daily paper 2/24/12
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Friday of week 7.TRANSCRIPT
n Collector sends amber specimen to Dr. Poinar, turns out to be new fossil of fly
By McKinley SmithThe Daily BaromeTer
Oregon State University zoolo-gist George Poinar Jr. discovered the first known fossil of a bat fly, a parasitic insect that feeds exclu-sively on bats’ blood.
“[A bat fly is] a fly that’s been modified by millions of years of coevolution with bats. The fly probably started its association with bats by living in caves and began by crawling on bats for protection and then began feed-ing on bats,” Poinar said.
The bat fly was encased in amber, preserving it for mil-
lions of years. A collector, who didn’t know what it was, sent it to Poinar.
Poinar was very excited when he discovered what the amber contained, and in the process, learned a lot about bat flies.
“Up until, then I knew very lit-tle about bat flies. Now I at least know a little,” Poinar said.
Besides being the only known fossil of its kind, Poinar found evidence that the bat fly was host to a rare form of bat malaria.
Malaria is a parasitic protist that completes its life cycle in two hosts: in this case, the bat fly and the bat itself. Different stages of the malaria can be identified in the specimen.
BarometerThe Daily
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2012 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITYCORVALLIS, OREGON 97331 DAILYBAROMETER.COM VOLUME CXV, NUMBER 88
PAGE 8
MEN’S BASKETBALL: OSU looks for a sweep of the Ducks.
SPORTS8 – Women’s Civil War preview8 – Gymnasts at home tonight
NEWS3 – Alternative spring break apps
FORUM4 – Obama for four more years4 – Losing faith in the Academy
OSU takes unique water approach
First bat fly fossil discovered by Oregon State researcher
Researchers explain why Mt. Hood hasn’t erupted
ContriButed Photo | Courtesy of Alison KoleszAr
Mount Hood, pictured above on a clear day, only experiences minor releases of magma pressure that don’t blow ash into the air.
ContriButed Photo | Courtesy of GeorGe PoinAr
Poinar’s discovery of the first known fossil of a bat fly, above, came after many years of studying malaria.
n Studies, research find differences between eruption patterns of volcanoes
By Michael MendesThe Daily BaromeTer
Oregon State University research-ers may have uncovered the secret behind Mount Hood’s lack of high-explosive eruptions in the last 500,000 years.
This discovery may provide insight into volcanic eruptions in general. The key lies in the mixing of warmer and cooler magma within.
Mount Hood and other similar vol-canoes still experience minor, low-explosive releases of magma pres-sure that release lava down only a small part of the mountain and don’t blow clouds of ash into the air.
One example would be the col-lapse of the Crater Rock lava dome in subsequent low-explosive eruptions around 1,500 and 220 years ago.
By investigating lava rocks and small crystals within the rocks, scien-tists were able to discern a difference between the eruptions of Mount Hood and other nearby volcanoes,
such as Mount Mazama. “When crystals form, they retain a
record of the conditions they formed under,” said Adam Kent, associate professor at OSU’s department of geosciences.
It was found that there were two different types of rock and crystal conditions within the mountain’s lava rock deposits indicating differ-ent formation conditions, particu-larly the temperatures at which the crystals formed. Furthermore, thanks to Mount Hood’s special conditions, older rocks can now be studied and compared to the newer ones to see if the findings hold.
“Hood’s eruptions are very con-sistent in style — it has erupted the same way for at least the past 30,000 years,” said Alison Koleszar, post-doctoral research associate at the department of geosciences and the lead author of the study.
Magma nearer to the surface is cooler and thicker, and thus, pres-sure builds up easily within it. In con-trast, deeper-earth magma is warmer and more fluid, which allows more relief of internal pressure.
At Mount Hood, there is a consis-
tent mixing of the surface magma with deeper magma, which warms the surface magma and prevents pressure from building to the point that the volcano would experience a high-explosive eruption in a similar manner to St. Helens.
“Volcanic eruptions are primarily driven by the gas content — the water and carbon dioxide in the magma,” Koleszar said. When the magma is more runny, the gas can escape more easily, leading to a release of pres-sure. These findings pave the way for further research of Mount Hood, in order to investigate what kinds of properties lead to this consistent magma mixing.
“Because the eruption style and magma composition at Mount Hood is so constant through time, the volcano is a great natural labora-tory,” Koleszar said. “As a follow-up to this study, now we’re looking more closely at the two magmas that mix together at Mount Hood, and we’re trying to identify the origins of each of those magmas.”
Michael Mendes, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]
n While other universities opt for ‘Ban the Bottle,’ OSU groups take a less direct approach
By Alex hilbornThe Daily BaromeTer
Several Oregon State University groups have implemented pro-grams to encourage greater con-sumption of tap water, in place of bottled water, without resorting to “Ban the Bottle” policies like numer-ous colleges around the nation.
Starting back in the spring of 2009, Washington University in St. Louis made the move to stop the selling of bottled water in the uni-versity’s establishments. Since then, more than 20 other universities have followed the trend by either fully or partially banning the sale of bottled water.
The universities placing embar-goes on bottled water have become
collectively known as the Ban the Bottle campaign. The campaign uses statistical slogans, such as “the recommended eight glasses of water a day at U.S. tap rates equals about $.49 per year; that same amount of bottled water is about $1,400,” to support its cause.
At the moment, no groups on OSU’s campus call directly for the university to join the Ban the Bottle campaign, but entities such as the Student Sustainability Initiative and the Student Dietetic Associate have proposed efforts to non-forcibly transition the university to a more tap water-friendly, less water bot-tle—reliant mentality. Even where the desire to ban bottled water exists at OSU, achieving such a goal would require the surmounting of a few obstacles.
OSU currently resides in the mid-dle of a contract to have all of its food retailers sell Pepsi Co. brands.
Attempts to ban bottled water in the past have come up against this con-tract and found it a great impedi-ment. Any ban approved by the university that prohibits the sale of bottled water would violate the legal agreement that the univer-sity has made with the third party distributor.
“If students wish to ban bot-tles, they have to look at when the contract is up again,” said Michael Henthorne, Director of the Memorial Union, who manages the Pepsi contract. “Contracts have intervals. Students who are interest-ed in banning bottles — they have to get out ahead of it. You have to do years’ worth of laying groundwork.”
Henthorne said the university takes no official stance on giving bottles the boot, but instead does its best to cater to the needs of both
AlexAndrA tAylor | tHe DAily BAroMeter
The drinking stations, like the one pictured above in Snell Hall, are available in several buildings around campus.
See Fly | page 3
See WAter | page 3
2• Friday, February 24, 2012 [email protected] • 737-2231
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CalendarFriday, Feb. 24EventsThe Pride Center, 10am-7pm, The Pride Center. Come contribute to a collage that celebrates and supports those that have struggled with the AIDS Virus. There will be supplies to make pieces in the center all week, which will then be assembled and displayed.
