Spring2024 53 BEAVER LEADER Q + A science, working for HP. Did he have any advice? My dad’s world began and ended with his love for science. When he made his shift, it was because he wasn’t making enough money as a scientist at that time to sufficiently care for his family, in his mind. My parents were initially really concerned I wasn’t going to earn enough money. So, my dad’s advice was “Don’t starve.” But beyond that, he would always tell me, “No matter what you choose to do, give your all to that thing.” When you’re conducting an interview, how do you find the unexplored angles in a story? This relates directly to my OSU education. It’s a similar process that shapes your thinking when you major in science or engineering. You always come away with an experiment or observing a process in nature, and you’re like, “Well, how does that work? Why is that happening?” It’s very much the same in the kind of journalism that we’re trying to do. American trust in the media is near a record low. How do you navigate that? Fundamentally, when we’re doing the show, our most important job is to be the listener’s advocate. That means that my duty is to ask questions of whomever is on the air that will clarify or elucidate their analysis or their point of view. Sometimes that means you have to ask challenging questions. I’m hoping that hearing our transparent efforts to get answers for our listeners helps build trust in our show. Is there anything that you have learned from talking with people whose points of view differ from your own that you have applied elsewhere in your life? What I have learned is actually what I love most about this country — that we have a lot of different points of view. I find a great deal of hope in that for us. People are complicated; Americans’ opinions are quite diverse and very issue-dependent, and I think in the media, we do not present that enough. Working on the show has made me check the source of my own points of view; it’s made me self-interrogate more. Coming from a science and engineering background, you have to be open to being wrong. People always ask me, “How did someone who majored in civil engineering end up in journalism?” I’m like, “Actually, the method of thinking, in my mind, isn’t all that different.” THIS INTERVIEW HAS BEEN EDITED FOR CLARITY AND LENGTH. every student graduates. FinishinFour OSU aims to become a university where But some just don’t have the resources they need to stay in school. You can make the di erence for highest need students from Oregon. LEARN MORE: bit.ly/FinishFour Or contact Mike Moran, OSU Foundation Senior Director of Development, Scholrships and University Initiatives: mike.moran@osufoundation.org, --8
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