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Our Hollywood heavy hitters are coming ― the Office of the Provost and the College of Liberal Arts welcome you to a bonus appearance from commencement speaker Harley Jessup (BFA ’76) and screenwriter Mike Rich (‘81). Friday, June 15 @ LaSells. Facebook event page.

Commencement speaker Harley Jessup (BFA ’76) and screenwriter Mike Rich (‘81) will discuss their work in a program centered on clips from their most iconic films. Moderated by Peter Betjemann, Director of the School of Writing, Literature, and Film.

Harley Jessup has worked at Pixar Animation Studios since 1996, where his credits as production designer include such films as Coco, Ratatouille, Cars 2, The Good Dinosaur, and Monsters, Inc. Previously at Lucasfilm, Industrial Light and Magic, and Disney, he worked on The Hunt for Red October, James and the Giant Peach, and many other films. He received an Academy Award for Visual Effects for Innerspace in 1988.

Mike Rich broke onto the screenwriting scene in 1998, when his screenplay for Finding Forrester won the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship and became a box-office hit starring Sean Connery, Rob Brown, and Busta Rhymes. Since then, he has become a go-to screenwriter in Hollywood, with credits that include such films as The Rookie, Secretariat, Radio, and Cars 3.

Audience questions will be welcome throughout the program by voice and mobile device.

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the College of Liberal Arts.

Read our feature interview “Words of Wisdom from Master Storyteller Mike Rich“

Student groups host fashion evening

It was a beautiful but blustery evening – hence, no need for wind machines on this catwalk to add flounce and flair to the fashions as Mother Nature got that detail down.

The rest of the details – and there were many – from a requisite high-volume, heavy-bass sound system, crowds of spectators, and gorgeous models to the inspired clothing collections of burgeoning designers were handled to great success by student groups, the National Retail Federation Student Association and the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists.

“Revolution,” the inaugural fashion event of the newly formed student clubs affiliated with the Merchandising Management and Design & Innovation Management majors at the college, featured the work of talented designers, and tapped into the edgy, global mood of change, sustainability and future uncertainty.

The first part of the show welcomed the talents of student designers from across OSU campus featuring “upcycled” garments constructed from discarded items, e.g., plastic bags, a Swiss military sleeping bag, old denim, fabric found in a dumpster, etc.

The second segment showcased the College of Business’ Apparel Design majors, and featured truly unique to OSU, unique to Oregon inspirations. Where else in the world will you see a wedding dress designed from waterproof material? Go Beavs!

The show, which created a space for each designer’s unique point of view, told a story that encompassed power, equality, and self-worth. Five designers ventured into the dystopian space of upcycled fashion; six submitted a single garment, and apparel design program students created seventeen collections.

The results – bright neon blocks of color, brave necklines, a patchwork of unique details and fabrics, complex paired with comfortable – came together in a long parade of stunning designs.

Bravo, brava, bravi! A great shout out to the designers, models, members of both organizations AATCC and NRFSA, faculty, the Memorial Union and Student Experience Center for their contributions and outstanding performance.

(p.s. Like our Facebook photos!)

CONGRATULATIONS, DESIGNERS!

Upcycled Garments

• Jordan Farris
• Amber Hill
• Xuyang Huang
• Irina Sergeyeva
• Payton Smyer

Single Garments

• Carley Conduff
• Nicole Goecke
• Xin Yu Liu
• Alex Podeschi & Lauren Clay
• Marie Recine

Collections

• Katie Alston
• Cassie Downing
• Jessica Downing
• Jordan Farris
• Amber Hill
• Leah Jaeger
• Lauren Johnson
• Melany Mailangkay
• Meryl Muckenthaler
• Hannah Norum
• Marie Recine (2 collections)
• Kirklynn Russell
• Irina Sergeyeva
• Payton Smyer
• Alaura Unger
• Catherine Wong

A streak begins! Oregon State women golfers are back in the Regionals for the second year in a row, hitting a consecutive-years streak for postseason play not matched since 2000-2001, and making another strong statement for second-year head coach Dawn Shockley.

College of Business junior Olivia Benzin, sophomores Nicole Schroeder and Mari Nishiura will represent OSU along with Susie Cavanagh and Ellie Slama at the NCAA Division I tournament.

In total, four women of the seven-member golf squad are studying in the College of Business: Benzin,  Schroeder, Nishiura and Haley Nist, and the group has earned academic accolades for the season in addition to postseason rankings.

Team lauded for highest GPA among women’s athletics

At the May 2018 Academic Achievement Dinner the women’s golf team was honored for holding the highest team GPA among all OSU women’s sports teams. Olivia Benzin earned the highest GPA on the team. Teammates Nist and Schroeder also were recognized for student-athlete achievements.

Congratulations for their hard work in the classroom and on the green!

OSU women’s golf is among the 72 teams competing in the NCAA Division I Regionals at four tournament locations around the nation on May 7-9 at the University Ridge Golf Course in Madison, Wis., hosted by the University of Wisconsin.

The Beavers are seeded 14th of the 18 teams at Madison. Arizona State, the third seed in the Madison regional, is the women’s defending national champion.

Six teams from each regional advance to the championship on May 18-23 at Karsten Creek Golf Club, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, hosted by Oklahoma State University. The Beavers finished seventh last year in Lubbock, Texas, their best-ever finish at NCAA Regionals.

Go Beavs!

A genuine swill party beer, priced to compete with Pabst Blue Ribbon; a brew with Vitamin D added; a sophisticated black-label luxury beer for the oligarchs, and even a malting company and a tailgating-friendly mobile bar were among the great ideas and business pitches of BA 390 marketing students and GD 325 graphic design students presented to a panel of judges Thursday. Fellow students gave cheers of support while judges received beers – cans and bottles anyway. The beer props were part of the detailed packaging and label design mockups that came from the design students as the marketers presented business plans to launch the new beverage lines.