College Republicans, Noon-4pm, MU Quad. First Amendment Week. Come and support your freedom of speech.
College Republicans, 7pm, MU La Raza Room. Debate between College Republicans and College Democrats. Come show your support for your politi-cal party.
Saturday, Feb. 25EventsBlack Cultural Center, Noon-2:30pm, BCC. 2012 OSU Black Affairs. Call to action regarding black issues in Cor-vallis.
Sunday, Feb. 26MeetingsVegans & Vegetarians @ OSU, 5pm, SSC, 738 SW 15th St. We eat, chat and exchange recipes. All are welcome, even if you aren’t vegetarian.
Monday, Feb. 27MeetingsCollege Democrats, 5pm, MU Board Room. Come talk about current events, local campaigns and international news with like-minded people!
EventsBlack Cultural Center, 6-7:30pm, BCC. Child Soldiering, in collaboration with ASA.
Tuesday, Feb. 28MeetingsASOSU Senate, 7pm, MU 109A. Convenes to discuss student issues. Students and student organization del-egates are welcome to attend.
EventsStudent Sustainability Center, Noon, MU 109B. The Building Energy Chal-lenge Awards Party. Lunch will be provided.
Campus Recycling, 1-4pm, MU Quad (steps). Join us to conduct a dumpster audit for a building on campus; become an expert recycler.
Wednesday, Feb. 29MeetingsASOSU House of Representatives, 7pm, MU 211. Convenes to discuss student issues and concerns. Students and student organization delegates are welcome to attend.
Baha’i Campus Association, 12:30-1pm, MU Talisman Room. Ultimate reality is the theme of this Interfaith meditation, devotion and quiet time. Bring your favorite inspirational read-ing to share.
EventsBlack Cultural Center, 6-7:30pm, MU Ballroom. Black History Month Dinner, in collaboration with SOL.
Thursday, Mar. 1MeetingsOSU Pre-Law Society, 6pm, StAg 111. Regular meeting.
College Republicans, 7pm, StAg 132. All are welcome no matter what beliefs or political party.
Monday, Mar. 5MeetingsCollege Democrats, 5pm, MU Board Room. Come talk about current events, local campaigns and international news with like-minded people!
Tuesday, Mar. 6MeetingsASOSU Senate, 7pm, MU 109A. Convenes to discuss student issues. Students and student organization del-egates are welcome to attend.
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Open to the Public Free
SIFC approves CAPS, cultural center budgetsn Questions raised about several
items in rec sports budget By don iler
The Daily BaromeTer
Last night, the Student Incidental Fee Committee met in the Memorial Union Journey Room to hear and tentatively approve budgets from three student bud-get organizations. The committee heard from Counseling and Psychological Services, Recreational Sports and the Student Diversity Budgeting Board.
Counseling and Psychological Services and the Student Diversity Budgeting Board were both tentatively approved. The Recreational Sports base budget was tentatively approved but several decision packages were tentatively rejected pend-ing further information.
Counseling and Psychological Services presented their budget first. They requested no fee increase and fee assessed students will remain the same at $35.23. Counseling and Psychological Services provides mental health care and counseling for students on campus at cost. They offer individual counseling and group therapy sessions as well as many other programs.
The budget increased in size because of the increase in enrollment and included three decision packages. One would raise the salaries of professional staff to bring them more into line with salaries of staff at University of Oregon and Portland State University. Salaries had been frozen as a result of a salary freeze two years ago. The second pack-age would hire a full time intern and the third would hire two new professional staff positions in order to meet the needs of higher demand placed on Counseling and Psychological Services because of increased enrollment. All decision pack-ages were approved and will draw down a large budget surplus of $1.2 million that
Counseling and Psychological Services had accumulated over the last few years. Because of the decision packages, the surplus is estimated to be depleted by the fiscal year of 2016.
Recreational Sports presented their budget next. It initially stated that it was not increasing the assessed fee of $66.20 for fall, winter and spring terms and $56.93 during summer, but then presented a decision package requesting an 86 cents increase in fee to help better fund club sports.
Questions surfaced during the presen-tation of decision packages of the budget. The first one, which would increase the fee in order to better fund club sports, was deemed a good idea, but the com-mittee decided it would rather see the money for the package come from else-where rather than increasing the fee. The decision package was approved, but without the increase in fee.
The second and third packages would create two new full time positions, one for a web and media coordinator and another for a membership coordinator. The need for both positions was ques-tioned, especially the need for a web and media coordinator. Senator Crystal Boyd stated that she did not feel that website maintenance would require a full time position and would perhaps be better filled by students or a half time student employee. The committee agreed on this and a consensus was reached to not approve the packages based on a lack of knowledge of what the positions would entail and what they would be required to do. The committee asked that more infor-mation be brought to the open budget hearing on March 1.
The fourth and fifth decision packages would add two office assistants and add one month of employment to a coordi-nator in order to provide more oppor-tunities for climbing, rafting and the
Adventure Leadership Institute. These were both tentatively approved.
The sixth decision package would set aside $25,000 for new initiatives that may arise. Chairman Josh Makepeace questioned the need for a new initiatives fund since it seemed to replicate the need for a contingency that the Student Incidental Fee Committee maintains and Recreational Sports could request from as needed. A consensus was reached to not approve the decision package.
The Student Diversity Budgeting Board presented their budget last. Their requested fee amount dropped 2.46 per-cent to $12.47 for fall, winter and spring and $8.30 for summer. The Student Diversity Budgeting Board is the umbrel-la organization that handles budgets for the cultural centers, including the Native American Longhouse, Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center, Centro Cultural Cesar Chavez, Asian Pacific Cultural Center, the Women’s Center, the Pride Center, SOL and diversity development.
Their budget included one decision package to create a three-quarter full time professional staff position. The posi-tion was needed because of increased enrollment. However after discussion, it was determined that perhaps a full-time position would be better suited. The committee tentatively approved the budget, but wanted to look into numbers for making the position full time and to consider that decision package during the March 1 open forum.
The Student Incidental Fee Committee will next meet Monday Feb. 27 at 6 p.m. at Dixon Recreation Center in the upper classroom. If students wish to attend, they must bring their identification card in order to enter Dixon. The open budget hearing will be Thursday, March 1, in the Memorial Union Ballroom.
don iler, managing editor737-2232 [email protected]
Obama derides energy critics in Miami speechPresident Barack Obama
said Thursday his Republican critics promising immediate lower gas prices are either uninformed or dishonest, and he pledged in a speech to University of Miami students to continue pushing for alter-native energy sources.
Framing the issue as “one of the major challenges of your generation,” Obama said developing a broad-based energy policy incorporating all sources — oil, gas, nuclear, solar, wind and alternatives such as algae — would take years but was essential for the nation’s future economic well-being.
His speech came as gas pric-es soared around the nation, rising 3.3 cents nationwide overnight to $3.61 a gallon, according to AAA.
