Theme: Publishing
Jodie Davaz Oral History Interviews
Two life history interviews conducted by Chris Petersen.
May 2014 - May 2015
Jodie Davaz (class of 2015), a Digital Communication Arts major and student in the
University Honors College, spent the 2013-14 academic year as Station Manager at KBVR-FM.
She is also the first editor of Beaver's Digest, successor publication to the Beaver Yearbook. Her first interview is devoted to the inner-workings of OSU's student
radio station, her ambitions for Beaver's Digest and her sense of student culture on campus and within the community as it stood in
2014. Her second interview, recorded almost exactly one year later, focuses on the
first year of Beaver's Digest and Davaz's broader reflections on her rich undergraduate experience.
Chris Johns Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Janice Dilg.
December 15, 2014
Chris Johns (b. 1951), a native of Central Point, Oregon, attended OSU from 1970-1974,
studying Agriculture before changing his major to Technical Journalism. A photojournalist
for the OSU student newspaper, Johns went on to become a lauded photographer for several
newspapers and magazines, and was named National Newspaper Photographer of the Year
in 1979. In 1988 Johns began a formal association with National Geographic magazine, where he was hired as a staff photographer, and spent the next two years
living and working in Africa. In the late 1990s, Johns joined the magazine's editorial
staff and, in 2005, he was named Editor in Chief, the ninth such person to hold this
position since the founding of National Geographic in 1888. His interview focuses on the roots of his love for photojournalism and
the arc of his career as a photographer, writer and editor.
Keith Nishida Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
May 20, 2014
At the time of his interview, Keith Nishida was a Ph.D. candidate and Graduate Teaching
Assistant in the OSU School of Design and Human Environment. In 2012 he challenged
a group of his students to collaborate and create a fashion magazine for their final
class project. This assignment quickly bloomed into a continuing creative endeavor,
called DAMchic magazine, that is now its own student-run organization. In its short history, DAMchic has attracted a wide audience - one issue of the online publication has logged over
500,000 views - and broad student support within the School of Design and Human Environment.
In his interview, Nishida reflects upon his personal experiences in the world of fashion
and at OSU, as well as the history and aspirations of DAMchic magazine.
An Oral History of the OSU Press
An interview with Jo Alexander and Jeff Grass conducted by Chris Petersen.
March 26, 2014
Founded in 1961, the Oregon State University Press was, for much of its existence,
a component of the university's Office of Publications. Burdened by chronic funding
challenges, the Press experienced a roller coaster existence for many years and was
nearly shuttered in 1990 following the passage in Oregon of the property tax limitation
Ballot Measure 5. Now administratively organized alongside the OSU Libraries, the
Press has evolved into a flourishing scholarly publisher responsible for nearly 400
titles focusing principally on the history and character of the Pacific Northwest.
In this interview, Jo Alexander (b. 1944) and Jeff Grass (b. 1948) discuss their long
association with the Press, which together spanned parts of five decades.
Warner Strausbaugh Oral History Interview
Life history interview conducted by Chris Petersen.
May 12, 2014
Warner Strausbaugh (class of 2014) served as Editor-in-Chief of the OSU Daily Barometer student newspaper for the 2013-2014 academic year. A Political Science major, Strausbaugh
spent four years on the Barometer staff and worked there in a number of capacities, including stints as a reporter
for multiple OSU sports beats as well as Sports Editor, Managing Editor and, finally,
Editor-in-Chief. His interview sheds light on the culture of the Barometer newsroom and the life of a student journalist. He also shares his opinions on student
attitudes and OSU's campus culture as it stood in 2014.