Winter 2024 5 FRom the eDitoR ILLUSTRATION BY JOÃO FAZENDA Winter 2024, Vol. 109, No. 1 PuBlisheRs John Valva, executive director, OSUAA; vice president of alumni relations, OSU Foundation Julie Lambert, ’85, chair, OSUAA Board of Directors eDi toR Scholle McFarland GRaDuate assistaNt Katherine Cusumano DesiGN coNsultaNts Pentagram Austin, DJ Stout, Davian‑Lynn Hopkins Des i GNeR Teresa Hall, ’06 coPy eDitoR Charles Purdy aDDRess chaNGes ForOregonState.org/Address letteRs aND QuestioNs stater@osualum.com 877‑678‑2837 Oregon Stater 204 CH2M HILL Alumni Center Corvallis, OR 97331 aDVeRtisiNG Kayla Farrell‑Martin Kayla.Farrell-Martin @osufoundation.org 541‑737‑4218 aDVisoRy couNcil Nicole “Nikki” Brown, ’04, Tillamook Vicki Guinn, ’85, Portland Tyler Hansen, Tucson, Arizona Lin Hokkanen, ’82, Portland Colin Huber, ’10, Albany Chris Johns, ’74, Missoula, Montana Ron Lovell, Gleneden Beach Jennifer Milburn, ’96, Albany Elena Passarello, Corvallis Mike Rich, ’81, Beaverton Roger Werth, ’80, Kalama, Washington Oregon Stater (ISSN 0885‑3258) is published three times a year by the Oregon State University Alumni Association in collaboration with the Oregon State University Foundation and Oregon State University. Contents may be reprinted only by permission of the editor. When I was 5, my dad took me to see Jaws at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville, Tennessee. He was head of a music school and a big fan of composer John Williams, so we went to every movie with a Williams score. That this particular flick might be inappropriate for a child who had just eaten king crab and swilled down five ShirleyTemples hadn’t crossed his mind. But as soon as the giant shark closed in and the little boy on his yellow raft went under, my dinner came up in glorious maraschino red all across the seats in front of us. After that, I was afraid of the ocean, afraid of the pool, afraid of the bath. (Somehow, I’d gotten the idea that sharks could swim up pipes. They can’t, right?) I wasn’t alone in my terror. Jaws shredded our sense of safety in the water on the way to becoming the highest-grossing film of its time, with more than 128 million tickets sold. A public policy professor at the University of Sydney coined the term “the Jaws Effect” to describe the set of beliefs shaped by the movie: sharks seek and attack humans,these encounters are always fatal and the only way to save people is to kill sharks. The results were devastating. “I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film,” Steven Spielberg told BBC Radio in 2022. For this issue’s cover story — “Fear in the Water,” on page 32 — our writer, Cathleen Hockman-Wert, spent two days on a research boat with an Oregon State University team that seeks to change the narrative. The story includes spectacular photographs by Louise Johns (daughter of Chris Johns, ’74). The Big Fish Lab, based in Newport and led by Assistant Professor Taylor Chapple, aims to counter fear with respect and ignorance with knowledge. I was surprised to learn just how little the scientific community knows about even the most basic shark facts, from where they give birth (yes, most give birth to live babies) to why they migrate, to how long they live. Without these key pieces of information, no one is sure of the true extent of sharks’ role in keeping balance in the ocean ecosystem, or how best to protect them. The enthusiasm of Chapple’s students is infectious, as I learned one afternoon at the dissection of a shark accidentally caught in a fisher’s net. (The squid beak found inside its stomach drew a lot of oohs and ahs.) Many of these students participate in outreach events, encouraging the public to support this research and be more open-minded about sharks. I do have a new appreciation for sharks after reading the story, and I hope you will, too. But I’ll stay on shore, thank you. Blame my dad’s favorite movie composer: Duunnn dunnn... duunnn dunnn... dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn dunnnn! Scholle McFarland Editor, Oregon Stater THE JAWS EFFECT
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