GOP presidential chal-lenger Newt Gingrich and other Republicans complain Obama is bowing to foreign oil suppliers such as Saudi Arabia and the environmental lobby by not fully exploiting U.S. oil reserves.
At the Republican debate in Arizona on Wednesday night,
Gingrich introduced himself by saying he had “developed a program for American energy so no future president will ever bow to a Saudi king again and so every American can look forward to $2.50 a gallon gasoline.”
Without naming Gingrich, Obama appeared to target that remark Thursday, saying to cheers that “anyone who tells you we can drill our way out of this problem doesn’t know what they’re talking about — or just isn’t telling you the truth.”
“It’s the easiest thing in the world to make phony elec-tion-year promises about lower gas prices,” Obama said. “What’s harder is to make a serious, sustained commit-ment to tackle a problem. And it won’t be solved in one year, it won’t be solved in one term, it may not be solved in one decade. But that’s the kind of commitment we need right now.”
He touted current U.S. oil production as being at its highest level in eight years, and he said U.S. reliance on foreign oil imports has
decreased, dropping below 50 percent in 2010.
Obama also listed steps taken under his energy pol-icy, including approval for new nuclear plants; opening more territory including in the Arctic region to explo-ration and development; an agreement signed with Mexico this week to cooper-ate on developing oil and gas reserves along their mari-time border; increasing fuel efficiency standards in cars and trucks, and developing alternative energy sourc-es such as wind and solar power.
Because of the new fuel standards, he said, in the mid-dle of the next decade “you’ll be able to fill up your car every two weeks instead of every week — something that, over time, will save the typical fam-ily more than $8,000 at the pump.”
“And it means this coun-try will reduce our oil con-sumption by more than 2 million barrels a day,” Obama added to applause. “That’s not only good for your pock-etbook, that’s good for the
environment.”He also made an obvious
reference to the bankrupt Solyndra solar panel company that had received $500 million in federal loan guarantees, saying public investment in new technology doesn’t pay off right away.
“Some technologies don’t pan out; and some companies will fail,” Obama said. “But as long as I’m president, I will not walk away from the prom-ise of clean energy.”
Repeating that external factors such as Middle East instability cause fluctuating oil prices, Obama insisted that “there isn’t a silver bullet. There never has been.”
The rising gas price threatens to slow signs of consistent economic recov-ery in recent months, and Republican critics have focused on the issue as the November presidential elec-tion campaign heats up.
Obama ridiculed that strat-egy, mentioning a news head-line that said the rising gas price has Republicans “licking their chops.”
— CNN
[email protected] • 737-2231 Friday, February 24, 2012 • 3
Serving Beaver fans for 3 4 1 ⁄ 2 years !
“We found develop-ing stages of malaria in the bat fly including cysts attached to the gut and transmission stages in the salivary glands.”
The fact that the trans-mission stages of bat malaria were present in the salivary glands sug-gests that the bat fly had recently fed and ingested the malaria from a bat, or that the bat fly was already a carrier of the malaria and was ready to infect a new bat host.
According to Poinar, this fossil dates back to nearly 25 million years; at that time, the bat fly had already adapted to tak-ing blood from bats. Bat flies only consume blood and don’t leave their host except to find a mate or deposit eggs.
Poinar, whose research with malaria was featured by The Daily Barometer in November of last year, has studied malaria extensively.
McKinley Smith, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]
tap and bottled water users. “I don’t think it’s for us to dictate the
issue, but we will help interested groups if they want data,” Henthorne said.
Even if interested parties took a pre-emptive strike at banning bottled water before the university renewed its sup-plier contract, the pro-tap activists would still need to address the logistical aspects of removing bottled water from campus, and the public perception of such an action.
The sale of bottled water accounts for around 13 percent of all Pepsi product sales on campus, netting the univer-sity an estimated $200,000 to $250,000 annually. No longer having the right to sell this product would have a visible impact on the university’s wallet.
Also, without bottled water, the uni-versity would have no proper way to hydrate 40,000 summer football game attendees unless they sold them less healthy and still bottled alternatives like soda. Having filling stations within the stadium would mean having to permit people to bring open containers into the stadium, which creates concerns about spectators smuggling alcohol into sports events.
If all of the practical concerns of ban-ning bottled water get ironed out, the public still has to receive the ban with good will. People of the pro-bottle mind-
set see the denial of bottled water as an attack on their freedom, as illustrated by the voiced dissent from protesters of the University’s smoking ban, that will take place in the fall.
To still work toward their individual or overlapping goals of bettering the envi-ronment or improving people’s health, the SSI and SDA have taken a less heavy- handed approach to inspire a culture shift around water use by educating the public and improving the water resourc-es available to the campus community.
The SDA, in conjugation with the Healthy Campus Initiative, runs the Fresh from the Faucet campaign as part of the larger Be Well campaign. The Fresh from the Faucet campaign aims at getting more people to drink filtered or unfiltered tap water out of reusable containers.
“Currently there is no attempt to use policy to limit personal choice,” said Bre Huffman, vice president of the SDA. “Take away a resource like bottled water and people will just buy a soda.”
Instead the group strives to key peo-ple in on the environmental and health effects of drinking bottled water in com-parison to tap water so that individuals make the choice to drink the water of their own volition. The SDA has also worked around campus to help get fil-tration units installed in numerous sites so that tap water drinkers have more convenient access to water. The cam-paign’s university webpage provides a
map of where people can fill up at fil-tered stations.
Like the SDA, the SSI works around campus to teach people about the impacts of bottled water usage. The group also promotes the use of tap water through filtration units and the passing out of reusable containers.
Members of the SSI say they would support a campus exclusion of bottled water if the public expressed agreement with the measure.
“The largest significance is culture to lay the ground work to set up the future,” said Brian Laird, co-director of the SSI. “Address issues of students using bottles through education.”
The SSI tries to get students around campus to understand the bigger pic-ture of how drinking out of disposable water bottles affects the environment. The manufacturing and transportation of disposable plastic bottles take up energy resources and put toxic chemi-cals into the environment, for some-thing that will ultimately just get thrown away.
Co-director of the SSI, Morgan Dumitru, expressed concern that the Ban the Bottle campaign inspires nega-tive reactions from those who see the measure as a violation of their freedoms.
“I’d like the public to look at it not as talking about taking people’s water, but finding a better means,” Dumitru said.
Alex hiborn, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]
Flyn Continued from page 1
WAtern Continued from page 1
Alternative spring break trips still availablen Applications can be
turned in for students to place on alternate listBy Vinay ramakrishnan
The Daily BaromeTer
During spring break this year, the Center for Civic Engagement will be hosting three alternative spring break trips.
The trips will be to Yakima, Wash., San Francisco, Calif., and Newport, Ore. All trips will involve some type of commu-nity service including poverty, hunger and environmental restoration.
Students can apply online at Oregon State’s Center for Civic Engagement website under the “programs” menu. The pri-ority deadline was Feb. 17, but according to Emily Bowling, Civic Engagement and Service coordinator, “Spots will be offered later this week to students for the three trips. Students can still submit appli-cations until March 1, but then will be put on our alternate list in the event we have students drop out of the trips.”
