1941

Milton L. Levy remembers classes with Dean Allen, George Turnbull, and WFG Thacher and classmates Helen Angel (Kitchen) and Roy Paul Nelson. “I will always believe that the period from 1937 to 1941 were banner years for the Journalism School.” Levy and his wife, Jean, live in Danville, California.

1945

Anne Craven Hecker was elected to honorary membership in the Washington State Dental Association for “significant contributions to the profession and the WSDA” at its annual meeting in September 2003. Hecker worked for the association for twenty-nine years and served as its executive director for eight years prior to retiring in 1994.

1962

Cathy Neville Castillo is director of publications and web content for the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. “This year I launched a free electronic monthly newsletter called Knowledgebase that provides a short, readable summary of research and events at the business schools,” she writes. “The intended audience is business leaders and decision makers, and it seems to be catching hold. I will plug it shamelessly.” Sign up at www.gsb.Stanford.edu/news/knowledgebase.html.

1978

Mike Gaynes spent the nineteen years following graduation in television news as a sportscaster, reporter, producer, and writer for stations in New Orleans; Columbus, Ohio; Providence, Rhode Island; and finally San Francisco. In 1997, he left to freelance in public relations and corporate communications. Mike’s consulting practice is Kalaheo Consulting Inc. He’s also minister of communications at Quova Inc. a fast-growing Silicon Valley technology company.

1981

Sherry Bastion has been in North Carolina for more than twenty years. “I focused on advertising. Those courses were invaluable to me. I graduated with a BA in communication arts from East Carolina University and was promptly hired by McKinney Silver. I worked in advertising for more than fifteen years before entering the Internet space. I currently have my own Web design company and have been designing websites for more than nine years.”

1983

Jim Vitti has published The Cubs on Catalina: A Scrapbookful of Memories about a 30-year Love Affair between One of Baseball’s Classic Teams...and California’s most fanciful Isle. The hardcover book, which covers spring training with the Chicago Cubs from 1921-51, has been named one of the top twenty-five books of the year by the Casey Awards; sales are among Amazon.com’s top 5 percent.

1984

David Kosse writes: “I am still living in London with my wife and three daughters ages three, seven and nine. I recently changed jobs and took over as president of international marketing and distribution for Universal Pictures. I oversee all the international distribution activity for the studio.”

Todd Souvignier is running the New Orleans Music Office Co-Op, an economic development project of the city of New Orleans. The project trains musicians in the business of technology. Souvignier has authored two recent books: Teach Yourself Computer Audio (Alfred Publishing) and The World of DJs and the Turntable Culture (Hal Leonard Books). Souvignier also writes a monthly tech column for a regional music magazine.

1990

Pete Erickson has two careers: He is a professional fly fishing guide with World-Cast Anglers and a ninth grade English teacher with the Boise, Idaho, School District. A member of the TeamUSA flyfishing national team, he finished in the top twenty-five in the world in 2003. He’s also the winner of the 2002 ESPN Great Outdoor games gold medal in flyfishing. Check out www.flyfishingteamusa.com/erickson.htm.

Pat Perkins started teaching English in September 2003 at Palo Verde Valley High School in Blythe, California. He served as a substitute teacher in the district for a year after following his wife, Jo-Elle (Hottois) Perkins, '91, to southern California, where she is teaching first grade. The move to the California desert meant Pat had to leave his job as sports editor at The Observer in La Grande, where he worked for eleven years.

1992

After completing his Master of Arts in Teaching at Southern Oregon University in July, Ted Burnham began teaching journalism (including yearbook, newspaper and photography) in August 2003 at Flathead High School in Kalispell, Montana. Prior to graduate school, Burnham taught English in Mozambique in the Peace Corps for three years.

Lisa Millegan is a reporter for the Modesto Bee. “I’ve worked at the Bee six years, first as a religion reporter and since August 2002 as arts writer,” she writes. “In my new job, I review plays (locally and in San Francisco) and cover classical music, visual arts, and dance.”

