Willamette Stories

Interns Pick Up Political Experience at the Capitol

Politics major Adam Meyer ’09 spent a year dropping off resumes at the Oregon State Capitol. “I introduced myself to person after person until they couldn’t tell me no,” says Meyer, who now works for Senate Majority Leader Richard Devlin. “I’m interested in public policy and law, and came to Willamette University so that I could work across the street at the Capitol.”

Each year the halls of the Capitol are filled with Willamette students who intern with representatives and senators from around the state. “Not many colleges can boast of opportunities for students to intern in state government, help inform state policy and work closely with elected officials,” says Dave Rigsby, associate director of Campus Life.

The department of politics offers internships for credit through the Legislative Internship course taught by politics Professor Melissa Michaux, and the Office of Career Services helps place students from other majors. “We also help students interested in working for state agencies, lobbying organizations and other groups tangentially associated with the Capitol,” Rigsby says.
Most interns find themselves working as office assistants. “I do a lot of filing, answering phones and organizing House and Senate bills,” says Jamie Peterson ’10, who works for Republican Sen. Fred Girod. “There are a lot of lobbyists who come through our office wanting to speak to the senator about backing their issues, so I meet a lot of people.”

“I do the usual filing, but I also go to hearings for House and Senate committees and take notes on bills that are being proposed,” says Ildi Hrubos’09, who interns with Democratic Senator Ginny Burdick.
“I have a better understanding of how politics work on the local level and although I may not necessarily work in politics or become a senator in the future, I have a greater knowledge of how bills go through and what people can do as citizens,” Hrubos says. “They can testify at committees and lobby.”

“When I talk about everything I do, it can sound like grunt work, but I really make a lot of contacts,” Peterson says. “When I sit down and really think about it, I realize that I have learned a lot. I’m in constant contact with two representatives on the House side, Republican Reps. Sherrie Sprenger and Vic Gilliam, so I really get to know what they are doing. The other day I sat down with the Senator and he explained all the bills he is backing.”

Rigsby encourages students to consider a position at the Capitol next year. “Regardless of your major or vocational interests, Willamette students should take advantage of our unique relationship and proximity to the Capitol and state government,” Rigsby says.

Reprinted from The Collegian student newsletter
Story by Zoe Larmer ’12

Exploring the Economics of Fishing

Economics major Colin Gardiner ’09 grew up fishing with his dad in Alaska. Last summer he combined his studies with his hobby by examining fishing through the eyes of an economist.

Hired as a research assistant for a fisheries economist and professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), part of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Gardiner applied his classroom lessons to real life. He gathered and analyzed data, helped develop a fisheries economics course and began coauthoring a paper, all in a building looking out over the beautiful Chugach Mountains.

Gardiner found the job rewarding in multiple ways, one being the practical nature of the work. In analyzing how regulations are affecting fisheries and how fishermen can cut back on fuel costs, Gardiner contributed directly to work being done in energy economics for the state of Alaska. “The job was unique in that I wasn’t just there to watch,” Gardiner says.

Gardiner thrived on the rigor of graduate-level work at ISER, and he also gained perspective on how to get the most out his remaining undergraduate classes when he returned to Willamette. “My work at ISER informed me on what I needed to learn and focus on,” he says. “I learned that it would be important for me to take more math and econometrics courses to gain the tools I need to analyze data.”

He continued his position at ISER from afar during his senior year by researching for the paper he is co-authoring about the price elasticity of the commercial salmon harvest in Alaska. As for his plans after graduation, he is still considering multiple options — which could include returning to Alaska for more work on this project, heading to Washington D.C. to work on macroeconomics at the federal level, or possibly pursuing economics in graduate school.

Wherever he ends up, fishing and economics will always remain his passions.

This story, written by Lis Wagner, originally appeared in The Collegian, Willamette’s student newspaper.

Playing with His Heart on His Sleeve

A stack of 78-rpm records were violinist Daniel Rouslin’s first musical influence. They belonged to his grandfather, a grocer and tailor who had played violin and conducted a small orchestra before emigrating from England. Rouslin’s parents scheduled piano lessons for him at age six, but Rouslin had already fallen in love with the violin, which he heard at a school assembly. “I came home and said I wanted to play the violin, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” says the Willamette music professor, who has performed throughout the United States, Europe, South America, the Middle East, Japan and China.

“I tell my students it’s not enough just to practice hard. Music is a whole world,” Rouslin says. “You grow by listening to performers who have something to say and the tools to say it.” Rouslin’s playing has changed as he has matured. “I’ve stopped worrying about mistakes and worry more about communicating. I’m not as afraid to wear my heart on my sleeve.”

Rouslin, who performs with Trio Oregon, Ensemble East West and the Salem Chamber Orchestra — where he is concertmaster — plays with empathy for the composer, the audience and the music itself. That same empathy carries him into our community, where he has volunteered in numerous ways over the years.

The man who has performed to worldwide acclaim has spent days sorting food at the Marion-Polk Food Share. He’s tutored homeless children at the Salem Outreach Shelter, and when one boy didn’t need tutoring in traditional subjects, Rouslin taught him to play violin, giving the child free lessons long after he left the shelter. He organized an earthquake relief concert last June for quake victims in China and participated in a benefit concert for the Mid-Valley Women’s Shelter. He also serves on the Artistic Advisory Committee for the Salem Chamber Orchestra and volunteers as section coach for the Salem Youth Symphony, where he helps young violinists refine their skills before each concert.