The event, Winter 2018 Shark Tank “Golden Pint Presentation,” brought in judges from around campus, including Dan Edge, Associate Dean – College of Agriculture and Lee Ann Garrison, Director, School of Art & Communication as well as professor of crop science, Dr. Patrick Hayes, one of the world’s leading researchers of barley strains.

Dr. Hayes, whose recent experiments breeding flavor-rich barley strain has led to varietals anticipated to impact the taste of beer, partnered up with BA 390 course instructor Chuck Toombs to see how far the students could run with the ideas to bring barley-centric beer to market.

Until this research breakthrough from OSU Ag Sciences, barley was simply considered the work horse of beer production, the plain grain that contributed the ABV while hops and yeast waltzed together to form the flavor profiles that beer connoisseurs thirst for.

Team Fairy Ales perfectly captures that Cinderella story of Hayes’ barley research in their presentation, comparing barley to poor Cinderella forced to do all the cooking and cleaning while her step-sisters enjoyed all the parties and praise. The team earned top honors for the best brand & product story.

Another category standout for best product and packaging design was Team Gladius, who produced a slick monochromatic label featuring knight’s armor and swords for their premium barley wine, and a resealable bottle for the heavier, high alcohol beverage. Their pièce de résistance was a tap handle resembling a sword handle for the Gladius brand.

Special guests at the pitch competition included OSU Vice President of Research Cynthia Sagers, and students from the business class at Silverton High School on a college visit with their teacher, Riane Towery.

Each year, Toombs chooses a research project from around campus that he foresees to be on a fast track to market and has his marketing students explore the project launch. Past projects include marketing work for the patented bacon-flavored seaweed from researcher Chris Langdon and colleagues at OSU’s Hatfield Marine Science Center.

This year was the first that marketing teams partnered with design students to produce the sophisticated array of label designs, sample products and packaging concepts.

Congratulations to the students of the BA 390 and GD 325 for their incredible work. Judges named winners in five categories listed below, and many thanks to our judges for their time!

Check out our Facebook photo album!

Best Product & Packaging Design: Gladius

Best Multi-Product Monetization Strategy: HIBARR

Best Brand & Product Story: Fairy Ales

Best Regional Focus & Use of Technology: Pacific Malt

Most Creative & Future Focused: Evolve

Dam Worth It campaign brings a voice to students and athletes

Walk by the study rooms In Austin Hall during finals week, and one can quickly lose that nostalgia for “the college days.” The pressure and stress are etched onto tired faces of students, and the intense quiet resonates more than the usual din of the students rotating through classes.

Add to the pressures of work-study jobs, internships, club involvement, and for those 102 elite athletes in the College of Business, NCAA Division I athletics. Every sports season includes an end-of-term grand finale that typically coincides with exams. Never mind training schedules and competition commitments that include extensive travel.

It may come as no surprise that – despite support programs within academics and athletics – there are some chinks in the emotional armor of students, and student-athletes, in particular.

Ending the Stigma

Finance major Nathan Braaten is a midfielder on the Oregon State men’s soccer team, and a Pac-12 All-Academic First Team honoree. He also is a co-founder of the Dam Worth It mental health support campaign, a movement he started because there’s still too much stigma associated with mental health issues for students to seek help before a situation becomes untenable.

The Dam Worth It campaign launched in concept in October 2017, with its first outreach to the OSU sports community one month later. The Dam Worth It campaign’s public launch occurred in the same week as the January 2018 suicide of Washington State quarterback Tyler Hilinski. Hilinski was slated to be the starting quarterback in 2018 was described as outgoing and bubbly, and Hilinski’s death was a heavy hit to his family, team and the Pac-12 community.

Braaten and his Dam Worth It co-founder Taylor Ricci, a former top OSU gymnast and College of Public Health and Human Sciences academic standout, were impacted by the many stories about athletes facing mental health challenges across the national, the Pac-12 as well as their own rosters.

The stories all hit too close to home for Braaten and Ricci who also lost OSU teammates. “Because of what we lost, we felt it was time for action,” Braaten said. “Above all, we want this platform to be for everyone, not just student-athletes.”

Their public initiative began with #DamWorthIt social media outreach, and a physical presence at winter season sporting events alongside student workers from the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services.

When Braaten researched into mental health issues of college students, he learned that roughly one-quarter of students identified a struggle with depression or had a mental health concern in the past year. Two-thirds of these students did not seek any help at all ― not a health care professional or even a family member or a friend.

Creating a Dialogue

“I feel it’s important that this is peer-to-peer,” said Braaten. “Athletic staff will always have their doors open to hear from us, but if you are the athlete in a crisis, you also will be worried that sharing the problem will affect your start position or your play time. If it were a physical injury, you would not hide it from the team. With Dam Worth It, we want to be the tape or the wrap or the brace that gives support, and we don’t want to hide.”

Far from hiding, the Dam Worth It campaign has earned headlines in USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and other major media outlets. The duo has a grant proposal in with the Pac-12 to build and expand the campaign, plans high-profile events with guest speakers and a continued presence at sporting events. Ricci’s personal profile video was completed this winter, and Braaten’s will be released this spring where they share their stories about their losses and their personal struggles.

“How many athletes will tell you about what they lost? Not many,” Braaten said. “We hope to start the conversation, and keep it going. We want to make mental health conversations as normal as any other everyday conversation.”

Suicide is the seconding leading cause of death among people aged 15-34 in the United States, and depression affects 20-25 percent of Americans aged 18 and older in a given year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Find #DamWorthIt on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/hashtag/DAMWorthIt?src=hash

Nathan Braaten: @NathanBraaten

Taylor Ricci: @TayRicci