ORTIZ STRIVES TO BE THE BEST OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
EDITORIAL: Don’t play with
fire in the woods FORUM 7
SPORTS 5
The Daily Barometer
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DAILYBAROMETER
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 15, 2014 VOL. CXVI, NO. 22
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Weekday football complicates parking n
With flood of fans coming in Thursday night, staying safe, keeping congestion down become priorities By Justin Frost
THE DAILY BAROMETER
Parking in the zone, Part 4 As the Beavers’ football team gears up to take on the No. 20 Utah Utes Thursday at 7 p.m., Oregon State University campus prepares for an influx of Beaver fans during the school week, with between 42,000 and 43,000 fans expected to travel to Corvallis for the nationally-televised game. To accommodate the many thousands visiting the campus for the game, on-campus parking will undergo a phased parking plan. “We’re expecting thousands of fans to come in from other communities such as Portland and Eugene,” said Steve Clark, vice president of university relations and marketing. “We need to be patient and aware of the traffic situation in order to keep campus safe.” The university is implementing a plan to help relieve traffic on campus Thursday. Parking flexibility will be in place, so anyone with an OSU parking pass can park anywhere on campus. “This will provide more flexibility and move people away from Reser,” Clark said. Phased parking will aim to slowly transition the occupants of parking spots near Reser Stadium from students and staff to athletic personnel throughout the day. Signs with more information will be posted outside of the affected lots. Starting at 1 p.m., the Reser Stadium lots, Gill Coliseum lot, parking garage and South Farm parking lot will be open only to those with game-day parking passes, according to a press release from OSU. Other lots will phase out later in the day. See PARKING | page 4
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| THE DAILY BAROMETER
The Beavers’ home football game Thursday night will impact parking lots around campus. The phased parking plan will redesignate lots from OSU permit holders to those with game-day parking passes, with the earliest phase beginning at 1 p.m. Thursday.
Beaver Bus connects students across campus Commission looks into bus Rebranded Beaver Bus shuttles transport OSU community from one end of campus to heart
The buses have been redesigned since last year: They are now painted bright orange with a beaver tail on the hub. The expansion and rebranding of the Beaver Bus was intended to coincide By Claire McMorris with the change of parking that hapTHE DAILY BAROMETER pened at the beginning of fall term. Four shuttles now run three different On a crisp fall morning, students gather, bundled in their jackets with routes around campus. cell phones out. It’s not for football Meredith Williams, the associate tickets or coffee, but to catch the director for transportation services, Beaver Bus into campus. said that a lot of work went into plann
ning the previously underused shuttle system, including a survey that went out to students last year addressing why they were or weren’t using the shuttle buses. Another hurdle transportation services had to surmount was the actual name of the Beaver Bus. Prior to this year, the Corvallis Transit Systems had been calling their late-night shuttle service the Beaver See BEAVER BUS | page 4
The Beaver Bus drives north along Southwest 26th Street through Oregon State University campus.
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THE DAILY BAROMETER
Women’s soccer Pac-12 power rankings
Sports, page 5
Pack: College athletes need more money Sports, page 5
system, possible campus hub n
CACOT meets to discuss improvements to CTS, Beaver Bus systems By Abigail Erickson THE DAILY BAROMETER
The Citizens Advisory Commission on Transit met Oct. 14 to discuss the possibility of a satellite transit hub on campus. With the growing population of students at Oregon State University, many concerns have been raised about parking and traffic on campus and throughout Corvallis. Both the Corvallis Transit System and the Beaver Bus system were taken into account at the meeting. Ali Bonakdar from the Corvallis Area Metropolitan Planning Organization gave a presentation outlining the findings of a recent survey done on the Beaver Bus system. Through the survey, CAMPO learned where most students got on and off the bus. Using this information, CAMPO identified several locations where a second transit hub could be built on campus; however, Bonakdar expressed concerns about the affordability of that idea. “The money could be better spent to fortify existing routes that serve campus,” Bonakdar said. “We can’t move the transit center from its current location because downtown is still a major destination for
transit riders.” But a few members of CACOT seemed receptive to the idea of a second transit hub. “There’s a lot of potential for connectivity here,” said Stephen Friedt, chair of the commission. “There might be space for a satellite area.” Friedt said that while CAMPO found that the majority of students typically get off the bus at the north end of campus, not everyone does. A satellite area on campus might give students an opportunity to hop to different buses and get to their destination. “The more easy we make it for people to move from one bus to the next, the more apt they would be to the idea as a whole,” Friedt said. The main commentary about the Beaver Bus system surrounded its low utilization by students, but committee members urged CAMPO to wait and collect more data before deciding that a second hub wouldn’t work. Council Liason Bruce Sorte suggested waiting until February when the weather was more poor before coming to any conclusions. “You can’t wager this stuff without the rain and cold,” Sorte said. “Observations are better than predictions.” Abigail Erickson, news reporter news@dailybarometer.com
Guest column: Benefits of agriculture
Forum, page 7