The Daily Barometer 02/28/12

BarometerThe Daily

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2012 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITYCORVALLIS, OREGON 97331 DAILYBAROMETER.COM VOLUME CXV, NUMBER 90

PAGE 8

STUDENTS: Thursday night parties conflict with basketball games.

SPORTS8 – Gymnastics’ scoring8 – Club sports: Tennis

NEWS6 – Students win tax competition

FORUM4 – On school shootings, how to address and prevent the violence4 – Prisons, immigrant connection

Two new courses in spring require attendance only half the time

n MU Advisory Board voted Friday to remove MU positions from ASOSU general elections

By Drew Wilson-McGrathThe DAily BArOMeTer

On Friday, Feb. 24, the Memorial Union Advisory Board voted 7-to-3 in a decision that will result in the removal of both the Memorial Union president and vice president from the Associated Students of Oregon State University general elections ticket.

The positions will now be officially vetted through a hiring process to be later determined by Advisory Board officials.

Four weeks ago, the topic was brought up to the Memorial Union Advisory Board regarding whether the vice president position should transition to director of Memorial Union Program Council and hired based on a particular skill set, as opposed to running alongside MU presidential candidates via the

ASOSU General Elections process.The initial discussion revolved

around the vice president and their respective role as a member of the MU organization. For the last few years, the position of vice president had been solely involved with the affairs of the MUPC, acting as the head of that particular organization. Members of the board felt as if the position title and job description needed amends in order to bet-ter reflect the actual duties of the position.

Queries had also risen among members of the board regarding whether the MU president should still be selected by the student body, or also moved into a hiring process to be determined by Advisory Board officials in the future.

“We currently have 18 members on the Advisory Board, including myself,” said current MU President Ashley Barnes. “Of the members, there are five professional faculty that serve in ex-officio, non-voting positions; three directors, two at-large MU Professional Staff repre-sentatives and 12 voting student

members.” As chair of the Advisory Board, Barnes can only cast a vote in the event of a tie.

Despite the fact that only 10 of 12 voting members were present for the meeting last Friday, the vote gener-ated by those present represents a significant change for the future of the MU organization.

“Two weeks ago [the advisory board] made a tentative decision to move both of the positions out of elections, and vote for the pres-ident’s position through an open selection process of some sort that is yet to be determined,” Barnes said to members of the Advisory Board on Friday.

The vote was originally intended for Friday, Feb. 17, but was delayed for the second time in two weeks because members of the board wanted more input from students both inside and outside the MU before making a final decision.

The responses from students and faculty were limited, mostly consist-ing of the opinions of student mem

Student fee committee approves MU budgetn Questions raised about

childcare subsidies, healthcare fees during meeting

By Don IlerThe Daily BaromeTer

The Student Incidental Fee Committee met for its final budget pre-sentations prior to the open hearing on Thursday, March 1 in the upper classroom of Dixon Recreation Center last night.

The committee heard presenta-tions from the Student Parent Advisory Board, the Memorial Union and Student Health Services. While all three budgets were tentatively approved, the committee requested further informa-tion from the Student Parent Advisory Board and Student Health Services before fully approving their budgets and decision packages.

The Student Parent Advisory Board presented their budget first. The board is responsible for funding Our Little Village, which provides drop-off day care service for students at the library and for a childcare subsidy awarded to help alleviate the cost of childcare for student parents. Approximately 60 to 70 students receive the childcare sub-sidy every year and Our Little Village employs seven student employees.

The board presented two decision packages. The first would increase the amount of subsidy money provided to student parents. The goal was to provide enough subsidies to students so that no student pays more than 10 percent of their income in childcare.

Currently, the board estimates that students pay on average 22 percent of their income in childcare costs. The decision package would increase the fee by 47 cents, and the board pro-posed increasing the fee gradually over the next five years in order to meet the goal of childcare costing only 10 per-cent of income.

However questions were raised about whether it was the student body’s responsibility to pay much of the cost for student parents.

“I’m not sure if it’s 91 percent of the student body’s responsibility to help pay for the costs of nine percent of the student body,” said Senator Crystal Boyd, a committee member, referring to the estimated nine percent of the student body that are parents.

The current maximum subsidy for childcare awarded to students is $383 per term. Childcare in Benton County for newborn children on average costs $1,000 a month, which results in the subsidy only covering a little over $100 a month in the cost of childcare.

The second decision package would be to establish a similar drop off day care service at Dixon Recreation Center for parents to use while they use Dixon. The package would result in fee increase of 28 cents per student per term. It would also create a half time classified position to work in the office, to free up the professional faculty to work at the Family Resource Center and the childcare centers.

However, the committee called into question the budgeting board’s large $360,000 remaining fund balance. The majority of this fund balance apparent-ly came from a 1998 referendum that students passed in order to construct a student childcare center. The fund at one time was as large as $600,000, but had been used at various times since

neIl ABrew | THE DAILY BAROMETER

At a meeting held on Friday in the Memorial Union, MU President Ashley Barnes spoke in front of the Advisory Board. The meeting led to a vote that decided the president and vice president positions will no longer be elected by students, but hired.

Change has come to the MUPC

n With two new hybrid courses available in the spring, OSU looks to accommodate more students in new class format

By Amanda AntellThe Daily BaromeTer

With the growing number of students on cam-pus every year, the Oregon State University main campus and Extended Campus have come up with an alternative solution. A form of hybrid courses is being introduced to OSU this spring term.

The spring term hybrid courses are considered trial runs to test efficiency and accessibility.

Hybrid courses are half in the classroom and half online. Enrolled students are required to show up to class for half the required class time of a normal lecture class, and most of the material is available online.

Unlike a normal Ecampus course, a hybrid course will not cost the students extra money or fees. This trial is meant to show if more students can be accommodated. With this system, two classes can use the same room, in the same time slot in which one class meets Tuesdays and the other meets Thursdays.

There will be two hybrid classes available this

spring and eight this fall. For spring term 2012, PSY 202 and ENGR 213 will be available as hybrid courses and for summer 2012, FOR 241 will be available. For fall 2012, H100 and WR 327 will be available as hybrid courses.

The classes selected were purposely picked due to their popularity among students, how they cater to different majors and whether or not it was a feasible option, i.e. if the classes could be taught in this type of schedule.

“Hybrid courses offer the best of both face-to-face learning and online learning, helping stu-dents with many learning styles. Hybrid courses also offer students a more flexible schedule, which can help with other courses or jobs, etc.,” said Professor Sara Jameson, senior instructor of writ-ing, and assistant director of writing.

Jameson is offering her WR 327 course as a hybrid, and is quite confident in its forecasted success.

“Our writing classes usually already use a large web component for such activities as discus-sion board posts, online peer review, or online assignment submissions. When trying to decide which of the writing classes to pilot as a hybrid, we thought technical writing was a logical choice because of the content, and the fact that so much workplace writing is created and shared online

now,” Jameson said.Cub Kahn, director of the Teaching and Learning

Center, is in charge of the Hybrid Pilot program at OSU.

“The Ecampus Task Force recommended in 2011 that OSU move forward with the develop-ment of hybrid courses,” Kahn said.

While Kahn reminds everyone that this is a pilot project, and the results will be unknown until the classes are actually completed, he is confident based on results other universities have attained. In particular, the University of Central Florida has a developed hybrid program, and has higher aca-demic success rates.

Professor Charles D. Dziuban of Central Florida is the chief proprietor of the hybrid program at the University, and has been a great reference to Kahn and the other chief developers of this project.

“This year’s Hybrid Course Development Pilot Program is small, but within three to five years I anticipate that OSU will offer many undergradu-ate courses in a hybrid format,” Kahn said.

The development of this program is coming from Academic Services and will not be collected from the students at all. Kahn and other project leaders are confident in its success.

Amanda Antell, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]

See PosItIons| page 7

sArAh gIllIhAn | THE DAILY BAROMETER

Barnes was elected as president of the Memorial Union last academic year. She made claims to recent efforts to be inclusive of student opinion in the decision to remove the positions from general elections.