Brian Wright’s first feature film, The Good Lot, was released in March. See the trailer at www.thegoodlot.com.

1995

Jennifer Carr recently moved from New York to the U.K. with her British husband. Since graduating, she has worked in the New York PR agency world, most recently as a senior account director serving eBay. In London, she just joined DoubleClick as the U.S. company’s new international PR manager. “J-School friends, please send a hello to jen_a_carr@yahoo.com,” she writes.

Kenny Choo recently moved to Taiwan to take up the post of creative director at Leo Burnett. Prior to that, he worked at various advertising agencies in Singapore, including Bozell, Y&R, Batey, and most recently TBWA.

The Oregonian has named Randy Lemmerman bureau chief of its Metro-East News Bureau. Lemmerman started at The Oregonian in 1998 as a copy editor, then spent one and a half years as the night editor. He has been an assistant bureau chief in The Oregonian's Tigard office since 2001.

Eric James Walstrom is working as a public affairs officer for the state of Oregon, managing the newsletter and writing for the newsletter and intranet. He writes: “I’m part of a core group in designing the Oregon Joint Forces Headquarters logo and branding, organizing, and producing the standing operating procedures and guidelines for daily operations within the office.” He lives in Salem.

1996

Desiree Jeffrey is a senior copywriter for Modern Postcard, writing for a variety of direct mail and advertising efforts for what she describes as “an incredible company.” She and her partner, Jesika Smith, are married and have a son, Kale, born 2002. They live in Carlsbad, California.

Colleen Pohlig-McBrinn was profiled in December in Presstime’s “Twenty under Forty,” a list of outstanding achievers in the newspaper business, for her work as editor of “NEXT,” an opinion page by and for young people that runs every Sunday in The Seattle Times’ opinion section. She became The Times’ assistant editorial page editor in 2002, after six years as a reporter for both The Times and the Yakima Herald-Republic. “On a personal note,” she reports, “I was married in August to Damon McBrinn—a Husky,
God forbid! Our baby is a ninety-pound Rottweiler who loves to hike and dig in the front yard.”

1998

Former Flash Editor Suzanne Hurt, MS, is an adventure journalist based in California. She worked as a staff reporter for City News Bureau of Chicago, The Register-Guard, The Modesto Bee and Copley newspapers before recently launching her career as a freelancer. She has written for Rock & Ice, Climbing, Dandelion, Mammoth Monthly and High Mountain Sports. Her commentaries air on Capital Public Radio, an NPR affiliate reaching Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Reno and beyond. Suzanne lives in Sacramento with her partner, Eric Whalen, and their chocolate Lab, Abbie.

Tyson Krueger writes: “I finally found a position that allows me to use my marketing skills for a good cause. I help facilitate the ENERGY STAR program here in the Northwest, which produces energy-efficient products. My work allows me to bring utilities, manufacturers, and retailers together to make these products readily available and affordable.”

Andy Opel, MS, recently published Representing Resistance: Media, Civil Disobedience, and Global Justice (Greenwood Press: 2003) with colleague Donnalyn Pompper. Reviewer Bob McChesney called the book “one of the most important collections on globalization, culture, and politics that has ever been published.” Opel is an assistant professor of communication at Florida State University.

Katherine Isaia was recently promoted to account executive at Davis-Elen Advertising and Public Relations. She has been working on the McDonald’s account for nearly three years, serving all McDonald’s restaurants and local owner/operators in Oregon, southwest and southeast Washington, and Idaho. She lives in Portland.

Tricia L. Schwennesen is the night metro editor at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She was a reporter at the paper before becoming an editor.

1999

Jason Lewis Berry is pursuing a master’s degree at Georgetown University. He writes: “It has been an exciting year of transition for me. After three years living in Los Angeles and working in the film business, I decided to change my focus to another long-time interest—international affairs. My new career goals require a master’s degree in that field, so instead of film budgets, a steady paycheck and fifty-hour workweeks, I find myself with books, massive debt, and a hectic student schedule. But happily so. My most exciting news of late is a teaching assistant job I landed for Georgetown's most famous professor, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright...in an undergraduate course on American foreign policy.”