The trips will be one week-
long, from March 24 to March 31. Trip expenses vary from trip to trip. According to the Center for Civic Engagement website, the Yakima trip is estimated to cost students $120, which includes “transportation, lodg-ing and four dinners.” The San Francisco trip is estimated to cost $350, and includes “trans-portation, lodging, and most meals.” The Newport trip is estimated to cost $240, includ-ing “transportation, lodging and five dinners.”
The Center for Civic Engagement website also talks about different themes of the trip. The Yakima trip will be centered around community and cultural engagement. The San Francisco trip will focus on hunger and homelessness. In Newport, it will be about environmental restoration.
All trips will also all have “off days” when students explore tourist attractions in the vari-ous locations.
Bowling said, “11 students will be going on the Yakima and San Francisco trips, and 11 to 15 students will be going on the Newport trip.” She added, “A trip leader/coordinator will
be on each trip.” As to what class standing is
required for students to be on the trip, Bowling said that “all OSU students, undergraduate and graduate, are eligible.”
A committee of staff from the Center for Civic Engagement will decide which students get to go on the trips.
According to Bowling, the committee will include Juila Lang, graduate assistant, and Marcella Flores, graduate intern, both of the Center for Civic Engagement.
“Students will be selected based on the quality of their application, having the appli-cation turned in before the priority deadline and passing a conduct screening,” Bowling said.
Lang and Flores will be coor-dinating the trip with Bowling. “Each of us who are coordinat-ing the trips will be planning where we stay, where we serve, what we eat and activities we do while on each of the trips,” said Flores, who will be travel-ling with students on the San Francisco trip.
Vinay ramakrishnan, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]
4• Tuesday, January 10, 2006 [email protected] • 737-2231
4 •Friday, February 24, 2012 [email protected] • 541-737-6376
The Daily BarometerForum Editorial Board Brandon Southward Editor in ChiefJoce DeWitt News EditorArmand Resto Forum Editor
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Editorial
LettersLetters to the editor are welcomed and will be printed on a first-received basis. Letters must be 300 words or fewer and include the author’s signature, academic major, class standing or job title, department name and phone number. Authors of e-mailed letters will receive a reply for the purpose of verification. Letters are subject to editing for space and clarity. The Daily Barometer reserves the right to refuse publication of any submissions.
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Memorial Union East 106 Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-1617or e-mail: [email protected]
President Obama deserves four more years
Paying so much for college, yet nothing to show for it
Losing faith in the Academy Awards, all about image
This election year, we face a difficult decision: do we stay with President Barack
Obama or do we decide to jump ship?
While there are several reasons for us to follow the latter, I think it would be a mistake for the country to attempt such a move. Many of Obama’s attempts to resolve our nation’s most pressing problems haven’t quite worked out the way he anticipated.
However, does that have to do with the president failing to do his job, or that we expect more from him than what he actually has the power to do?
When Obama was elected four years ago, we put so much weight on his shoulders and expected him to solve all our complications right away, before all the dust had set-tled, that he didn’t have much room to move. Obama walked into two wars: a failing economy and the decision whether to bailout banks or not. I haven’t agreed with every
one of the Obama Administration’s moves, but I do believe he made the best decisions with the infor-mation he had.
But before considering why Obama should continue to be our commander-in-chief, we need to look at why a different candidate would be the wrong choice for America. Since Mitt Romney is the Republican front runner right now, he will be the main focus of why we shouldn’t vote for a different president.
Romney hasn’t been doing too many international tours; he hasn’t established himself as a force on the world stage. With the world climate being on very rocky ground, can we really afford to elect someone new
to the job that has yet to establish a presence in the world?
Not to mention, our own internal system is unstable and isn’t ready for a candidate to take control merely to spend the first months, or even his first year, learn-ing the ropes of the job. Romney isn’t privy to all the information that Obama has access to at this point. Romney will spend considerable time play-ing catch up learning all the infor-mation Obama already knows and gaining the respect of his fellow world leaders.
Nevertheless, we still need a rea-son to support Obama.
First, he has been touring the world since he started campaigning back in 2007. The world recognizes who Obama is and what they can
expect from him. Last week, the Vice-President of
China, Xi Jinping visited the United States where he had a meeting with the president. At this meeting, Obama laid out how China isn’t liv-ing up to the stan-dard of human rights the United States would like, and that China might be play-ing unfairly in the economic trade
by keeping the yuan low. While the Vice-President of China didn’t quite yield to Obama’s comments, Jinping did admit that China had some room to grow.
Obama has also developed an economic plan to try to put the United States back on the right track. His new economic plan
There is a common mis-conception with college, which has irked me since
coming here last fall. There is a perception that college is a time of wild women, lots of beer, skip-ping class and copious amounts of other shenanigans. It’s sort of the “bad news travels like wild-fire” sensation that the good things about college don’t spread around as easily as the bad.
Yet it is also easier to talk about and to see the negative things about college, such as excessive drinking and skipping classes, than to focus on the good things of col-lege, like making friends and doing well in school, and having to grow up and mature.
One must wonder: why waste money to attend college if you’re not going to apply yourself? College can teach you so many things, why
not be willing, or at least want to learn?
When we consider “social” in the context of college, it often has neg-ative connotations, i.e. you must drink. When I came to school last fall, I did not drink any alcohol. Interestingly enough, I also joined a fraternity, yet throughout the time, I didn’t drink. I still had fun on “thirsty Thursdays,” and would often drive for someone who was drinking. That is really what college is about — making friends, hav-ing fun without overdoing it, and learning who you are and what you want to become.
However, sometimes people seek the social aspects more than the academic aspects of college, and
this is where they get in trouble. I have personally known people who have had a GPA as low as 0.4.
It always seemed curious to me as to why students choose to not care about the money and the opportunities presented here at Oregon State University. We are all paying a lot of money to come here, why not try and get the most out of it? Why are you wasting your money if you’re not going to apply yourself? Why even be here?
More importantly, if you’re not here on your own dime — which the majority of us are — why waste your parents’ money, or scholar-ship organizations’ money? They invest in you to do well in school. Why go through the effort to get the money, then not try?
The fall 2009-2010 Retention Rate (students who entered fall 2009 then came back the following
fall) was 83.1 percent. There are plenty of reasons for students to not come back after a year: finan-cial reasons, problems within their family, personal reasons or prob-lems at home.
However, there is another aspect of the retention rate. Perhaps the academic load was too much for the student to balance work and school and a social life. Or perhaps that student couldn’t balance their time well, or the social stereotype of college was too alluring, and they cracked open more beers than books. Students that follow this sort of approach to college tend to not stick around long.