See CommIttee | page 3

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International News From CNNMiddle east

138 killed Monday in Syrian violence

At least 138 people were killed Monday across Syria, including 64 who died in a “horrifying massacre” at a checkpoint in Homs prov-ince, opposition activists said.

Those killed at a check-point in the Abel area were attempting to flee shelling in the Baba Amr neighbor-hood in the city of Homs, said the Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a net-work of opposition activists.

“Reports said security members and thugs kid-napped the women among them,” the network said in a statement. Residents found 47 corpses in one area and 17 in a second one, it said.

A total of 68 corpses were found in the area, in farmland in western Homs province, said the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, apparently referencing the same incident. The bodies were found after an injured survivor reported the attack, the group said. All the bod-ies had been either shot or stabbed.

In all, 98 people were killed Monday in Homs, an oppo-sition stronghold, according to the Local Coordination Committees. They included four defected soldiers, three woman and three children.

The deaths came on a day when Syrian officials announced that the nation’s new draft constitution received approval and the European Union imposed new sanctions on the country amid ongoing clashes.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ear-lier explosions rocked Homs and shelling was occurring in Baba Amr. Twenty people were wounded when a large shell struck an anti-govern-ment gathering in Homs, the group said.

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohammed al-Shaar announced that 89.4 percent of voters approved the draft constitution, and 57.4 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

europeRussian TV claims plot to kill Putin foiled

A plot to assassinate Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has been foiled, Russia’s state-run Channel One TV reported Monday, less than a week before presidential elections that Putin is expected to win.

Citing unnamed sources, the report said a group of plotters was arrested in the Ukrainian city of Odessa in early January and, after weeks of questioning, con-fessed to planning to kill the Russian leader.

The TV report included what it said was a confession by Adam Osmayev, a fixer associated with the two men who were seized in Odessa.

“Our final goal was to come to Moscow and try to organize an attempt on Prime Minister Putin,” Osmayev said.

He said the plan involved using military-grade land mines to blow up vehicles.

Channel One showed video of what it said was the raid on Osmayev’s apart-ment by armed security officers wearing black bullet-proof vests and helmets. The video shows Osmayev, with red marks on his back and bloody bruises on his face, kneeling as officers demand his name.

Ukraine’s domestic secu-rity agency, the FSB, uncov-ered the plot after an explo-sion at an apartment build-ing in Odessa killed one of the plotters and injured another, Channel One said. The survivor tipped them off to Osmayev’s involvement, the report said.

The plotter who was killed was allegedly willing to be a suicide bomber, and the mission was organized by Chechen militant leader Doku Umarov, Channel One reported.

CNN has not indepen-dently confirmed the exis-tence of the plot, and a for-mer British ambassador to Moscow expressed doubts about it.

s. aMericaArgentina denies ship entry after Falklands

Authorities in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province denied entry Monday to two cruise liners that were seek-ing to dock in the southern port of Ushuaia, in incidents linked to the political dispute over the Falkland Islands.

The government was applying a provincial law barring ships traveling under British colony flags from docking at the port, said the state-run Telam news agency. Both ships were registered in Bermuda, a British territory.

One of the ships — the Star Princess — departed Rio de Janeiro on Feb. 18 on a 14-night South America cruise.

“Because the ship had previously called at Stanley, it was denied entry to Ushuaia,” said Julie Benson, a spokeswoman for Carnival Corp. She was referring to the port city in the Falkland Islands, which are referred to in Argentina as Las Malvinas.

“We are extremely disap-pointed about this alteration of the cruise itinerary, and are refunding the cost of shore excursions purchased by our passengers,” she said in an e-mail. The ship is continuing to its next scheduled port of call, Punta Arenas, Chile.

The 289-meter (nearly 950-foot) luxury liner, which has a capacity of 2,600 passen-gers, had docked in Ushuaia several times in recent years, she said.

The P&O cruise liner Adonia, which is on a South American tour from Southampton, England, with an almost entirely British contingent of passengers, got a similar reception on Monday. The ship “was this morning refused permis-sion for its scheduled dock-ing in the Argentinian port of Ushuaia by the local mayor on the grounds that it had visited the Falklands Islands two days before,” said CNN contributor Robin Oakley, who was aboard the Adonis as a lecturer.

Middle eastAmnesty: Iran continues crackdown

While the world’s attention has been focused on tumult in the Arab world, Iran has cracked down with impunity on dissent and is feared to come down even harder as elections approach, Amnesty International said in a sweep-ing report.

The global human rights monitor documented “wide-spread and persistent human rights violations in Iran.”

“It is essential if further mass human rights viola-tions are to be avoided that the international community act on behalf of the hundreds, if not thousands, of prison-ers of conscience and politi-cal prisoners imprisoned after unfair trials in Iran,” Amnesty said in the report, issued just after midnight Monday GMT (7 p.m. Monday ET).

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini celebrated the popular revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain, saying that they reflected an “Islamic awakening” based on Iran’s 1979 revolution.

But since the 2009 elec-tion, the Islamic republic has repressed similar voices with-in its own borders, Amnesty said.

“Since the 2009 crackdown, the authorities have steadily cranked up repression in law and practice, and tightened their grip on the media,” according to the Amnesty report, which came out just hours after the United Nations Human Rights Council con-vened for its latest session in Geneva.

“In Iran today, you put your-self at risk if you do anything that might fall outside the increasingly narrow confines of what the authorities deem socially or politically accept-able,” said Ann Harrison, of Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa program.

“Anything from setting up a social group on the Internet, forming or joining an NGO, or expressing your opposition to the status quo can land you in prison,” she said.

CalendarTuesday, 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.

OSU Women’s Center and OSU Pride Center, 5-7pm, Women’s Center. Games, movies, crafts and conversa-tion.

History Students’ Association, 4-7pm, Weniger 275. This film night will conclude our reading of “The Cru-cible,” however everyone is welcome. Pizza and drinks will be provided.

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.

Diversity Development: NAL, 4-6:30pm, Native American Longhouse. Mineral & Rock Painting: Learn how to make natural resources into paint.

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.

EventsAsian Pacific Cultural Center (APCC), 6-8pm, MU Board Room. Learn about the art of Henna and tattoos in Asian and Polynesian cultures. Stop by and get Henna tattoos of your own!

Friday, Mar. 2EventsDiversity Development: NAL, 3-5pm, Asian Pacific Cultural Center. I Scream for Identity: In collaboration with all the centers, we will make sundaes to explore your identity.

Monday, Mar. 5MeetingsCollege Democrats, 5pm, MU Board Room. Come talk about current events, local campaigns and international news with like-minded people!

EventsDiversity Development: NAL, 5:30-7:30pm, MU 206. Native Hawaiians: Revealing the Misconceptions.

Tuesday, Mar. 6MeetingsASOSU Senate, 7pm, MU 109A. Convenes to discuss student issues. Students and student organization del-egates are welcome to attend.

Wednesday, Mar. 7Meetings Baha’i Campus Association, 12:30-1pm, MU Talisman Room. Interfaith readings to share on “Building a Spiri-tual Democracy.”

EventsGraduate Women’s Network, 2-4pm, Women’s Center. GWN is a great place to connect with other grads and learn from guest speakers. This month, Mari-ah Moore from the Career Center will host a CV workshop.

ASOSU Congress, 7pm, MU Lounge. The House of Representatives and Sen-ate convene to hear the SIFC Budget for the 2012-2013 student fee levels.hursday, Mar. 8

MeetingsOSU 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. 12MeetingsCollege Democrats, 5pm, MU Board Room. Come talk about current events, local campaigns and international news with like-minded people!

Tuesday, Mar. 13MeetingsASOSU Senate, 7pm, MU 109A. Convenes to discuss student issues. Students and student organization del-egates are welcome to attend.

Only 7 days until it’s all revealed in the March 5 Daily Barometer “Best of” issue!!