2001

Nancy Blake just began as major gifts officer for the National Psoriasis Foundation. She writes: “I am happy to report that I make use of all the skills I learned at the SOJC nearly every day.”

Angela Kellner can be heard on Eugene’s airwaves as a reporter and on-air host for KLCC 89.7 FM. She writes: “In October 2003, I celebrated one year of working full time in the KLCC news department as a reporter and local host of National Public Radio programs Fresh Air and All Things Considered. I also contribute stories to the Associated Press and NPR on Oregon’s wildfires and other issues of national importance. In August 2003 I bought my first home in Eugene!”

Keiji Sato is working as a freelance television director in Japan. In March, Sato began working for “the best Japanese news program—the News Station.”

2002

Since joining Citigate Sard Verbinnen, a financial communications company in New York, Elizabeth Hanahan has worked on several special financial situations and transactions, including MGM's bid for Vivendi Universal’s Entertainment Assets, Sears’ sale of its credit and financial products business to Citigroup; Sears’ acquisition of Land’s End; Providence Equity Partners’ acquisitions of France Telecom’s Dutch cable business (Casema), and Deutsche Telekom’s German cable business (Kabel Deutschland).

Hillary Schultz writes “After finishing my bachelor's degree at Oregon, I completed my master's at Syracuse University in media management. I work for an integrated marketing firm that specializes in consumer promotions and co-marketing events and love (almost) every minute of it!”

Stephen Venneman began in January as a producer for WISC-TV in Madison, Wisconsin.

Terri Lynn Wheeler has, for the past year, worked for Peter Jacobsen Productions Inc. in Portland. Her responsibilities include coordinating PR and media relations for the firm’s national golf tournaments and handling PGA TOUR professional Peter Jacobsen’s PR and media requests.

Austin Yoshino has been named marketing assistant at the manufacturing facility of Hawaiian Host Inc., Hawaii’s originator of chocolate covered macadamias. He will assist in all areas of marketing including advertising, public relations, brand development, new product offerings, and sales support.

2003

Kirsten Bjornstad is working in Los Angeles as a broadcast coordinator for Initiative, a media buying/planning agency.

Yuriko Futami is an advertising account manager in Japan for Beacon Communications, formerly Leo Burnett.

Kerry Johnson is an account executive with Lotus Public Relations in New York, a company focused on hi-tech and financial services public relations. “We are branching out to online gaming,” she writes.

Sunhwa Lee is currently in a three-month internship for KorCom Porter Novelli Inc. in South Korea, a position that she hopes will turn into full-time employment.

Emily Lemmer lives in Portland and is applying to graduate school.

Jackie Lynn Ray is in Washington, D.C., working as an account coordinator for Ketchum Public Relations. She works with both governmental agencies and with private companies.

Lisa Toth writes: “After graduation, I gained experience working for the Contra Costa Times and Tri-Valley Herald in the Bay Area. I’m currently reporting for two community newspapers, covering education. It’s a challenging beat given recent state cutbacks in schools, but I love living in the heart of the Silicon Valley/San Jose area. Go Ducks!”

Elizabeth Werhane, MS, is the technology editor/reporter for the Pacific Coast Business Times in Santa Barbara.

A piece written and illustrated (with digital coloring by the great Chad Essley) by Mike Russell appeared in March in the Leisure & Arts section of The Wall Street Journal. The story chronicled a day in the life of Excalibur Books & Comics, a comic book store in Portland, Oregon.

In Memoriam

Miriam Roberts, ’29, died January 25 of age-related causes. She was ninety-seven.

Lindsey Nahoakapuokalani Pollock, ‘66, died February 5 in Honolulu. He was fifty-nine.

Jeremiah James "Jere" O'Brien II, MS ‘66, Ed.D., UO, ‘96, died of heart failure October 5, 2003, in Sonoma, California. He was sixty-seven.