The percentage of full-time freshmen that demonstrated prog-ress by returning for a second year, according to the Oregon University
In most respects, I am a fairly open-minded person. I do not have much of a politi-
cal agenda, and my beliefs usually depend on context rather than firm absolutes. That may sound wish-washy and indecisive, but I still am able to learn from my experi-ences and develop viewpoints that are defined and focused for good reasons.
One political area I do find myself somewhat enraged by is the Academy Awards. While not as relevant as the presidential elec-tion or Wall Street, the Academy Award is certainly a cultural land-mark that looms over our media-obsessed society. How motion pic-tures are interpreted and digested by an audience, and what move-ments it brings about culturally are not to be ignored.
Movies are a part of the American fabric, and it is hard to avoid them; we treat movie stars like idols — like gods that we aspire to be like, and many are willing to risk sur-gery, pain and grotesque physical transformation just to be closer to that kind of status.
And if we do not admire the glamorous personalities of film, we admire its industry. Movies put to use new technological advances, showcase cutting edge computer-created visuals, and create proj-ects that reimagine different media
forms that are culturally or histori-cally significant (such as music and books). It evokes an older, more rugged sense of American ingenu-ity and progress, combining sci-ence, economy and artistic expres-sion all in one efficient format.
Each year, these achievements of entertainment and technical evolution are celebrated with the Academy Awards, which will air this coming weekend. There are several categories that address dif-ferent components of film — act-ing, cinematography, art direction, etc. — and ultimately there is one winner in each category that is considered “best.”
Even though I have always been interested in the Academy Awards and who wins, I have become increasingly bothered by such an objective notion of what film is best, and why it is best. It is a huge ordeal to reduce all the films in one year down to just a handful of elite titles, and as I have come to learn over the years, the choices are not entirely based on merit. A lot of politics and campaigning moti-
vate the choices of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
It seems as though the Oscars are more than a celebration of what film is best; there is a great deal of attention paid to dodging consequences. There is a glittery, superficial, song-and-dance image of Hollywood that is perpetuated to this day, stubborn to die, which has a lurking hand that guides movies towards an appropriate best-picture result.
An unfortunate example of this is last year’s Oscars. Among the ten nominations, two films were considered to be racing neck-and-neck for the best picture award: “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech.”
I saw both films, and while “The King’s Speech” was a good movie, I found “The Social Network” exhila-rating. It was a more relevant film, a more unique film, and had incred-ible camera work and music. “The Social Network” received astonish-ing amounts of praise from crit-ics as well, and movie-goers that I knew seemed to enjoy it as well. It seemed like a shoo-in.
But at the end of the night, it lost to “The King’s Speech,” a power-ful and inspirational film that did not really speak to me in any way (other than Colin Firth’s impressive acting). The film that won was a safe choice for the Academy; it was
uplifting, historical and luscious. “The Social Network” is a better
film, but it was directed by David Fincher, who also made the mov-ies “Se7en” and “Zodiac” — films that center on a serial killer. These films have nothing to do with “The Social Network,” but are rea-sons enough to suppose why the Academy might want to distance themselves from officially recog-nizing David Fincher with a best picture award.
It is hard to say that particu-lar reasons like this are why cer-tain films do not win, and that the Academy Awards are entirely cor-rupt, but there are certainly issues like this plaguing the Oscars. It makes the presentations frustrat-ing to watch, and most of the time, I can predict which film will win by eliminating all the films that have slightly controversial elements that may threaten the pristine glory of Hollywood. I am losing interest in the Academy, and question their choices more and more.
Two of my favorite films of the past year were “Drive” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” and neither one is up for best picture. The latter is directed by David Fincher. Go figure.
t
Kirk Pederson is a senior in English. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Pederson can be reached at [email protected].
Yeas & NaysYea to it being Friday. You have sur-
vived the week. This alone merits a cheer.
Yea to a little late-night shopping. What’s better than heading out to your favorite store at night and wandering around for a little while?
Nay however, to forgetting a small but very important component of a success-ful trip: clothes. It seems a southeastern Pennsylvania man, Verdon Lamont Taylor, stripped off his clothes in a parking lot and preceded to walk around the local Walmart in nothing but his socks. He was arrested and charged with indecent idiocy.
Yea to the Republican primary debates. They’re the gift that keeps giving.
Nay to the Republican voter psyche at the moment. After a few one-night stands (Herman Cain, Donald Trump, that governor from Alaska) and flings (Paul, Gingrich) the GOP is only now coming to the conclusion the rest of the country realized a year ago: Mitt Romney is going to be your guy. Just plan the marriage and divorce in November — it’s longer than most couples last.
Yea to the Oscars. Nay to false hope. We always get kind
of excited for the Oscars each year, espe-cially this year, when we thought Eddie Murphy would be hosting. Instead, we have Billy Crystal 20 years past his prime, and predictable winners for the leading categories. If they wanted to spice it up they should just have the nominees fight it out for the trophy, if for no other reason than to see Jonah Hill get beat up.
Nay to IM teams forfeiting moments before game time. Speaking of IM teams…
Yea to the Barometer IM team being 3-0. Nay to IM referees in general though.
They are awful. Just awful. Yea to puppies. Nay to sharks. Yea to memes. Nay to falling into the trap of personal
negative attacks. Yea to ASOSU truth-tellers, a “concerned
Beaver” and others who remained anony-mous, this week in their feedback and critique of the practices of the Barometer. According to some anonymous commen-tators, you’re reading a newspaper publi-cation that perpetrates “lies.”
Nay to hiding behind a pseudonym. Yea to external reviews.Yea to rankings. Washington D.C. was
recently named one of the top ten U.S. cities for cheaters. This is surprising for a place that was once home to great family men like Newt Gingrich, Bill Clinton and institutions that are shining example of class and stand up citizens, like the U.S. Congress.
Yea to side notes. Salt Lake City was number four on the list. Funny.
Nay to using Abraham Lincoln as your rationale for dropping out of college. You know, thinking in any way you’re like him is completely reasonable. He went to do a little thing like winning the Civil War and saving the country. We’re going to take a guess and say you won’t be doing anything of that magnitude. Good luck though.
Yea to the NBA All Star Weekend.Nay to quality of the games this season.
If you have followed the NBA this season, we don’t need to explain this nay.
Yea to the weekend. There is gymnastics on Friday, OSU Has Talent auditions all weekend and on Sunday, we believe there will be ducks arriving on campus and mobs and things flashing. It all sounds very strange, but exciting. This could be that war people keep talking about. We just hope it’s a civil affair.
t
Editorials serve as a means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board’s majority.n
KirkPederson
The Spaces in Between
See Fix | page 6
Robert Fix
Rebel without a pulse
See PiKe | page 6
The Daily BarometerTyler Pike
‘‘ ‘‘...with the country in economic turmoil, time and energy is
precious, and would be wasted with a new
leader in charge.
