Portland State Magazine Winter 2007

Story of the world's first antibiotic l11 UC.U' 01\UC IJIOMAS IIACfR THE DEMON UNDER THE MICROSCOPE by Thomas Hager '75, Harmony Books, 2006 PRIO R TO WO RLD War II, nothing on earth could stop a bacterial infection once it starred. Then came sulfa, a little-known family of drugs that changed the course of scientific and medical history. Thomas Hager's The Demon Under the Microscope cells the dran1acic story of this unexpected wonder drug char burst onto rhe global stage in the mid-1930s and all but disappeared just 10 years later with the discovery of penicillin. Ironically, sulfa, a medicine chat helped so many Allies in World War II, was discovered in a German laborato– ry by a corporation whose executives would later be put on trial for war crimes at Nuremberg. The story goes on to include concentration camp experiments and the worst mass poisoning in U.S. history. A veteran science and medical writer, Hager is the author of three books, including Force ofNature: The Life ofLinus Pauling, and his work has appearing in publications ranging from Reader's Digest to tl1e Medical Tribune. He lives in Eugene. The life of a concertmaster DAWN CARTER ' 90, MA '97 is in her third season as concertmaster of the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra, and loves it. "I enjoy being in a leadership position," says Carter. "I feel like I'm making a big difference, and working with Huw Edwards, our conducror, is terrific." Alumna Dawn Carter has a leadership position with the Portland Columbia Symphony Orchestra. The role of concertmaster is a familiar one for Career, who has held that position with the Portland Youth Philharmonic, the PSU Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. She also played in the violin section of the Oregon Symphony for many years. Carter starred her musical career at age four on the piano and at age six with the violin. She and her husband, Jonathan, are raising four future musicians of their own on a blueberry farm in Vancouver, Wash. On May 4 and 8, Carter will be a featured soloist with tl1e orchestra playing Bach's Concerto for Oboe and Violin. The PSU con– nections do not end with Carter. Susan Chan, PSU music professor, will perform Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto on March 23 and 25. See www.columbiasymphony.org for locations. Bookbriefs JOSE BUILDS A WOMAN by Jan Baross PSU Ooligan Press, 2006 FANFARE SPLIT CREEK : WAR NOVEL OF THE DEEP WEST by VO. Blum (Michael Horowitz Ph.D. '81) Times Eagle Books, 2007 EARLY MYSTICS IN TURKISH LITERATURE translated by Gary Leiser '69 and Robert Dankoff Routledge, 2006 HOME GROUND: LANGUAGE FOR AN AMERICAN LANDSCAPE by Barry Lopez and Debra Gwartney (English faculty) Trinity University Press, 2006 GREAT AND MINOR MOMENTS IN OREGON HISTORY edited by Dick Pinrarich '72, MA '80 New Oregon Publishers, 2006 THE READING GLITCH : HOW THE CULTURE WARS HAVE HIJACKED READING INSTRUCTION by Lee Sherman '76 and Bersy Ramsey Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006 A PACIFIC NORTHWEST NATURE SKETCHBOOK by Jude Siegel MS '76 Timber Press, 2006 W INTER 2007 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE 7