Find out who YOU voted as “ The BEST o f ” in T OWN!

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bers already involved with the MU. The desired “feedback” seemed to lack input from students not directly affiliated with the organization.

During Friday’s meeting, Barnes men-tioned that she sent out an email in an attempt to gain insight and comments from the OSU community. The email was sent to specific community members and groups that she thought would be con-cerned or interested in the events taking place. “I only received one formal email response regarding the email I sent out,” she said.

That formal response was from Andy Derringer, ASOSU Executive Chief of Operations. According to the email, Derringer felt the changes to the vice presi-dent were necessary and important, but he still was not set on the president’s position. Derringer was not available for further comment.

Representatives from the Student Events and Activities Center attended the meeting as well. SEAC is part of Student Leadership and Involvement, an organization that also encompasses the MUPC.

SEAC member Angela Christensen mentioned that in a vote between eight SEAC members, it was informally decided that removing the two positions from the general elections process and transferring them over to a different selection process would be beneficial. However, Christensen claimed to be unsure about whether or not the vote they took applied specifically to both the president and vice president posi-tions, or just the vice president.

Christensen told the board that making the seats hired positions, as opposed to continuing with the current process that required campaigns, would help decrease the financial burden upon a potential can-didate. They discussed how many students cannot afford the advertising and cam-paigning necessary to successfully make an attempt at the positions and that this fact provided unfair advantages to those applicants with more funds at their dis-posal than others.

In regards to the changing voting pro-cess, one representative of the SEAC said, “It wouldn’t be as much of a popularity vote.”

According to Nik Bowen, current vice president of the Memorial Union, MUPC members “unanimously agreed that the changes to the vice president made a lot of sense; and they also agreed that it made sense for the president’s position, but there was some concern that the student voice would be left out.”

Bowen explained to those in attendance that MUPC members thought the decision to make the president’s position a hired one deserved a little more student input before the final decision was made, as it is the duty of the president to serve all the students in the MU.

Eric Alexander, director of Student Leadership and Involvement said, “The real change is in aligning what work the two positions are actually doing with the needs of the positions. The VP is direct-ly responsible for leading the Memorial Union Program Council. This is a skill-based position that is not about needed

representation, but about a set of skills that can be hired and selected in a way to bring increasing diversity to the programming work we do.”

Bowen currently holds the position of vice president during the last year that the job will be known by that name. Bowen is an advocate of the transition of the vice president position to MUPC director.

“I believe this vote and the approved changes will be best for the MU and the students. While we might lose out on the ideal of hearing around 2,000 voices in an election, a hiring process gives the MU and MUPC a voice in what it needs from candi-dates and will provide a more efficient and fair way of selecting who fills those roles,” Bowen said.

“Months ago when thinking about it, many felt that having the president and VP run on the same ticket when their work had nothing to do with each other made no sense,” Bowen said. “Since the VP wasn’t doing overall MU-related work, it didn’t make sense to call that role MU VP, so [we] redefined it as the director of MUPC, and it was presented. The total focus on MUPC and moving away from the MU Advisory Board is the change.”

The meeting also touched on how lack of student representation could be an issue in the future. Although members men-tioned that student input and voice were undeni-ably important, many said there was a change that needed to be made in order to make the posi-tions more noticeable on campus, and attempt to add diversity to the hunt for new MU organization officials.

Robyn Ryan, a member of the professional/classi-fied staff, acts as a repre-sentative of that group on the MU Advisory Board. On Friday, she summa-rized what she had discussed with other members of the professional and classified staff at OSU.

“What I heard was that there was some concern that this would become an internal process, that we would simply be finding internal candidates that would be the best choice for this,” she said. “We might get to the point where we are all in the same camp of thinking and not challenging ourselves to get out of our comfort zone and our box.”

However, Ryan also mentioned that the professional and classified staff members had agreed the financial implications of running for these positions were too much to ask of students who didn’t come from money or privilege. “We can promote truly an opportunity for whoever to become part of our organization, this is a really criti-cal component of us having success with the students. [Professional/classified staff members] believe if we invest time in defin-ing our marketing plan, then we might still be able to get the student voice and the student interest involved, and increase the numbers of those interested,” Ryan said.

To counteract the drop in student input the vote results may cause, Bowen proposed in Friday’s meeting that the hiring processes have open hearings, somewhat comparable to debates, so students interested in the issues can come and hear candidates speak

on those points. However, not everyone on the Memorial Union Advisory Board thought the transition was in the best inter-est of the students. Three board members voted against the idea.

“I think it is a big change and I would have liked to have seen a slower transition with the positions. I think the election pro-cess would look different with the absence of a running mate, and I would have liked to see what that looked like before moving to a hired position,” said Amanda Hartley, Advisory Board member who represents the student body. “I see value in the hiring process as well as an election. The basis for this change is to make sure that the person in the role is qualified for the position and displays adequate skill to perform all of the duties as opposed to winning in terms of popularity or because of a lack of healthy competition.”

Hartley added that the board is hoping to increase marketing and interest in the posi-tion, as a trend of candidates running unop-posed has emerged in the past five years.

In fact, three of the last four elections for these positions have had candidates run-ning unopposed by other students. This indicates that in the past, elections have suf-fered from a lack of student involvement. To many on the Advisory Board, it was obvious

that a change was needed in order to increase stu-dent awareness of the MU organization.

“We are not only a building,” Barnes said.

The vote to have the two positions hired instead of elected in the future is official. The president and vice president positions will soon be handed over to other students; these incumbent leaders serve one term, starting on May 16, and ending in June of the following academic

year.In reference to the seat of the new direc-

tor of MUPC, Robyn Ryan said in the board meeting that, “…ideally, we will have the new director of the MUPC available to select their new team by May 16, so that they would be fully hired and ready by that par-ticular time. And by being on the team by May 16th, they would also be part of the end-of-the-year activities.”

This, Ryan said, would be ideal for allow-ing them to participate and gain a sense of motivation in the coming year.

Ryan mentioned the option of generating a notice about the position hirings across campus as soon as possible, and running them through the end of finals week. They will then be closed at that point in order to review applications the first week of spring term, with the hiring process ending on the first Saturday after the beginning of the term. Where these postings would be posted was not mentioned.

With little time to get the word out about the position openings and changes to the selection process, it is up in the air wheth-er student reaction and involvement will change.

Drew wilson-mcgrath, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]

PosItIonsn Continued from page 3

‘‘ ‘‘what I heard is that this would become an internal process, that we would simply be

finding internal candidates that would

be the best for this.

robyn ryanMU Advisory Board

then. It has not been used to build a childcare center.

The budgeting board how-ever requested that the remain-ing $360,000 be used to in combination with $6.6 million from student building fees to help construct a family center, that would include a childcare center, veteran’s resource cen-ter, and a new place for Human Services Resource Center.

But the committee was unsure whether the funds could be used for that, or what they had been used on in the past. Referendums are required for any student fee that would raise funds for a capital project, and the committee wasn’t sure what the money had been used on in the past, as well as what it could be used for in the future.

It decided it wanted to look into the matter further on what could be done with the reserve fund money.

The committee tentatively approved the baseline bud-get and fee of $3.95 without including the combined 76 cent increases, and decided to table

the decision packages until Wednesday pending further investigation of the referendum money.

The Memorial Union pre-sented its budget second. The MU budget funds Services and Facilities, Student Leadership and Involvement and profes-sional staff positions for Student Media, which includes The Daily Barometer.

The Memorial Union esti-mates that it serves 17,500 stu-dents annually and impacts many students through its vari-ous programs and committees. It employs 373 student employ-ees and 41 full time professional staff.

It requested no fee increase but requested five different decision packages. All decision packages were approved.

The first would create a program advisor for diversity and cultural programs, which would be responsible for cre-ating a diversity action plan. The second created a cultural meals program advisor and the third created a graduate teach-ing position for the Center for Civic Engagement. The fourth increased pay for many student positions and the fifth increased

the number of trainings by Team Liberation.