[email protected] • 737-2231 Tuesday, January 10, 2006 • 5 [email protected] • 737-6376 Friday, February 24, 2012 • 5
Society alone is a collaborative networkWelcome to the
largest social net-work on Earth —
and no, I’m not talking about Facebook. It appears a man is far less than what he thought he was, and far more. Case in point, competition may not be the name of the game, but rather cooperation among species that ensures survival of the fittest.
Darwin’s “fittest” did not mean the strongest, but that the species less capable of adapting would not survive; therefore, adaptation is cru-cial for any life on this planet.
Somehow, we have decid-ed that adaptation meant becoming successful, and that success is measured in what we acquire. Acquisition is obtained through compe-tition, and so we have been instructed from day one of our exis-tence to be competitive, even at the expense of others.
“Becoming number one,” “ F i n i s h i n g ahead of the game,” “It’s a dog eat dog world” – these are the clichés that have become a part of our culture. We have been bombarded with media pro-claiming that we should buy more, achieve more, become more, and we adhere faith-fully to these beliefs, judging and measuring our life with this form of currency. Our personal economy is based on a race to reach that certain point of accumulation where we can say, “There! I have it all, and now I’m happy.” But we rarely ever reach that goal – maybe because we are using the wrong currency.
In our race to become the most “adapted” species on Earth, we have overlooked how species really thrive. No species can survive with-out cooperation, and coop-eration cannot be achieved without compassion and empathy.
Science has recently dis-covered that humans are wired for compassion. Jack Nitschke, a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin, conducted experiments with women looking at pictures of their babies. In the study, Nitschke wrote that these women not only reported feeling more compassionate toward other babies, but it was discovered that certain areas of the brain associ-ated with positive emotions demonstrated unique activ-ity when women viewed their own or other offspring.
In another study, Joshua Greene and Jonathan Cohen
of Princeton University dis-covered that when subjects contemplated harm being done to others, a similar network of cranial regions was activated. This led them to realize that viewing vic-tims and small children, two very different subjects, pro-voked the same neurological reaction.
A research study that was released by Emory University neuroscientists James Rilling and Gregory Berns, revealed that subjects who were given the opportunity to help someone else, while their
brain activity was record-ed, triggered the caudate nucleus and a n t e r i o r c i n g u l a t e , portions of the brain that turn on when peo-ple receive rewards or e x p e r i e n c e pleasure. In other words, helping oth-ers gives
us the same pleasure as self-gratification.
But it’s not only the brain that shows we are hard-wired for compassion; our body system known as the ANS, or autonomic nervous sys-tem, which is comprised of neurological, cardiovascu-lar and respiratory organs, is also affected by empathy. When we feel compassionate or empathetic toward others, our heart rate goes down, our breathing slows and oxytocin is produced at higher levels. Higher levels of oxytocin pro-mote long-term bonds and commitments along with nurturing behavior.
But how is being compas-sionate and empathetic relat-ed to survival of the species and adaptation?
Darwin wrote that “one of humankind’s noblest vir-tues seems to arise inciden-tally from our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely diffused, until they are extended to all sen-tient beings.” I don’t know about you, but that sounds like compassion to me. If compassion is what makes us want to cooperate with others, then how is coopera-tion going to make us more adaptable?
Nature has devised coop-eration as the method to sur-vival; one has only to observe a colony of ants, bees, a pack of wolves, and even our own
colonies of families and towns. In their book, “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion,” Jonathan Haidt argues that natural selection is not only about individuals who compete, but also groups competing with other groups – both of these examples are “survival of the fittest.”
However, it’s when a group competes that the coopera-tive, altruistic groups win and pass on their genes. In the end, cooperation may indeed be the answer to adaptation of species, and if cooperation is what it’s all about, then move over, Facebook – we, all of us, are the largest social network on Earth.
t
Angela Cail is a sophomore in new media communica-tions. The opinions expressed in her columns do not neces-sarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Cail can be reached at [email protected].
JAynA lACK iS A SoPhoMore in grAPhiC deSign
AngelaCail
A non-traditional view
‘‘ ‘‘no species can survive without
cooperation, and cooperation cannot be
achieved without compassion and
empathy.
6• Tuesday, January 10, 2006 [email protected] • 737-22316• Friday, February 24, 2012 [email protected] • 737-2231
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System’s 2009-11 Key Performance Measures, was only 79.8 percent in 2009. I would be willing to bet that a percentage of those students simply partied too hard.
What you get out of college is what you put into it. The time you invest in studying will reward you with appropriate grades. The time you invest in getting to know others and making friends may reward you with someone who becomes a lifelong friend.
College is meant to teach us not only within the classroom, but also in growing as an individual — to become more mature, have better time manage-ment skills, to meet friends and experience new things, and to grow.
The drive to do well in school, and to really get something out of the money you are spending to go to college comes from within, and you as an indi-vidual must decide what you desire to learn from college. When you graduate in four or five years, would you rather look back at college fondly of the friends you made, the fun times you had, the grades you received, and be proud of that degree hanging on the wall, or look back on all the blackouts, that time you “almost failed that class because…” and the poor grades you received and wish you had done more with your time here? The choice is all yours; it’s all about what you want to get out of your time and money.
While there will always be people who come to college for reasons other than just academics and personal growth, what will they have to show for their college career when it’s over, compared to those who are at Oregon State for those reasons? Whatever you put into college is what you will get out, and I would hope for everyone to try their best and put the most effort possible into getting their college education.
t
Tyler Pike is a sophomore in agricultural sciences. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Pike can be reached at [email protected].
PiKen Continued from page 4
would increase the taxes on the rich – not something I completely agree with, but to each his own. The plan works to remove loopholes from oil, gas and coal companies to make them pay more in taxes. There are further proposed cuts to the postal service and healthcare system in order to bolster educa-tion, police and fire departments.
If Romney or any other Republican candidate were to take power at this junction, they would attempt to undo as many of these “liberal” pieces of legis-lation as possible. We can’t afford for the president to be reversing legislation because it doesn’t match their political agenda. That isn’t to say that Obama hasn’t done that himself, but with the country in economic turmoil, time and energy is precious, and would be wasted with a new leader in charge.
The other, more delicate issue is that Israel and Iran are on the precipice of war. There have been several bombings in Israel with no particular group claiming respon-sibility, but rumors point to Iran, or their proxy group, Hezbollah. As Iran gets closer and closer to devel-oping nuclear technologies poten-tially leading to weapons, the Israeli people move closer to the edge, and fear for their safety.
This hasn’t exactly helped Iran in the world’s opinion of them, since many European countries will be boycotting Iranian oil as of
July 1. This is an issue that Obama is familiar with since he has had several talks with both Israel and Iran. Obama is even aware of the delicate nature of the relationship between Iran and the European Union. While reinstating a presi-dent because of war seems like déjà vu, more so, changing the general mid-battle is a terrible strategy.
Regardless of your political lean-ings or personal beliefs, you have to understand that the actions of the president affect all of us, not just the people that vote for him or her. And there is a difficult road ahead for the president, whoever that may be.
