PSU Magazine Winter 2001

Faculty extreme team continues to make news Anna-Lou ise Reysenbach , a microbial biologi t fea tured on the cover of the spring 2000 issue of PSU Magazine, has her bags packed again in her search for undiscovered life fo rms. This year she will travel to the dense forests of Costa Rica, dive below the waters of the Indian Ocean, and return to one of the most fertile areas of her research: Yellowstone National Park. It was there that she was recently interviewed for an eight-hour series on evolution that will be aired on Nova in August. Sherry Cady, assistant professor of geology, who also appeared in the arti– cle "Going to Extremes," was named one of Time Magazine's "Innovators"– a group of 100 influential people to watch in the new millennium. Cady is searching for fo ilized signs of primi– tive microbes that can give us ideas about the origins of life on Earth. Her work could also help scientists deter– mine if life existed on Mars. She was recently named the first editor of Astrobiology, a journal with an editorial board of the top experts in the field. Meanwhile, PSU Magazine subject David Boone, professor of environ– mental microbiology, has iso lated about a dozen new strain of microbes that probably represent as many as five species that have never before been identified. The microbes were taken from sediment samples in Skan Bay, Alaska. Library open 24 hours Burning the midnight oil took on new meaning on campus this fall. The Mil– lar Library is keeping its doors open to faculty and students 24 hours a day, five days a week. It is the only public university library in the state keeping these kind of hours, and few private school libraries, with the exception of Lewis & C lark College, remain open around the clock. The Millar Library is open from mid– night to 8 a.m., Sundays through Thurs– days, in addition to regular daytime hours-but only to PSU faculty and stu– dents during the extended hours. Student ad campaign was ECHOgood A group of PSU alumni heard an echo this fall all the way from Los Angeles. A print advertising campaign created in the Los Angeles office of mega-agency Saatchi & Saatchi looked familiar to former advertis– ing students of Don Dickinson. In spring 1999 they presented an ad campaign on Toyota's new ECHO car model at an American Adver– tising Federation-sponsored con– test. Among the students' many proposed tag lines to market the car were "ECHOcentric"-car as an extension of personality-and "ECHOchamber"-another take on interior roominess. This past summer and fa ll Saatchi & Saatchi ran ads for Toyota using the theme ECHOcentric (pictured at right), ECHOchamber, and ECHOmania. Coincidence or making use of a good idea? Saatchi & Saatchi say co incidence; they had the idea already "in the can." "It is not our contention that they copied us. It doesn't really matter," says Dickinson, director of Advertising Management in the School of Business Adminis– tration. "The fact is, our students did agency-quality work." Dickin– son, who the students affection– ately call Professor D, notes that by vying in the competition stu– dents gave up all rights to their ideas. "I have mixed feelings," says Roshan Bellavara, leader of the 1999 student team from Dickin– son's National Student Advertis– ing Competition class. "I'm upset that we didn't win with the ads, and happy that our work was worth u ing. We knew exactly what the client needed." The students took second in the regional competition back in 1999, but that didn't stop most of the 11 members of the team from graduating and getting jobs in the field. Bellavara works in the media department of Wieden & Kennedy in Portland. He stays in touch with many of hi team members. With more experience under their belts, the alumni see places where their plan for Toyota's ECHO ECH0 centric ....... ....."·· ····· ........ .. ............1t... ••I"., ...,, •o•IH••I ,.,,,..,,, •O "''"' '"""" ..................... , ...... , ,,, ..... .... ..... , lltrlllt ..., Ill 01. ..., U lh.. Ill.Ill The slogan ECHOcentric, used in this national advertisement by Saatchi & Saatchi, was also an idea pitched by a student team for an American Advertising Federa· tion•sponsored contest in 1999. could use fine-tuning, but all in all they're still pleased with the pack– age. This year, Dickinson's students have a new challenge for the American Advertising Federation competition, and it's a big one. They must develop a global image campaign for DiamlerChrysler even though the merger between the two auto giants has turned ugly. Maybe the company will find a new image from the students– they will have many to choose from. WINTER 2001 PSU MAGAZINE 3