The fee remains the same next year at $65.78 for fall, win-ter and spring terms and $59.80 for summer term.

Student Health Services pre-sented their budget last. Last year, controversy emerged when it was discovered that Student Health Services had a large budget reserve of over $7 million, which was much larger than the reserve operating and project reserve fund amounts recommended by the state of Oregon.

To bring down the amount of reserve funds held by Student Health Services, the budget this year recommended a decrease of $11.44 to the fee, resulting in a fee of $89.09 per term, which would draw down the amount of reserve funds held dramati-cally over the next several years.

The budget included several decision packages that would hire new staff members, includ-ing an insurance support posi-tion, an information technol-ogy manager and an additional psychiatrist.

Committee member Representative Brad Alvarez, however, raised concerns about

projected increased fees for x-rays and lab tests that were included in the budget. The fees for those services, which are charged to the individual students requiring them, would increase five percent. He was concerned about students’ access to these services and whether not decreasing the fee for the entire student body would prevent an increase in x-ray and lab fees.

The committee decided to tentatively approve the bud-get, but requested information about the need of x-ray and lab services over the last two fiscal years and what it would cost to keep the fees for those services the same.

The Student Incidental Fee Committee will be holding its open hearing at 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 1 in the MU ballroom. The committee will give final approval of the bud-gets at this hearing and the stu-dent body is encouraged to give testimony on the budgets at this meeting.

Don Iler, managing editoron Twitter: @doniler

[email protected]

CommItteen Continued from page 3

Yesterday morning, a student opened fire at Chardon High School in Ohio, killing one student and injuring four

others. The police would catch him later that day in town.

Considering how easy it is for minors to access weapons or drugs at home, it’s a wonder how we don’t see this sort of violence on a more consistent basis. The more prominent examples in the past — 1999’s Columbine High School incident, where two teenagers killed 12 students and a teacher, then shot themselves; and 2007’s Virginia Tech massacre, where a senior killed 32 students and staff, and took his own life — spurred a much needed discussion on safety in schools, or any public setting for that matter. That continues today.

Unfortunately, even though these catastro-phes are few and far between, we haven’t neces-sarily seen a shift in how our schools prevent such incidents. From direct on-campus preven-tative measures — metal detectors, extra security and protocol — to community discussions over gun storage and vocalizing the slightest hint of a possible criminal act like this, there are a number of routes to take in addressing this problem.

However, as many professionals choose to evaluate the situation and debate future policy

measures to be certain this sort of travesty doesn’t happen again, there are far too many variables at play to pinpoint a remedy, espe-cially in today’s growing society. There are too many causes to set a general precedent to prevent such violence.

Early reports indicate the shooter was an outcast and a victim of bullying. While the investigation is still underway, some would suggest the bullying led to a mental lapse, as if outside forces — bullying by peers — pushed the individual to commit such an act. But that’s too easy of an explanation, and frankly, a shallow one.

Bullying shouldn’t be restricted to this school setting. It’s a frivolous label applied only to young people, even though the actual violence that can come from it is equivalent to any other crime.

A man convicted of attempted murder at the workplace would not immediately be linked to bullying. Instead, the case would likely lean toward outside affiliation — pos-sibly adultery, gambling, prior grievances or mental health. Why then should the violent

actions of students immediately be linked to bullying?

A school shooting should be handled in the same manner as any other attempted murder, not judged by these traditional assumptions on what goes on in a school setting. It only demeans the seriousness of this sort of attack.

Considering other influences demands more careful attention by the parents and faculty at the school. Even the slightest hint of unrest in the student’s life should be addressed. It may reveal a broken home, diffi-culties in school work or poor choice of groups the individ-ual is hanging with. A single conversation with a student about their problems could be the dividing line between insanity and revelation.

But besides addressing out-side influences, others will push for actual physical reform — improved regulations and new standards for public school security.

Chardon High School, the school in ques-tion, did not have any metal detectors — like the majority of public school across the

nation. They did, however, have mandatory and frequent security drills involving proce-dures the rest of the school took immediately after hearing an administrator shout “lock-down” over the school’s intercom system.

Of course, with any public education measure, money is always the stickler. For

the federal government to revamp school lunch menus — working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture — to provide healthier options to students is one thing. But for each school to receive a metal detector, ideally sev-eral, and more security offi-cers to operate and oversee the students entering in and out of such a system, on top of covering the majority of school grounds during the day, demands a substantial

increase in responsibility and time put in by each officer. It will require more pay, especial-ly in the cost for supplying metal detectors.

Moreover, although it may seem shocking,

Part 2 of 2

There is obviously a problem with the existence of an ineffective private (or public) prison indus-

try, but what should raise even more eye-brows is the involvement private prison corporations have in illegal immigration.

Private prisons, most notably the Corrections Corporation of America, have started making shocking amounts of money by detaining illegal immi-grants with contracts from the govern-ment. According to Mother Jones, the Department of Homeland Security has provided CCA with millions of dol-lars worth of contracts in return for the detention of illegal immigrants.

It is important to keep in mind that these illegal immigrants have not been charged with a crime, but are simply being detained until the government decides what to do with them. Although these immigrants are not criminals, an objective observer would not be able to tell the difference between the treatment of these immigrants and the treatment of prisoners. Immigrants are expected to cook and clean, are limited in their rights to speak with family, and are sub-jected to violence and disease, accord-ing to Graeme Wood’s 2011 Bloomburg Businessweek article, “A Boom Behind Bars.”

There have also been reports of abysmal health care and horrible food. Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones reports that, “... detention centers have been sued for providing inadequate health care, food services and education ... [immigrants] were kept in cells 11 to 12 hours a day, forced to wear prison garb, fed ‘unrecognizable substances, mostly starches,’ and denied toys, bath-room privacy and access to medical care.” There have been multiple reports of people dying in detention, usually due to health care issues or violence amongst detainees.

These corporations have a tendency to spend as little as possible to increase their profits. Wood reports that “when contract prisons do save money, they often do so at the expense of their labor” and because of this, “the rate of escapes,

violence and contraband in the private facilities tends to be higher than in their public counterparts.”

After the violence, inadequate health care, lack of education and absence of food with any noticeable nutritional value are taken into consideration, there should be a great deal of concern regard-ing the fundamental human rights viola-tions taking place. These violations are particularly troubling, because the lack of proper funding by the corporations to provide an adequate living environ-ment for detainees is simply an attempt to cut costs in order to increase profit.

CCA has also had significant involve-ment in writing new legislature that would create even more illegal immi-grant detention and further increase the already high pris-oner population.

NPR reported that the model bill for SB 1070 was written, “... almost word-for-word ... behind the scenes by the Corrections Corporation of America, which stands to make lots of money locking up thousands of illegal immigrants.” Arizona’s SB 1070 requires police officers to do an identification check of any person they deem might be an illegal immigrant. The penalties for being an illegal immigrant in Arizona (and states that have passed similar leg-islation in the last year) can include up to six months in prison.

CCA lobbied legislatures to write SB 1070 in an attempt to create more pris-oners and detainees. It has already been established that CCA and other private prison corporations stand to make mil-lions of dollars of profit on the detention and imprisonment of immigrants. It also has been established that these facili-ties are inadequately staffed and do not provide the proper essentials to those who occupy these facilities. How is it that these corporations have such lobbying power and influence in the writing of legislation?

According to NPR, a group called the American Legislative Exchange Council gets special interest groups connected with legislatures to write model legisla-tion. ALEC proposed the legislation and as the report states, wrote a version of the bill that was almost word-for-word equivalent to the version that passed.

Wood explains that CCA has spent, on average, between $1 and $2 million a year lobbying for this kind of legisla-tion. This kind of lobbying has led to a problematic cycle: CCA and others are under contract with the government to imprison criminals and detain illegal immigrants. Then, these corporations spend a significant amount of money lobbying for legislation that creates lon-ger sentencing and more criminals in an attempt to put more people in their facilities, which in turn makes these cor-porations more money. It is evident that this legislation is not an attempt to fix the immigration problem or solve societal problems as it is so purported.

