Flash Online Volume 13, No. 3, Fall 1998

Alumni Notes graphic

 
1947

Virgil Parker decided he was not ready to retire after working 20 years in the broadcast business and another 20 years as the sports editor of The Journal and Star newspaper in Lincoln, Neb., so when he left the paper in 1988, he began a part-time job working at the Nebraska Golf Association. Almost 10 years later, he is the executive director.

1948

Gloria Grenfell is living in Marina, Calif. and was included in Who's Who in America for 1998 and 1997.

1960

Warren Rucker is the new owner of Sign-A-Rama, the world's largest full service sign franchise, in Mesa, Ariz.

1964

Paul Roos is working as the Hawaii Advertising Manager at Sunset Magazine San Francisco. Roos has been with the magazine for 32 years.

Esther A. Nelson
Esther A. Nelson, '63, Product and Brand Communications Regional Director for US West, joined the Journalism Advancement Council in fall of 1998. The JAC serves as an advisory board to the School.

1976

Bob Welch recently had his third book published, A Father for All Seasons. It focuses on the life journeys of fathers and sons. Welch is currently the features editor of Eugene's Register-Guard newspaper. He was also an adjunct professor at UO School of Journalism and Communication in the early 1990s when he taught Reporting I. bwelch@guardnet.com

1978

Michael Merback is working as an investment officer at Dain Rauscher Inc. in Casper, Wyo. "Life is good in Wyoming, but we miss Oregon," Merback says. Merback's 16-year-old son will attend the University of Oregon's Summer Workshop for Singers and is considering attending the UO School of Music after high school. "That would be great. We could visit a lot more often," Merback adds.

Reginald Grant is the new vice-president of sales and marketing at NISUS Software in Solano, Calif. The company specializes in Macintosh and Internet-based products.

1979

Ann Trengman is a feature writer for the London-based newspaper, The Independent.

1980

Rob Rosenthal is working in advertising as a partner and creative director for Moffatt & Rosenthal in Portland. He was honored as Portland Advertising Professional of the Year by the Portland Advertising Federation.

Julie Follmer Holmes was recently promoted to Marketing Specialist at Jones Intercable in Oxnard, Calif. Her position involves marketing and advertising for Cable TV and Pay-Per-View Services. She and her husband, Hugh, had their first child, Matthew, in May of 1997. "We enjoy the California sunshine at our home in Ventura Hillside," Holmes says.

1983

SOJC Assistant Dean for Student Services Greg Kerber was honored last month by the University of Oregon Office of International Education and Exchange for his "significant contributions to the mission of OIEE."

1984

Carolyn Robinson is a documentary producer and co-owner of SprocketHeads LLC in Anchorage, Alaska. She has created and produced documentaries including a historical show on the Panama Canal and a contemporary, 3-D look at Alaska. Robinson also worked as an associate producer for USA Today on TV and as a producer for the Discovery Channel. Robinson's e-mail: 75764.51@compuserve.com

1985

Brian Erb graduated from Willamette University College of Law in 1989. He is currently working for the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, Calif. He joined the firm after practicing five years with the New York law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell. Erb practices in the area of corporate finance and securities law and represents Apple Computer, Hewlett-Packard, Morgan Stanley and Robertson Stephens among other technology and investment banking clients.

Dana Wade, '83, visits ad classes
Dana Wade
Dana Wade, VP at Young & Rubicam and visiting professional from the Advertising Educational Foundation, Inc., shares her experience with an advertising class. (photo by Jack Liu)


Not soon after she left the University of Oregon, advertising and communications virtuoso Dana Wade served as account executive at Lois, Pitts, Gershon Advertising in Los Angeles where she was part of the team that launched USA Today.

Wade then joined Young & Rubicam, Inc. in 1987 as one of the first members of the Y&R Army Group. After working as an executive on the Army Account, Wade serviced other accounts such as Kentucky Fried Chicken.

After working for McCann-Erickson in Los Angeles providing strategic leadership on Contadina products and introducing Nestle Sweet Success to the market, Wade has now returned to Young & Rubicam. Her awards include a Gold EFFIE for her Client/Agency team accomplishments during the successful introduction of Nestle Sweet Success. Recently, Wade was awarded a National Black Achiever in Industry Award by Young and Rubicam and the Harlem YMCA.

1986

Geraldine Ang is living in Singapore where she works as a marketing director for the animation and multimedia company, DGSoft. The company provides services including animation production, CD-ROM game development, Internet web page design and publishing, and multimedia kiosks development.

Elaine Toh currently works as a freelance journalist. She recently finished working for In Touch with Cells, a magazine dedicated to the Cell Group Church Movement. Toh is interested in teaching English in third-world countries.

1987

Anne Borland Blanchard recently returned from Antarctica where she had worked with a group of glaciologists on a large glacier in a remote area of the continent. She is currently working in outdoor education teaching ropes, challenge courses and back country travel. Blanchard continues to freelance in graphic design and photography and to pursue documentary work in the natural sciences and outdoor-education industries.

1988

Gordon Firemark is now an attorney at the Business Affairs Group, a firm devoted to entertainment transactions, in Los Angeles. Before law school, Firemark worked in the television industry, producing and directing live sports telecasts and public affairs programming.

