Honoring Earth Month, Sustainability and Student Action | April 10, 2023

CAMPUS

Saber es Poder: Latinx women and leadership

Saber es poder is an annual leadership program hosted by CCCC, and CEL. This year they're focusing on Latinx leadership, activism and self-exploration. 3

CITY

Candidates and ballot measures seek approval in May election

Upcoming measures and candidates to vote on next month including a vote on the proposed Justice System Improvement Program bond. 10

SPORTS

Beavers star freshman finds peace in the diamond and in the controls of the cockpit

Gavin Turley is a freshman following his dream of playing college baseball at OSU and living life in the air flying planes through aviation. 7

Sustainability outside of the classroom: Environmental organizations on campus

to limit waste and promote sustainability.

By HALEY STARK News Reporter

Oregon State University has consistently ranked as one of the most sustainable college campuses, achieving a gold rating under the Sustainability Tracing, Assessment and Rating System for every year since 2011.

A large portion of OSU’s environmental success comes from the wide selection of sustainability-focused organizations on campus. With clubs ranging from the Ecological Engineering Student Society to the Organic Growers Club, students of all disciplines can engage in making their communities greener.

The Beaver Athlete Sustainability Team is one such organization, allowing studentathletes to get a unique opportunity to take environmental action in their area of interest.

According to BAST President Jordan Spradlin, a former thrower on OSU’s Track and Field team, the group is dedicated to serving not just campus, but the Corvallis community as a whole.

“We work a lot with the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition, whether that’s land restoration around creeks around Corvallis or tree-planting in areas that need them,” Spradlin said. “Within OSU specifically, we’ve been working to limit waste production from the games.”

With the help of BottleDrop — Oregon’s bottle and can recycling program — BAST undertook one of their largest projects yet this fall term: sorting through the recyclables from every home Beaver football game. Over the course of the season, the organization sorted through over 76,000 cans, generating $7,700 in revenue that goes back into funding other sustainable initiatives in

the athletic department.

While BAST was specifically created for student-athletes, there are many other environmental organizations open to everyone. The Organic Growers Club is one of the largest of these groups, including students from nearly every major and community members from outside the university.

Operating across multiple farms in the Corvallis area, the Organic Growers Club gives volunteers the chance to get their hands dirty and support their community through cultivation.

All produce grown by the club is sold at the Corvallis Farmers’ Market or goes towards OSU’s Community Supported Agriculture program, which allows customers to act as shareholders to local farms.

“The way that it works is that at the beginning of the season, usually most farms will have it between January and the end of February, you sign up for their CSA,” Organic Growers Club President Aurora Ashkar said. “You pay a lump sum amount for the whole season, and then every, or every other week, depending on the farm, we do ours every week, you pick up a box with a variety of produce.”

The Organic Growers Club offers a wide variety of produce to choose from, including peppers, collard greens, blackberries and fennel. All proceeds made go back into funding the club, and waste produced from processing vegetables is composted for future use.

Managing and reducing waste is a big focus for many environmental organizations on campus, a goal that couldn’t be more true for the OSU Waste Watchers Club, which takes a unique approach in accomplishing this.

SEXUAL ASSAULT AWARENESS MONTH

According to Administrative Program Specialist Kaylee Smith, who advises multiple environmental organizations at OSU including Waste Watchers, the club emphasizes the “reduce” and “reuse” tiers of the waste hierarchy. A major way Waste Watchers promotes these ideas is through the Repair Fair, an event they hold during spring term, which a date has not been set for yet this year.

“It’s where we have volunteers from the community and campus come in with some sort of repair skill, like sewing, mending… anything you can think of to repair something,” Smith said. “People can show up with a broken item, and they’ll sit down with you and teach you how to repair it and give you some of the supplies as well.”

Supplies given out at the Repair Fair include sewing needles and yarn, giving people the ability to continually restore their items and reduce the amount of waste going into landfills.

Aside from her efforts with Waste Watchers, Smith also founded the new environmental class on campus. After graduating with a BS in business administration and a minor in sustainability last year, Smith and a few of her undergraduate friends formed the Sustainability in Business Club in response to new trends involving environmental consciousness in the corporate world.

“There’s this shift in a lot of the corporate environment and even small businesses, too,” Smith said. “There’s a need for people who are not only educated in sustainability, but know how to apply that in the business context, and so that’s kind of what we started this club for.”

Though the club is still new, they have built a small community of both on

campus and Ecampus students through discussions held with guest speakers who apply a sustainable framework to their own businesses. The group also attends various events on campus, including the recent Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference and the Zero Waste Game hosted by BAST.

With so many sustainability organizations around campus, clubs have begun to come together to form a collective. Unofficially known as the Sustainability Council, the group consists of Waste Watchers, the Environmental Science Club, Greeks Go Green, and Sustainability in Business. The group is not currently recognized by the university, but does bring together each organization every other week to discuss the collective’s future.

“(Clubs) can have representatives come to this council meeting, and we can get a temperature check on what everybody is doing across campus and see where there’s overlap or redundancy and kind of work together to either put forward initiatives or lend each other volunteer help,” Smith said.

The group aims to be recognized by OSU as an official organization by the end of this spring term, when it will then be able to begin pursuing another major goal: amplifying student voices around sustainability.

“We also, at some point, are interested in having it be a place for students to come and present an idea like implementing some sort of new initiative on campus, and then using the power of all these clubs as a way to either lobby (the Associated Students of Oregon State University) or talk to(University Housing and Dining Services),” Smith said. “This is a more efficient and effective way to create or take action outside of just your club’s goals.”