Rouslin expends a great deal of energy on campus and in the community, and to find renewal he goes to the mountains, strapping on his backpack for a wilderness trek each summer. Last year it was the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, and the year before he hiked 200 miles along the top of the Continental Divide in Montana.

Rouslin will perform with the Willamette University Chamber Players and guest violist Danny Seidenberg Wednesday, March 18, at 7:30 p.m. in Hudson Hall.

Dedicated to Philanthropy: Alumni Rank Tenth in Nation for Peace Corps Service

When Ana Moreno ’05 started her Peace Corps assignment as a volunteer in Paraguay, she expected challenges as she taught local residents the importance of nutrition and sanitation. What she didn’t expect was that before she could accomplish anything, she had to gain people’s trust.

She worked in a town five hours away from Paraguay’s capital and about 20 miles from the closest paved road, where the 500 residents had never seen a Peace Corps volunteer and were wary of American outsiders.

“I was the only person in town who owned a camera, so I started bringing people prints of the photos I’d snapped around town,” says Moreno, who majored in biochemistry and Spanish at Willamette. “For most, these pictures were a cherished possession. I also made a point to recognize people’s birthdays with homemade cakes — a treat most people can’t afford. Camera and birthday cake foreign relations worked wonders, and I can’t count how many of my friendships started out with those two things.”

Moreno is one of many Willamette alumni whose desires to travel and help others led them to join Peace Corps. The organization recently ranked Willamette tenth in the nation on its list of small undergraduate schools producing volunteers. With 18 alumni volunteers in 15 countries, Willamette is the only small Oregon school in the top ten.

“Willamette’s motto, ‘Not unto ourselves alone are we born,’ draws students who are interested in public service, and the excellent liberal arts education prepares us to be successful in cultural exchange and development programs,” says Mara Hansen ’06, currently a Peace Corps volunteer in Morocco. “In many ways the little Willamette campus opened my eyes to the world. I was surrounded by students, staff and faculty who were seeking to better themselves as scholars and global citizens.”

Elizabeth Doerr ’03, who served in Malawi, agrees that her Willamette experience greatly influenced her decision to join. As a community health educator, she helped develop a project proposal to train primary school teachers in how to teach their students HIV/AIDS awareness.

“Willamette really encourages philanthropy and cross-cultural understanding through study abroad and campus activities in which students can get involved,” Doerr says. “Willamette students also seem to have a heightened sense of awareness of what is going on in the world.”

Audrey Squires ’07, currently a volunteer in Guatemala, says the experience of living and working in another country has been invaluable. “Sometimes when I’m walking down the muddy streets of Chahal, I step out of myself for a moment and envision me standing on a globe in this random little town in rural Guatemala, then spin the globe to Oregon and am baffled as to how I managed to come to this place, of all places in the world,” she says. “However it happened, it doesn’t really matter. I’m just glad it did.”

Once Moreno gained the trust and friendship of her Paraguayan neighbors, they taught her more about her place in the global community. “It was very humbling to realize that the fact I grew up in a nice house, always had enough food to eat, and got a good education doesn’t have anything to do with Americans being somehow more intellectually advanced than the rest of the world,” she says. “In the farthest corner of rural Paraguay, in dirt-floor kitchens, I met some of the wisest and most generous people I have ever encountered.”

Willamette Celebrates Africa

Joseph Conrad’s 1902 novella Heart of Darkness is considered a cornerstone of the Western literary canon and is widely studied in high school and college classrooms. But do its reflections of racism, sexism and imperialism perpetuate negative stereotypes toward Africans?

This was one of many questions addressed recently during Willamette University’s Africa Week. Professors from multiple disciplines — art, anthropology, history, French, English and film studies — discussed the challenges of the book, its place in history and its continued effects on today’s culture.

“Most of the critique of the novella is not about the style, it’s about the treatment of the indigenous people,” said Amadou Fofana, assistant professor of French and film studies. “Presenting them as cannibals and savages is dehumanizing of a civilization.”

Those are some of the stereotypes that students and professors wanted to address when they created Willamette’s annual celebration of Africa four years ago. Growing student interest in the continent — fueled by multiple faculty members who are from Africa or do research there — led them to host the event to educate others about the true nature of the continent and its diversity.

“We want people to celebrate the diversity of Africa’s nations, and not just think of the continent as one country,” said Kelsey Walsh ’09, one of the organizers. “We’re lucky to have professors who care about teaching what is good about Africa.”

The theme of this year’s celebration was “Africa Around Us: Recognizing the Contributions of Africa and the African Diaspora throughout the Globe.”

Keynote speaker Sylvester Ogbechie, a renowned art historian and professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, discussed African art’s impact on the arts and cultures of the West. Other events included a film screening, a panel of community members discussing their advocacy work related to African issues, and an open mic night. The week culminated in a community celebration of Africa with a market, food, performances by marimba bands, an African dance workshop and a display of a giant puzzle map of the continent.

At the Heart of Darkness panel, the professors discussed ways the book’s negative stereotypes were a reflection of the time when it was written and its intended audience. They noted that all these issues made it essential for teachers using the book in the classroom to provide historical and cultural context for the story. “For some students, this book is the only view they have of Africa, and that’s problematic when they don’t get any context to go with it,” said Joyce Millen, associate professor of anthropology.

The discussion raised many interesting questions as each professor brought his or her own expertise to the table. As Andries Fourie, the assistant professor of art who led the panel, noted: “This is the greatest value of a liberal arts education, that we can have this type of discussion with people of very different disciplines.”