The existence of private prison cor-porations in the United States raises multiple human rights concerns. The

motivation for private prisons is not social reform, as was the origi-nal intent of the prison system. Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are no longer fulfilling their original duty of assisting immigrants in their attempts to move to the United States, but are adopting a law enforce-

ment role and creating contracts with private prisons for the detention of illegal immigrants. In turn, private prison cor-porations such as CCA pay government legislatures in an attempt to create even stricter laws that send more people to prisons or these immigrant detention facilities, like that of SB 1070.

In addition, for-profit prison corpora-tions also have a vested interest in cutting costs and providing inadequate resourc-es and personnel, creating hazardous and unsafe environments for prisoners and immigrants that have resulted in multiple deaths amongst detainees (due to both poor health care and violence). When prisons are run privately, and are run with the intent of making money and not providing a social service, fun-damental human rights violations occur. Besides this, it has been shown that prisons are ineffective in implementing social change anyway.

Due to the far-reaching and adverse consequences of (ineffective) private prisons, it is crucial that corporations like these be deemed illegal and it be stated that social policy is the exclusive concern of public institutions like the United States government.

t

Sean Tipton is a junior in philosophy. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Tipton can be reached at [email protected].

4 •Tuesday, February 28, 2012 [email protected] • 541-737-6376

The Daily BarometerForum Editorial Board Brandon Southward Editor in ChiefJoce DeWitt News EditorArmand Resto Forum Editor

Grady Garrett Sports EditorDon Iler Managing Editor Alexandra Taylor Photo Editor

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.

The Daily Barometer c/o Letters to the editor

Memorial Union East 106 Oregon State University

Corvallis, OR 97331-1617or e-mail: [email protected]

How to address school violence, preventative measures

Why so serious about spelling?Prison-Industrial Complex connection to immigrationThroughout history, there

have been many differ-ent views on how the

English language should be writ-ten. Wired Magazine writer Anne Trubek wrote an article about how spelling in the English lan-guage wasn’t strict until about the 1770s. Even newspaper editors at the time would constantly change the spelling of words to provide proper spacing and aesthetics.

Shakespeare signed his name with six different variations, depending on his mood and the weather. Benjamin Franklin pro-posed to remove a few letters and add a couple vowels to the alpha-bet in order to simplify the English language. Noah Webster, the man behind the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is responsible for the word color having no “u” over here in the States. Mark Twain hated the current alphabet and believed the inventor to be a “drunken thief.” Twain called for a more realis-tic and rational alphabet for the English language.

Trubek proves Twain’s point by showing that we have a number of words that consistently break the rules. For example, look at the words “receipt” and “deceit.” Both end with the same pronuncia-tion, but deceit has no “p.” Or take the words “daughter,” “laughter,” “through,” “dough” and “cough” — we use “gh” to make an “f” sound, but “gh” can also be silent when-ever “gh” has the desire to.

If you take the pronunciation of certain letters, you can actu-ally make “ghoti” sound like “fish.” Take the “gh” from either “cough” or “laughter,” the “o” from “women” and the “ti” from “nation,” and you have “ghoti,” or “fish.” It’s no wonder foreigners have such a difficult time learning the English language.

I’m dumbfounded as to how I managed to learn “proper” spell-ing and pronunciation without ending up in a padded room. Unfortunately, after reading this article by Trubek, I can no longer fault people who use text lingo, because this article proves that variant spelling isn’t wrong, but only an evolution of the language. While English-language-lovers recover from the massive coronary embolism they just had, we should actually consider being open to changing our language.

English is not a simple language at all, but one of the most difficult languages to learn, with some of the hardest words to spell. While

that seems like a monumental task and an impossible undertaking, since the United States refuses to adopt the metric system, despite its overwhelming superiority to feet and inches, it can be done.

We might not need to remove letters from the alphabet as Twain and Franklin were suggesting, but allowing for more consistent, sim-pler spelling of our words — a more logical interpretation — could be possible. Most words are spelled in the way they sound – or at least remain consistent in pronuncia-tion – but words like “laughter” and “phonetic” use extra letters, even though we already have a let-ter that makes sound “ph” and “gh” are trying to make.

And, while it seems I’ve been quite harsh on standardized spell-ing, it has done wonders for peo-ple in general. Instead of having to spend time deciphering what another person writes, for the most part, standardized spelling has provided us with an easier form of communication. It has even made books like the diction-ary and thesaurus viable options, because instead of a hundred dif-ferent spellings for a single word, there is just one in which you can find the definition or synonym. We managed to create a unifying language, despite having a spell-ing system that makes about as much sense as Stonehenge.

While asking for a complete reworking of our language to simplify our words may be too much, there isn’t a reason why we can’t lighten up about the spelling of our words. I need to work on adopting text lingo, because I still write whole para-graphs with mostly proper punctuations when texting my friends. Now, this doesn’t mean that you can use my article as an excuse for not using “spell check” on your papers. Because while minor communication doesn’t depend too much on spelling, your professors will still flunk you if your paper is spelled using that Cambridge study technique.

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].

Robert Fix

Rebel without a pulse

SeanTipton

So it Goes

‘‘ ‘‘...an objective observer would not be able to

tell the difference between the treatment of these immigrants and the treatment of these prisoners.

‘‘ ‘‘...there are far too many variables at play to pinpoint a

remedy...there are too many causes to set a general precedent to prevent such violence

Editorial

See eDItorIAl | page 7


Can extra-solar planets provide valuable research or waste of resources?

No need to care for others’ judgmentsStop being a people

pleaser. The easiest way to

get caught up in what oth-ers think of you is to imme-diately try and make accom-modations for them based off something you did. When you start trying to attend to oth-ers needs because they don’t like you, you instantly take the first step down the road of disappointment.

If someone has a prob-lem with you for no appar-ent reason, why try to make the relationship work in the first place? Sounds to me like a waste of time and energy for an end result that is ulti-mately of no importance. But that is peculiar, isn’t it? Why is it so tantalizing to try and earn the recognition and respect of those who do not respect us?

Many of us seek validation for the way we live our lives by the responses of others. The thing is, not everyone you meet is going to give you a positive response, and more importantly, if you can’t find validation in yourself for who you are, you are going to be lost for a long time until you come to your senses. Some people are rude, some peo-ple are nice and some people simply don’t mix with your personality.

Moreover, when you stop trying so hard to please others and instead just live your life, you’ll realize that people will probably be happier with you as you — not something you believe they want.

So if you are spending a lot of time and effort over an acquaintance, stranger, or more importantly, dwell-ing over someone you can’t stand because you are unable to get them to like you; stop, brush it off and get on with your day. Stop wasting energy for a lost cause and start using it in places that actually mean something.

We may also find ourselves trying to understand some-one you have never gotten along with, possibly hoping to please someone who has never respected you. But why in God’s name do we try and make it work? Maybe it’s bet-ter accepting the fact that you two aren’t going to be best of friends and get on with life. There’s nothing to gain in playing the kiss-ass who no one likes.

Ultimately, you’re not going to be able to understand why some people think a certain way and if you think on it too long, you’re only going to dig a hole for yourself and the rela-tionships you do have. Stop asking the wrong questions, such as “Why don’t they like me?” and start asking the right ones like, “Why do I care what others think?”

Take a step back and ask yourself why you are trying to earn this person’s friend-ship — especially if you don’t like them in return. If you

are trying to be nice for the sake of avoiding conflict, don’t. Sometimes, conflict is the only answer to a solution; it distin-guishes where you truly stand on a subject and lets you know where the lines are drawn.

Prioritize what is impor-tant in your life and let your actions back up what you say. If a friend of a friend isn’t too thrilled about you, don’t go running in your mind asking yourself why. If your mother, father, broth-er, boyfriend or girlfriend is mad at you, that’s a different story. Let the little things in life fall out of the spotlight so you have the strength to handle the big things when they arise.

