Inc., an import/export company that focuses on international business consulting, software development and publishing. I helped Tak explore ideas related to this business, and this year, I became Imagination International's new vice president. In addition to working on several import/ export projects, we are developing plans for software development and publishing. If space permitted, I could continue with many more stories of how my travels, educational experiences and university connections have merged together to play an important role in my life. Going beyond the university's walls has been a constant theme in my life. My education, combined with the international friendships I've made, both at home and abroad, have not only been personally fulfilling, but have also exponentially increased the opportunities for my future. 1245 University of Oregon ? Eugene, OR ? 97403-1245 (541) 346.3950 ? FAX (541) 346.3282 ? alumnidev@cas.uoregon.edu Copyright ? 2000 University of Oregon http://cas.uoregon.edu/alumnidev/alumni/2000spring/200006darland.html (3 of 4)6/18/2007 4:41:34 AM