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CORVALLIS - The Department of Apparel, Interiors, Housing and Merchandising at Oregon State University is hosting a day-long career fair for its students with the theme "Accepting the Challenge."

The event is free and open to the public, and will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 1, at the CH2M Hill Alumni Center.

Representatives from a number of companies will discuss trends in their fields. Companies attending include Beth Cowman Interiors; Center of Design for an Aging Society; Columbia Sportswear; Fossil; Fred Meyer, Inc.; Jantzen, Inc.; JC Penney Co.; Macy's West; Meier & Frank; Neil Kelly Designers/Remodelers; Nike, Inc.; Nordstrom; Norm Thompson; Smith/CFI; Talbot's; and Tufenkian Carpets & Rugs.

The keynote speaker is Sarah Severn, Director of Sustainable Development for Nike, Inc., who will speak at 9 a.m. Severn has held various positions in a long career with Nike, and in 2000 took on a new role as Director of Sustainable Development. In this role she focuses primarily on stakeholder engagement, the continued integration of sustainability into the business, product stewardship, corporate sustainability initiatives, and corporate reporting.

From 10 to 11 a.m., concurrent sessions will be held on three topics:

• Apparel Design: Entrepreneurship
• Merchandising Management: Building Your Competitive Advantage-Internships
• Housing Studies and Interiors: Is There Green in Green

Sessions from 11:20 a.m. to 12:20 p.m. include:

• Apparel Design and Merchandising Management: Building Competitive Advantages-Marketing Your Strengths
• Housing Studies and Interior Design: Accepting the Challenge of Designing Your Own Career

Recent OSU graduates in apparel design, interior design, housing studies, and merchandising management will discuss their experiences in sessions from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. followed by time provided for open discussion.