The next time someone gives you the finger, a dirty look, the cold shoulder or talks behind your back, you can simply let it go and continue your day knowing there are worse things that could hap-pen to you in this world than having someone not like you. And when you come to under-stand this fact, small things that once drove you up the wall will only be little nuisanc-es in an average day.

In this world, you can’t please everybody. That’s why it is important to try your best to do right by those who truly matter and not worry about everything else.

t

Trevor Thompson is a junior in English. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Thompson can be reached at [email protected].

With innovations in satellite and optics technology,

it seems as if a new extra-solar planet is discovered every day. From ultra dense planets, to those made mostly of water, these new discoveries con-stantly change our perception of the universe and challenge theories in physics and chem-istry that we once thought to be clear.

However, in a recessive economy, research on find-ing extra-solar planets, and how to get to these planets, is often the first on the spend-ing chopping block. The question every investor (and indeed, researcher) must ask is “Why is this research important?”

The most common answer to this question is to find another Earth-like planet to colonize, as a way to ensure the survival of civilization if/when something goes wrong on this planet. Although sav-ing our planet from some future catastrophe is a valid reason, it’s not the most important one for exploration.

Research on planets out-side our solar system fosters a sense of wonder and imagi-nation that gets people inter-ested in science and inspires further study. Although some may see imagination as noth-ing more than a supplemental skill meant for hobbists and artists, imagination and won-der are extremely important to science. There is no better motivator than passion, and not many things more won-dering than the stars.

Project Icarus, a theoreti-cal engineering study into interstellar exploration was launched in 2009 as the suc-cessor of Project Daedalus, a five year study from 1973-78 to examine the feasibility of an interstellar unmanned space probe. Some theoreti-cal design proposals include nuclear fusion engines for propulsion, and improving communications and tele-scope technology for planet searching, along with a goal

of reaching a star system or planet within a human life-time after launch.

The most interesting part of the Icarus study is not the so-called “speculation sci-ence,” but that the project is mostly meant to inspire and motivate a new generation of scientists and engineers into thinking about the stars and solving the problems to get-ting there. These solutions are likely to be extremely useful for civilization.

For example, some form of renewable energy is needed to propel this hypothetical craft up to 22 light years from Earth — a challenge that requires significant engineer involvement. If working on designs for a spacecraft helps create new infrastructure and solutions to our current Earthly dilemmas, it makes sense to get more people interested in pursuing these fields.

Advances in computing technology in the last 30 years have also opened new doors for inspiration. According to project leader Dr. Andreas

Tziolas, there are games being developed that allow a user to travel to nearby stars and explore foreign solar systems, like Proxima Centauri, our closest neighbor.

Science fiction and comic books used to be the source of inspiration for inquisitive kids, but now, videogames and movies have caught hold. Making games that kindle a sense of wonder and make sci-ence fun is an essential key to the kind of interest these projects — and ultimately our

society — require.

However, the best part this new interest in extra-solar planets is that to enter this field, students must experience nearly every subject in science. Let’s be honest, not every student who dreams of becoming an astronaut becomes one. The same is true for extra-solar research. But perhaps just an introduction to sci-ence/engineering is enough to keep a student motivat-ed for a career in science/

engineering.

There are many different fields, therefore many differ-ent paths to take, and areas to be inspired to work in. But opening the door is the most important step along the journey. If the stars open that door to a world of wonder — a world of science — closing it doesn’t make much sense.

t

Amanda Enbysk is a junior in geology. The opinions expressed in her columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Enbysk can be reached at [email protected].

ryAn mAson Is A soPhomore In grAPhIC DesIgn

The Daily BarometerAmanda Enbysk

The Daily BarometerTrevor Thompson

many parents and students feel metal detec-tors or a similar “pat down” system when stu-dents enter school is an infringement of their rights. And people will always complain when they are subjected to extra security treatment without any legitimate reason to specifically target them for extra security.

We all hate the security procedures at the airport, and the extra time it takes to simply get to the gate. But would anyone choose no security simply for time constraints and com-fort? A little extra effort and time goes a long way in reassurance of safety.

A metal detector may allow the backpacks, shoes and baggy clothing to be examined more thoroughly, but the possible costs asso-ciated with such equipment would likely lead to rejection by each state. But it doesn’t mean schools shouldn’t be asking for more security officers and new protocol.

Each entrance and exit should be covered

by a couple of officers, possibly going through an in-depth “pat down” procedure for the opening of school doors each day. Students allowed to leave for lunch should face a similar procedure when returning to school grounds.

Some critics linking school violence to gun laws and how our country needs further regu-lations on firearms simply use these violent acts — just like the Jared Loughner incident — to further their political goals. Hopefully, school boards can take the same initiative and demand for security reform in the public education system, because no matter how pleasant and caring the faculty or the home environment may be, as our schools continue to grow in size, so will the arguments, isola-tion, apathy and even that “bullying.”

Violence in schools is not completely pre-ventable, but it can be addressed.

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.

eDItorIAln Continued from page 4

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6• Tuesday, February 28, 2012 [email protected] • 737-2231

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and every 3X3 box contains the digits 1 to 9. There is no guessing or math involved,

just use logic to solve.

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TODAYNOON

MU 109 A

Beaver Business L I N E U P Corvallis is bigger than OSU. Explore off- campus, starting here: Feed your sole with new Birks (Footwise).

Drop us a line to suggest a business be included in next week’s edition!


Afghan president condemns fatal bombing at military airfield

Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned a suicide bombing Monday at a military airfield, the latest incident in a spike in violence after the burn-ing of Qurans by NATO troops last week.

At least nine people were killed and 12 wounded in the early-morning explo-sion near the front gate of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force base at Jalalabad airport in eastern Afghanistan, according to Gen. Abdulla Hazim Stanikzai, the provincial police chief.

There were no NATO casual-ties. The Taliban insurgency said the attack was in retaliation for the Quran burning and said it hoped the attacks will continue “with the anger of the public.”

Another attack of “some sig-nificance” was reported later Monday in Naranghar province, near the Pakistani border, said Lt. Cmdr. James Williams, an ISAF spokesman.

A statement from the Taliban said its fighters also attacked U.S. troops and border police in southern Naranghar on Monday evening, claiming to have inflicted a dozen deaths on the U.S. and Afghan force while losing five of their own. But Williams said that while some insurgent casualties had been reported, there were no deaths among allied troops.

The Qurans that were burned were among religious materi-als seized from a detainee facil-ity at Bagram Airfield last week. U.S. President Barack Obama apologized to Karzai last week, calling the burning an inadver-tent error.

In a statement issued on the bombing Monday, Karzai con-demned the “inhuman and un-Islamic” act and urged that “the ruthless enemy would earn nothing but growing public hatred and punishment before Allah, the Almighty.”

Gen. John Allen, command-er of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said insurgents

tried to attack the ISAF installa-tion and failed, instead taking more innocent lives.

The Taliban also claimed Monday to be behind the poi-soning of food at a dining facil-ity at Forward Operating Base Torkham, near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. It too was a retaliatory attack, the group said.

ISAF confirmed that food at the base appeared to have been contaminated over the weekend, though it was unclear whether it was deliberate.

“Nobody got sick. A dining facility worker came to his lead-ers at the FOB and said that something had been poisoned,” said Maj. David Eastburn, an ISAF spokesman.

“The dining facility was shut down, and we brought in envi-ronmental health, who found traces of chlorine bleach in the coffee and fruit. Soldiers are now eating pre-prepared rations, and no one was affect-ed. There is a full investigation that is narrowing down who was responsible.”

Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman in Kabul, said it’s not clear whether the incident was a deliberate attempt to poi-son troops or “was just inadver-tent, perhaps using more Clorox in the cleaning process than they should have.”

The Taliban has frequent-ly exaggerated its claims or claimed responsibility for attacks that later turned out to be the work of another group.