1986

Geraldine Ang is living in Singapore working as a marketing director for an animation and multimedia company, DGSoft. The company provides services including animation production, CD-ROM game development, Internet web page design and publishing and development of multimedia kiosks.

Elaine Supeng-Toh currently works as a freelance journalist in Singapore. She recently finished working for In Touch with Cells , a magazine dedicated to the Cell Group Church Movement. Toh is interested in teaching English in Third World countries.

1987

Anne Borland Blanchard recently returned from Antarctica where she worked with a group of glaciologists on a large glacier in a remote area of the continent. She is currently working in outdoor education as an instructor, doing ropes, challenge courses and back country travel. Blanchard continues to freelance in graphic design and photography and is pursuing documentary work in the natural sciences and outdoor education industries.

1988

Gordon Firemark is now an attorney at The Business Affairs Group in Los Angeles, Calif. Before law school, Firemark worked in the television industry, producing and directing live sports telecasts and public affairs programming.

1989

Scott Reames has been working for Nike for almost six years. His position changed from Athlete Relations to Corporate Communications last December. He currently manages communications for Nike's hockey, in-line skate and equipment divisions, as well as nike.com and nike.biz on the Internet. He and his wife, Dana, have a 3-year-old son, Mitch, and are expecting his little brother in June.

Chris Blanchard works for Kendall Jackson Winery, where he manages wine sales in San Francisco restaurants. He does wine education, conducts vineyard tours and holds wine seminars. He and his wife, Debra, had their first baby boy last year.

Ken Fallon started his own company with a co-worker in November. The company, called Whitehorse Graphic Services, is located in Beaverton, Ore., and specializes in print brokering, typesetting, image setting and copywriting. Fallon also was married in November. His wife, Diane, works as a legal secretary.

Shaun and Michael Wilde with Mike Fancher
Shaun and Michael Wilde, '69, show off their new twin daughters to their friend Mike Fancher, '68, at the Oregon Daily Emerald 100-year reunion.

1990

Gretchen Carr recently accepted a job offer with KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, Calif., to anchor the weekend news. For the past three years, she has worked as an anchor and reporter in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Elise Child is living in Kahului, Hawaii. She works as an operations director for Akaku Maui Community TV. Child would like to hear from old classmates. Her email address is elise@akaku.org.

Lindy Holt works in public relations as an account supervisor at KVO Advertising and Public Relations in Boston where she recently moved to open a new office for the company.

Stephanie Mencimer is currently working at The Washington Post as a staff writer. She previously worked at The Washington City Paper, an alternative weekly, until January of 1998. Last October, she got married. Her husband, Erik, is senior editor of The Washington City Paper.

Amy Reinwand Troy is now a reporter and weekday morning anchor for KTVX-TV in Salt Lake City, Utah, after working three years as an anchor and reporter at KABB-TV in San Antonio, Texas. "I look forward to the new professional challenge and being closer to home," Reinwand Troy said.

1993

Brett Coltman is vice-president of product development for Micro Video Learning Systems in New York. Micro Video Learning Systems develops training solutions for the Fortune 500 companies and the US Government. Coltman oversees the development of multimedia training applications for the company. brett_coltman@microvideo.com

Libby Dowsett is working as a news reporter at KRNV-TV in Reno. She was married in September. "I'm hoping to get back to the Northwest soon," says Dowsett.

1994

Jose Romero is working as a reporter and photo journalist at El Hispanic News, a bilingual newspaper in Portland. Romero recently received the award for Best Sports Article at the 1998 National Association of Hispanic Publications ceremony in Austin, Texas.

1995

Donovan M. Dela Cruz was recently named Senior Account Executive at Stryker Weiner Associates, Inc. in Honolulu.

Emilie Jacquin Schreiber moved to Vancouver, Wash. with her husband Robb last September. She works as the area director at Young Life.

1996

Jennifer Upshaw is working as a weekend anchor on WLS-AM 890, a newstalk radio station in Chicago.

Donovan Dela Cruz
Donovan Dela Cruz

1997

Zanne Miller continues her work as assistant director/coordinator of publications in the UO's Office of Admissions. "Among other things, I recently worked on a new UO recruiting video and a digital viewbook on CD-ROM, both of which were terrific learning experiences." Drawing on her experience as former Flash editor, Miller will be teaching J481/581 Newsletter Production at the School during winter term. Miller's e-mail: zanne@darkwing.uoregon.edu

Donovan Pacholl began working in public relations at Insync Communications in Portland after an internship in New York, NY He currently works on the Microsoft account at Insync Communications. Pacholl thanks the journalism school for the education that helped him "break into the working world of high-tech public relations."

Aura Smithers is a reporter for The Oshkosh Northwestern, a daily newspaper in Wisconsin.

1998

Andy Opel's Master's thesis production, "Dr. Shipsey and the Cows," recently won first place in the post secondary category, a combined category of Documentary/Comedy/Drama and a $1,000 first prize in the Marco Island Film Festival in Florida. Opel, who continues work on his Ph.D. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says the project came together under the guidance of Dr. Carl Bybee and Dr. Denise Matthews of the SOJC faculty. "My experience at UO learning critical video documentary production and theory has formed the foundation for my work," Opel writes.


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