Romney isn’t quite ready to take the mantle of the job just yet; he needs to study up and let the world get to know him. And the other republican candidates have failed to produce much of a ripple in the world either – except Gingrich and his moon colony, which has garnered some world attention for various reasons.
Obama is up to date on world issues – especially from an insider’s perspective – and has established relationships with a number of foreign nations for the benefit of the United States. You may or may not agree with the position Obama takes on a variety of issues, but at this point in time, he is the right option for the United States.
t
Robert Fix is a senior in business. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Fix can be reached at [email protected].
Fixn Continued from page 4
[email protected] • 737-2231 Tuesday, January 10, 2006 • 7 [email protected] • 737-6378 Friday, February 24, 2012 • 7
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With the championships being in Corvallis, the team wants to redeem them-selves from last year and try and not only make it to Nationals, but take the Pac-12 as well.
The last time the Beavers, who have never won a conference title, finished in the con-ference’s top-five was two years ago, when they finished fifth. That had also been the first time they had made it to Nationals since 2001.
This Monday, the team will be traveling to Long Beach, California to play at Virginia Country Club.
“We are excited for this tournament and hopefully we can play well,” Sherwood said.
After venturing to California for the next two weeks, OSU will return to Oregon to play in the Bandon Dunes Collegiate Tournament in Bandon, Oregon.
With the team’s main goal being to make it to Nationals, they are more determined than ever to keep improving.
“We are going to be excited when we are finally at Riviera,” Sherwood said.
Caitie Karcher, sports writerTwitter: @caitiekarcher
tion of their defensive approach.“They’re at home. This is a team that
has a lot of offensive firepower, and they can score, and their system is to score quickly. It needs to be the same for us, a game where we have a say in what the tempo is,” Rueck said. “We have to control tempo like last time, and it needs to be kind of a slugfest, where we play five-on-five. I anticipate another great game.”
Last time the two teams met up, forward Amanda Johnson, the Duck’s leading scorer, wasn’t very effective in her first game back since sustaining a midseason thumb injury. One can expect her to be more of a factor this time around.
“She is an elite scorer, needs no space to get a shot off, and is warrior and a senior playing in her last home game. We are expecting a huge game from her, and it is going to take a big time effort from us to slow her down,” Rueck said. “We saw flashes of her last game, and she didn’t play as long as she normally would because of that injury, now I am expecting to see her on the court for 40
minutes, and a big-time performance.” OSU freshman Ali Gibson had a
career day in the season’s previous matchup, going 5-for-12 from 3-point range and finishing with 23 points for the night. Her biggest 3-point shots came down the stretch, building the momentum that the team would rally around to win the game.
“We never give up as a team,” Gibson said. “We knew that if we kept taking the shots that were open we could knock them down.”
Oregon State is also playing for a first-round bye in the Pac-12 Tournament, and needs to win its remaining games to assure itself of a top-four conference finish.
“It is a special opportunity and I am proud of the team for putting them-selves in position to do that. You always want to beat your rival,” Rueck said. “We need wins right now to get where we want to go at the end of this year, and so this is the next one. Certainly it has that added incentive against your rival; it is the Civil War. We have to come out and play great.”
Jacob Shannon, sports writerTwitter: @shannon_app
WoMen’S hooPSn Continued from page 7
Men’S golFn Continued from page 7
The Beavers have a chance to punch their so-called big brother in the gut this weekend when the Ducks come to town on Sunday for the 337th meet-ing of the Civil War.
Oregon (19-8, 10-5 Pac-12), is in contention for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. The Beavers (15-12, 5-10), on the other hand, are just trying to break a four-game losing streak.
“It’s huge. Coach (Craig Robinson) said when he first got here people said all that matters is you beat the Ducks. That statement alone says a lot,” junior Angus Brandt said. “If we can stop them from win-ning a conference title, that’d be huge.”
Despite the Beavers’ big win in Matthew Knight Arena earli-er this season, a win on Sunday at home will not be easy to come by.
Since they last played on Jan. 29, the two teams have gone in opposite directions faster than Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries. Since that game, the Beavers have gone 1-5, and the Ducks have gone 4-2.
The Beavers are trying to finish the season strong. Their only hope to make into the “Big Dance” is to do their best impression of last year’s Connecticut squad and win the conference tournament.
“It’s coming down toward the end of the season and if we could make a run that’d be great,” junior guard Jared Cunningham said. “People are
gonna remember what you did at the end, not at the beginning, so if we can make it through these last couple games and even stretch it out way beyond this, that’d be great for us.”
If Oregon State wants to sweep the season series over the Ducks, they are going to have to shut down junior E.J. Singler and senior Devoe Joseph, who averages a team-high 16.3 points per game.
“[Singler] is trying to score and he is shooting more threes. He is just being more aggressive offensively,” Robinson said. “I think that Joseph is also being very aggressive offensively. Those are the main things I have noticed, but I spend more time worrying about what we are doing.”
Sunday’s game is an oppor-
tunity for the Beavers to steal some of the Ducks’ mojo and gain some of their own.
“I know that our fans and our administration and our whole program enjoy having that [opportunity to sweep the Civil War],” Robinson said. “Our team enjoys having that oppor-tunity, but it doesn’t mean any-thing until we do it. So we aren’t really talking a lot about it. We are just going to work every day and trying to prepare to play our best game.”
“We haven’t accomplished a lot of the things we set out to do,” Brandt said, “so if we can sweep the Ducks that will be one bright spot on the season.”
Alex Crawford, sports writer Twitter: @dr_crawf
Men’S hooPSn Continued from page 7
8• Tuesday, January 10, 2006 [email protected] • 737-2231
8 • Friday, February 24, 2012 [email protected] • 737-6378
The Daily Barometer Sports ‘‘
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I may not know kinesiology, but I know this girl’s entire weekend plans and boyfriend drama. #libraryproblems
— @K_blalock2 (Kelsi Blalock) Beaver Tweet of the Day
Gymnasts at home, looking to extend streak over Boise St.
Women’s hoops look to get back on track
hAnnAh guStin | tHe DAily BAroMeter
Angus Brandt acknowledged that the Beavers haven’t accomplished much of what they set out to accomplish this season, but said a sweep of Oregon would help change that a little.
With basically everyone back, men’s golf has high hopesn Beavers, who began Spring
season a few weeks ago, are eyeing a run at Nationals
By Caitie KarcherThe Daily BaromeTer
After just missing out on Nationals last year, the Oregon State men’s golf team is determined to make it to Riviera Country Club in California, the site of this year’s NCAA Championships.
Last year, OSU missed out on Nationals by two spots, finishing in seventh place at the NCAA Arizona Regional.
“It was pretty devastating not being able to make it to nationals, but as a team, that is our main goal this sea-son,” said senior Jonnie Motomochi.
This season, the team has six returners from last year, three of whom are seniors. They have added two freshmen and two transfers to the team.