Even so, Monday’s bombing and news of the contaminat-ed food come on the heels of a week of violent protests over the Quran burning. The vio-lence has left at least 39 people dead, including four American soldiers, and hundreds more wounded.

— CNN

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Accounting students place first in tax competitionn Group of business students show

off their skills in Seattle contestBy martin Forde

The Daily BaromeTer

A select group of students within the Oregon State University College of Business have had much cause to celebrate, as a team of accounting stu-dents recently took first place at the 2012 Foster School of Business Master of Professional Accounting Tax Case Competition in Seattle, Wash.

The four members of the team included John Baglien, Kathryn Cook, Victoria Uong and Brittany Weede, and were advised by faculty members Jared Moore and Larry Brown.

The event itself took place over two days, with the first day serving as a preliminary round and the second as a finals round. Professor Jared Moore explained the process, “On the first day, the students spend four hours analyzing the tax-relevant activities of a fictional couple and solving various compliance and plan-ning-related prob-lems. On the second day, the students again spend four hours cre-ating a tax plan for the same fictional couple and then present their solutions to the couple [actors] and a panel of judges.” The hard part of this simulation were both the difficult tax solving problems which the students had to work through, and the presentation, which utilized professionalism, cre-ativity and overall tax knowledge.

Most of the problems that were pre-sented at this competition were mod-eled after problems which would nor-mally occur; they relied on not only

a fictitious couple, but many real-life tax scenarios.

Uong said, “We were provided addi-tional facts [on the second day] about what the clients were planning on doing this coming year [selling rental property, buying more property and selling capital investments.]. We provided insight on how they could treat these activities.” The presentation aspect was also simi-lar to one which would normally occur in the business world, as sometimes “the clients would go off topic and argue with each other, and though we tried to lead them back to the tax discussion, we would let them do their thing for a little while and then come back to what we were talking about.”

The qualifications necessary for success at this competition were both difficult to gain and apply. Teams had to show genuine knowledge in the sub-ject area, and had to be specifically invited to participate. Moore added that “this year there were 10 teams: six from the University of Washington, two from OSU, one from the University of Oregon and one from

Walla Walla University.” Members of the team attrib-

uted several factors to their victory. Teamwork and coaching served as one of the recurring themes, along with extensive preparation throughout the

term. Team member John Baglien elaborated that “this effective team-work enabled us to efficiently tackle the facts and information on each of the days, and divide up duties and responsibilities and execute them in a

timely fashion.”

Another teammate, Kathryn Cook, said that their teamwork allowed them to “split up different tasks in order to finish on time, and create an accurate and thorough tax cal-culation and tax plan-ning presentation.”

Another noteworthy factor Uong explained was that “going the extra mile showed them that we cared for

[the couple] in the long run, and that provided extra value to them. I think our professionalism also attributed to the victory.”

Statistically, OSU has been success-ful over the years, winning twice and coming in second once. Moore thinks the overall success of the program is due to the students within the busi-ness school.

“I think we have outstanding stu-dents at OSU ... simple as that. Every year our accounting students amaze me with their genuine interest in learning, work ethic, professionalism and poise.”

When asked about the future of OSU, Moore said. “It’s hard to predict what the outcomes of future competi-tions will be, but I see no reason why our students wouldn’t be able to con-tinue doing well.”

martin Forde, staff reporter737-2231 [email protected]

‘‘ ‘‘we were provided additional facts on

the second day about what the clients were planning on doing this coming year...

Victoria UongAccounting Student

‘‘ ‘‘every year our accounting students amaze me with their genuine interest in

learning, work ethic, professionalism

and poise.

Jared mooreTeam Advisor


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five.“What we try to do is we realize that,

that perception,” said associate head coach Michael Chaplin. “We fight for every half-tenth, because obviously we ended up in a tie last week. Every week we tell them, every time, every little bit helps.”

As much as the little differences in judg-ment relating to scoring have effects on a meet, there are biases on a grander scale.

Since 1984, only four teams have ever won a national championship. In 30 years, only four teams have come out on top: Utah, UCLA, Georgia and Alabama.

“Only four teams ever won the national championship,” Vivian said. “Four teams, c’mon. There’s always that question in mind of who’s being favored or not, but like we’re told, we don’t have control over that.”

From that number, it becomes clear that there are at the very least some inklings of partialness aimed at certain programs because of their track record. Head coach Tanya Chaplin has cited an increase in parity in NCAA gymnastics will lead to other universities eventually being crowned national champion, but for now it’s clear that there’s some exclusivity regarding who can win it all and who cannot.

The Beavers know there’s nothing they can do to change that. Unless they create some sort of motion-capture technology that can exactly measure the correct score, there’s no way to fix the system.

“That can be the beauty of our sport,” Mak said. “But at the same time, it can be the downfall of our sport.”

warner strausbaugh, sports writerTwitter: @WStrausbaugh

[email protected]

strAUsBAUghn Continued from page 7

more of a tie between itself and the Greek community, then Greek houses would feel more inclined to move their events so that they didn’t conflict with athletic events.

Lo Liddle, director of chapter events for the Alpha Phi soror-ity, expressed interest in moving events to another day other than Thursday, but also noted the issues in doing so.

“If other fraternities and sororities got on board, I would con-sider [moving events to another day], but in order to stay com-petitive for recruitment purposes and social aspects, it is crucial that we maintain ourselves at the same level as other fraternities and sororities,” Liddle said.

At Oregon State, and at most other universities around the nation, Thursday — not Friday — is the first night of the week-end for students. Getting students, let alone the entire Greek community, to move their social calendars around to support student athletics is asking a lot.

America was founded upon compromises, and if Oregon State basketball wants to see the kind of student support that top tier programs like Kansas, Georgetown and Kentucky gar-ner, then some kind of compromise must be reached.

Redshirt sophomore guard Roberto Nelson expressed the team’s desire to see more members of the Greek community at games.

“I think the fans play a big part in the way we play. The sorori-ties and the frats, they’re big groups of people, and they come and support a lot,” Nelson said. “Varsity House (a co-op) is here sometimes, but if we could get everybody else to come support then after the games maybe we could go over there and cel-ebrate with them. I think we could kind of help each other out.”

Whether frats and sororities reschedule their events to Fridays, Beaver athletics moves the games to an earlier time, or both groups make a mutual effort to reach out to each other, it’s clear that something has to give. It won’t happen this year; it’s too late now. But as Oregon State looks toward next season, the Greek community and Beaver athletics need to come together to push this program, and this university, to the next level.

Alex Crawford, sports writerTwitter: @dr_crawf

[email protected]

thUrsDAy nIghtsn Continued from page 7

AleXAnDrA tAylor | THE DAILY BAROMETER

A judge gives out a score at OSU’s meet last Friday.

‘‘

‘‘

that can be the beauty of our sport. But at the same time, it can be the downfall of our sport.

leslie mak, senior gymnastOn the scoring system

8 • Tuesday, February 28, 2012 [email protected] • 737-6378

The Daily Barometer Sports ‘‘

‘‘

man these ppl crazy out here...wearin sandals in this cold weather #oregonians

— @MVPWard (Terron Ward) Beaver Tweet of the Day

The flaws of gymnastics’

scoringIn baseball, run around the

bases and touch home plate, and you’ve scored a run.

In football, cross the goal line with the football, and you have yourself a touchdown.

In gymnastics, you do your rou-tine…and you don’t know what your score is going to be.

Scores based on the subjective opinions of judges can be a tricky sit-uation, especially when those opin-ions can make or break an entire season for a team. You can do your best, and it can feel right, but in the end it all comes to down to what a judge thinks, because there is no way quantify an exact score on the uneven bars, balance beam, vault or floor routines.

Oregon State has been highly com-petitive in gymnastics for some time now, reaching nationals six years in a row. The nature of the sport is some-times difficult to deal with, keeping in mind that biases are always going to come into play when a judge is scoring their performance.

“It’s really strange the way that there are possible biases and influ-ences and perceptions, things like that,” said senior Leslie Mak. “It’s not a clear-cut touchdown or strike … so that’s always been kind of something in my head with gymnastics.”

For those who have been to an OSU gymnastics meet and were left wondering why gymnasts were scored the way they were, the lay-man’s-terms gist of the way scoring in gymnastics works is this:

There are certain requirements for each routine, a set of skills that has to be achieved — for instance, on bars a gymnast has to go from high bar to low bar, and then low bar to high bar. If all the skills are accomplished, the score begins at a perfect 10.0.

From there, the judge looks for any faults in the routine. An extra step results in 0.1 being taken away, a fall deducts 0.5. Eventually, all the deductions are taken into consid-eration, and each judge presents a score based on what they saw.

But therein lies the problem with scoring. Not every judge is going to see the same thing. A perfect exam-ple — and there are many, many more — was when, at the Pink Out meet a week and a half ago, Mak had one of her best beam routines of the season. One judge gave Mak a perfect 10.0, the other gave her a 9.0. One full point can be an astronomical differ-ence, especially when you consider that the Beavers and UCLA ended up tying down to a thousandth decimal point.

“I was watching Leslie’s beam rou-tine and I didn’t see anything wrong,” said senior Olivia Vivian. “One judge saw what I saw; I don’t know what the other judge is seeing. Things like that — you want to get inside the judge’s mind and be like, ‘What are you thinking? What did you see?’”

From the coaching perspective, you also have to be able to factor subjective judgment into the deci-sion-making process. Lineups are set strategically based on trying to “build up” the team’s scores. For the most part, the lineup is structured to have the score improve each time. The first gymnast has to be consistent, and be able to set the standard for what is going to come from the next

Club sports at Oregon State: The tennis club

WarnerStrausbaugh

n About 40 members share the belief that tennis is a lifelong sport that can also serve as a nice social getaway

By Caitie KarcherThe Daily BaromeTer

Many people would consider tennis to be a lifelong sport, and the Oregon State men’s and women’s tennis clubs would have to agree.

Both teams include members who have been playing for years, and even members who have never played before. All of them share the same opinion, however — tennis is a sport they can play for the rest of their lives. Both the men’s and women’s teams have around 20 regular mem-bers. They meet for practice Monday through Thursday from 7-9 p.m. at the tennis pavilion.

The tennis club is very open to new members joining. They want people of all skill levels to come out for the club, and are willing to work with those who have never played before.

“We want everyone from every level to come out and play, so that they can realize why all of us are so passionate about this sport,” said Daniel Solivan, an officer of the club.

To join, they recommend sending an e-mail saying you will be attending a practice. You can find their contact information on the club sports page at the OSU website.

Once you attend a practice or two, you can decide whether or not you want to join the club and become an active member. Members must pay a club fee, which is $20 for one term or $50 for the entire year.

They also recommend having a tennis racquet, or renting one from Dixon.

The club has a couple of tournaments per term, where they compete against other teams in the Pacific Northwest. Some of the teams they compete against, such as the University of Washington, play NCAA tennis. This is where they are recognized as a team from the school. At OSU, tennis is just a club.

They participate in the United States Tennis Association rules, where both men and women compete at the same tournaments. During tour-naments, they will bring people to compete in women’s and men’s singles, women’s and men’s doubles and mixed doubles.

Both the men’s and women’s teams take four to five members to each tournament.

“We have a kind of bracket to determine who will compete on the traveling team,” said Lilly Hittins, an officer on the women’s club team.

During practices, members can challenge other members to a game. Whoever wins the game will go further in the bracket they have created, which determines who will travel for each tournament.

Traveling can be the best part of being a mem-

ber of the club. “Traveling is my favorite part, because we get

to bond with all the other teams and meet new people,” Krista Hansen said.

The team tries to branch out when they travel and meet other teams they compete against. They have made good friends with other schools, and they like to think of tennis as a social sport.

“I lived off campus, and I was looking for a way to get involved on campus and meet new people, so tennis club seemed perfect,” Solivan said.

The tennis team is also all student-run, mean-ing that the officers on the team act as coaches, as well as participate in play.

All of the officers on the team have been play-ing tennis for at least four years, and most of them played throughout high school.

They like to keep practices fun and lively, so during practice they typically play music with laid-back drills that help improve skill.

Tennis can be played by anyone, and the tennis club wants to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to try it out.

“There is a diverse group of kids out here, and it is great to get to know everyone,” Son Huynh said. “I am more than happy to call all of my team-mates my friends as well.”

Caitie Karcher, sports writerTwitter: @caitiekarcher

[email protected] See strAUsBAUgh | page 7

VInAy BIKKInA | THE DAILY BAROMETER

The student section was jam-packed for Sunday’s Civil War. It’s still typically relatively crowded for Thursday night games, but not as packed as weekend games partly due to the Thursday night happenings around campus.

A Thursday night dilemma

n Thursday night parties often clash with Beaver home basketball games

By Alex CrawfordThe Daily BaromeTer

Sunday, Gill Coliseum hosted its first sellout of the season and the first Civil War sellout in nine years.

Throughout the season, men’s basketball games have seen some of their best attendance in the past decade as more and more students have turned out to watch an explo-sive and entertaining Oregon State squad that leads the Pac-12 in both scoring and steals per game.

Despite the team’s successes this season, one major group of stu-dents remains largely absent from the Beavers’ Thursday night home games.

Students who join fraternities or sororities make up approximately 13 percent of the student population at OSU. Greek houses also host the vast majority of their social and philan-thropic events on Thursday nights.

Ask any member of a frat or sorori-

ty what they are doing on a Thursday night, and they will likely be going to a function or a house’s big philan-thropy event. Most functions start around 8:30 p.m., and most basket-ball games start at 7 or 7:30 p.m., so it is highly unlikely that a student in Greek life would go to both.

All season long, both head coach Craig Robinson and the rest of the Beavers have expressed how big of a role the Gill Coliseum crowd plays in their success.

Robinson sounded surprised to hear that many Greek events overlap with his team’s games.

“First and foremost, if they let me know [when their events are], I’ll schedule the game at 6:30, but I can’t do it now,” Robinson said. “The sec-ond thing is, come to the game and go to the party after. When I was in college, you were never the first one to get to the party, so if they can go to the game and then go to the party, we would greatly appreciate it.”

This Thursday, while the Beavers are trying to snap their five-game losing steak and build some momen-tum for the Pac-12 Tournament,

more than 1,000 members of the Greek community will be filling the LaSells Stewart Center for Kappa Delta sorority’s phi-lanthropy, Mock Rock.

Mock Rock is the biggest philan-thropy in Greek life and last year was named the philan-thropy of the year by Panhellenic and IFC — the major governing bodies of Greek life at OSU.

The 1,000 stu-dents in LaSells are 1,000 that could be filling the Beaver Dam, making Gill as loud as it was in the days of the Orange Express. Clearly, some com-promise must be made.

Milan Laurent, one of the three Mock Rock co-chairs from Kappa Delta, expressed her frustration at the inability to support Greek life and the basketball team.

“It’s hard, because we want to

show our support for Beaver athlet-ics as well and not just support our own organization, but it’s just hard

to balance both,” Laurent said.

Laurent, herself an employee of the Beaver athletics ticket office, also spoke of the divi-sion between Greek life and athletics.

“We always make it a point to go to things if people reach out to us, but we’re not really reached out to,” Laurent said. “I feel like a lot of times Greek life and ath-

letics are very separate and they look at each other and judge the other group, so sometimes we don’t always show our support for them because they don’t show their sup-port for us.”

She said that if the athletic depart-ment in general tried to create

See thUrsDAy nIghts | page 7

‘‘ ‘‘when I was in college, you were

never the first one to get to the party, so if they can go to the game and then go to the party, we would greatly appreciate it.

Craig robinsonMen’s basketball coach

The Daily Barometer 02/28/12

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