Senior Alex Moore is looking to build off last year’s breakout season in which he set the school record for the lowest round shot (a 9-under 63 at the Oregon Duck Invitational) and almost won the Pac-12 individ-ual title, losing a seven-hole sudden death playoff.
Also returning is junior Nick Sherwood, who held the second-best scoring average (72.76) on the team last year.
“I want to continue improving as an individual and be the best golfer I can be, that way I can also help my team,” Sherwood said.
The team visited Waikoloa, Hawaii at the beginning of February to play in the Amer Ari Invitational, where they finished 17th.
“Going to Hawaii is always my favorite because it is a great course and a nice change of scenery,” Sherwood said. “Unfortunately, the wind got the best of us.”
To continue improving, the team is really focusing on their short game, including putting and chip shots.
For a good portion of practices, the team will be setting up different putts to get as much practice as they can.
“We like to compare our averag-es to the pros, and when you look at our putting, we just aren’t there,” Motomochi said.
Along with putting, the team is hoping to lower individual averages.
“It is getting that score from 73 and 74 to 71 and 70 that is going to make us go that extra mile,” Motomochi said.
With a tough conference, OSU will have to play well to compete. Five Pac-12 teams rank in the nation’s top 25.
This season, Oregon State will be hosting the Pac-12 Championships at Trysting Tree Golf Club for the first time in ten years.
Playing at home is something the team plans on taking full advantage of.
“We want to make the most of the opportunity to host, and it has been a while since we have finished high in the conference, so we want to be able to do that this year when we are here at our home course,” said head coach Jon Reehoorn.
After his first season as head coach last year, Reehoorn is settling into his position at OSU.
“I love OSU, and it is similar to where I went to school, which is great,” he said.
n The Beavers are coming off their first tie of the year, but remain No. 8 in the nation, thanks in-part to consistency on bars
By Warner StrausbaughThe Daily BaromeTer
In 17 attempts, Boise State University has never defeated Oregon State in Gill Coliseum.
Friday night at 7 p.m. in Gill, the No. 8 Beavers will host the No. 16 Broncos and will look to continue that trend with win number 18.
A win would be especially nice after last week’s tie with UCLA, the first opponent the Beavers have not defeated this year. Boise State will be the sixth oppo-nent in seven meets who has been ranked, more cause for OSU to bring their ‘A’ game.
“Any ranked opponents, obviously it’s good to have,” said associate head coach Michael Chaplin. “It’s good for our fans to see another strong team come in, see good gymnastics. I think for our girls, it’s a little easier for them to get up for those meets.”
The Beavers are in the upper echelon of team rankings for all four events: vault, uneven bars, bal-ance beam and floor exercise. OSU ranks at least in the top 15 of all four.
Out of everything they do, the bars team has been the most stable and consistent unit of the team. While each unit has been strong throughout the year, every lineup but bars has had at least one hiccup.
Currently, the bars unit is ranked second in the nation, only behind the University of Florida. Their consistency has shown during this season, as they have not below a 49.100 in any of their six meets.
“Every event kind of has its struggles throughout the season, so I’m kind of holding my breath,” said assistant head coach John Carney. “You kind of wait and see if the shoe’s going to drop, and hopefully we can train to where that doesn’t happen.”
Carney, whose main coaching focus is with the uneven bars, was praised by the OSU gymnasts as a big part of the bars team’s success for this year and in previous years.
“I think ever since John came to OSU, he’s been an amazing bars coach,” said senior Olivia Vivian, who is ranked 13th on bars individually. “He’s putting methods in place straight away, which I’m finding
have helped us on bars. It’s the most consistent of the events we have. Week in, week out, we have a solid lineup.”
Every other teammate sees the reliability with the bars team, too.
“I’d say bars is our rock with this team,” said senior Leslie Mak, who ranks fourth on bars individually. “We definitely have some amazing bar workers this year.”
Bars has improved even more so in their last two meets. Two weeks ago, they put up their season-high of 49.425. Then at last Friday’s Pink Out, the unit scored 49.325, their second-highest total on the year.
“I think we’re at the top of our game,” said sopho-more Hannah Casey, who only participates in bars right now. “There’s always room for little improve-ments, but we are pretty consistent.”
Look for the gymnasts on bars to continue that cohesiveness Friday night, as the team also wants to stay consistent in maintaining their undefeated record against Boise State at home.
Warner Strausbaugh, sports writer Twitter: @WStrausbaugh
[email protected] See Men’S golF | page 7
n After losses to two of the Pac-12’s top teams, OSU will try to return to winning ways
By Jacob ShannonThe Daily BaromeTer
Tomorrow, OSU travels to Eugene, looking to show Duck fans just how far they have come since last year’s 81-72 loss in Eugene.
“It is always very exciting, there is that extra something. It is our rival and both of us want to beat each other,” said sophomore guard Alyssa Martin. “It doesn’t matter what any of us are ranked, it is going to be a close game.”
The Beavers (17-9, 8-7 Pac-12) have proven to be resilient and confident no matter the circumstances, and are in the midst of rewriting Pac-12 per-ceptions one game at a time.
Both teams will be looking to reroute their morale after two tough losses to the conference’s top two teams, Stanford and Cal. Both OSU
and Oregon (14-13, 6-9) got a glimpse of what it would take to make a run in the Pac-12 Tournament, but are concentrated on the rivalry game to come.
“You have got to move on and learn from the weaknesses that were exposed in those games and take it for what it is,” coach Scott Rueck said. “Those were two games, and we got beat by those two teams, but we are moving onto the next thing and that is this Saturday’s Civil War.”
Oregon State’s defensive identity has clashed with Oregon’s fast-paced, transition offense in the past. The Ducks feature the second-highest scoring offense in the conference. The Beavers are second-best at con-trolling the scoring margin, a reflec
Looking for a CW sweepn The two rivals have gone in
opposite directions since OSU’s win in Eugene last month
By Alex CrawfordThe Daily BaromeTer
Two years ago before the Civil War football game, University of Oregon cornerback Cliff Harris called Oregon State the Ducks’ “little brother.”
Since then, only one thing has changed.
Harris is no a longer a Duck.
Oregon State, however, contin-ues to live up to Harris’ moniker
of “little brother.” The Beavers have lost to the Ducks in football the last two seasons, gone 1-4 in baseball and got swept by the Ducks last year in men’s basketball.
The Ducks garner much more attention than the Beavers nation-ally, mainly because of their successes in football, their flashy uniforms and their aggressive out-of-state market-ing campaign.
tAylor hAnd | tHe DAily BAroMeter
Ali Gibson scored 23 points to help Oregon State defeat Oregon 67-60 at Gill Coliseum earlier this year.See WoMen’S hooPS | page 7
See Men’S hooPS | page 7
Oregon State vs. OregonWhen: Saturday, 2 p.m.Where: Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene)
Oregon State vs. Boise St.When: Tonight, 7 p.m.Where: Gill Coliseum
OSU vs. UOWhen: Sunday, 4:30 p.m.Where: Gill