Finding support during Sexual Assault Awareness Month

By ZEVA ROSENBAUM News Contributor

Content Warning: mentions of sexual assault

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and there are a variety of upcoming events throughout the month on the Oregon State University Corvallis campus, as well as ways to get involved.

Ray Sullivan, a Navy Veteran, member of the Center for Advocacy, Prevention & Education Health Team and SAAM Planning Committee member, said he volunteered to work with the committee as soon as he heard about the “opportunity to organize.”

“I got involved on the committee because

I love our community’s commitment to SAAM and providing a safer and more equitable campus for all of our students,” Sullivan said.

According to Sullivan, some of the upcoming events include Trivia Night on April 5, an open forum on April 17 concerning services and feedback for OSU’s continuum of care, the SAAM Activity Fair on April 25, and Denim Day and Take Back the Night on April 26.

“OSU is committed to building a robust environment of care,” said Sullivan. “But in order to effectively create this community, we must have motivated student community members who are committed to building a program that they can believe in.”

Sullivan said CAPE is working on hiring a Peer Education Advisor to help build a community education team so students can get more easily involved. He said student feedback and involvement in community care is necessary for success.

Before becoming a student, Sullivan worked as a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate during six of his seven years and provided care and guidance on policy for a tricontinental region, as well as helping to educate around 60 additional advocates.

He said he “loved the opportunity and the privilege” of helping to provide care and a voice to people who most needed it, and that led to him deciding to continue helping survivors on the CAPE team while

going to college.

According to Sullivan, the SAAM committee formed over years of combined efforts on the part of OSU staff and students who wanted to create a program for Interpersonal Violence Awareness and Prevention founded on “the principles of "community, safety and agency for our students.”

CAPE as it is now is the product of two OSU programs merging: the Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center and Interpersonal Violence Prevention Team, Sullivan explained, and OSU supports these programs while professional staff provides

| continued on PAGE 5 |

EL GUO | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

Oregon State sustainability clubs pose for a photo illustration at the Student Experience Center Plaza on April 5. Jackson Mitchell (top row, far left; he/him), Silva Sankrari (she/her), Jordan Spradlin (she/ her), Kasey Grartz (he/they), Aurora Ashkar (she/her), Kaylee Smith (bottom row, far left; she/her), Ella Johansen (they/them), Mia Bratcher (she/her), Georgia Rojas (she/her). Members are representatives of the Sustainability in Business, Beaver Athlete Sustainability Team, Waste Watchers Club, Campus Recycling, the Organic Growers Club, and Eco Representatives who work in different ways across campus

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Riley Le Cocq baro.editor@oregonstate.edu

ASSISTANT EDITOR Lara Rivera baro.ed.asst@oregonstate.edu

CAMPUS EDITOR Katie Livermore baro.news@oregonstate.edu

CITY EDITOR Sam Misa baro.city@oregonstate.edu

COPY EDITOR Adriana Gutierrez copy.news@oregonstate.edu

SPORTS CHIEF Benjamin Rabbino omn.sports@oregonstate.edu

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Georgina Paez baro.sports.asst@oregonstate.edu

PHOTO LEAD Ashton Bisner omn.photo@oregonstate.edu

CREATIVE LEAD Alan Nguyen omn.creative@oregonstate.edu

MARKETING LEAD Vanessa Lopez omn.marketing.lead@oregonstate.edu

SALES TEAM: omn.ads3@oregonstate.edu

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541-737-2231

TO PLACE AN AD CALL:

541-737-6373

BUSINESS: 541-737-2233

ON CAMPUS:

SEC Fourth Floor Oregon State University

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CALENDAR

GARDEN EDUCATION WORKSOP

April 13, 4:00-5:30 p.m.

Learn from Benton County Master Gardeners with the Basic Needs Center. Event is free and drop-ins welcome.

OUT OF THE DARKNESS CAMPUS

WALK

April 15, 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Student Experience Center Plaza

Enjoy a resource fair, honor bead ceremony and walk for suicide prevention and bring hope to those affected by suicide. Event done in collaboration with American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

CORVALLIS FARMERS MARKET

April 15 - Nov. 22, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

1st Street and Jackson Ave.

The Corvallis Farmers Market returns for the season in downtown Corvallis! Market is held every Wednesday and Saturday till Nov. 22.

CITY EVENTS

Rotary Club hosts 2023 half marathon and 5k

By DAVID LI News Contributor

Four different competitive and noncompetitive races, including the twelfth half marathon, come to Corvallis this April.

The events are run by the Rotary Club After Five event on April 15, according to Bob Hazleton, race coordinator.

The four races include a virtual walk, a half-marathon, a 5k, and a family 1k occurring at different times of the day. While registering for the family 1k is free except for on-site registration, participants must pay to register for the other events with the cost increasing the closer you register to the walk.

“We will have a coffee cart which is new and the Oregon Army National Guard will have some sort of bouncing apparatus for kids,” Hazleton said.

Top finishers for the half-marathon and 5k races will be given awards, while the other ones give a finisher medal for all participants.

Four aid stations are included in the half-marathon course distributing water and electrolytes. More information can be found at https://corvallishalfmarathon. com/races/.

According to Lieutenant Benjamin Harvey, public information officer, event traffic should not be a problem. The event traverses across much of the city, into the county and through a city park. Minor delays may happen when navigating across and through the race course.

“The event does not appear to be any different from other years, which has worked well,” Harvey said. “We ask that people have patience and plan ahead for the delays as appropriate.”

According to Hazleton, delays may happen along 35th Street, and from around 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m., 14th and 15th Street as well. For reference, the half-marathon goes from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the 5k run/walk goes from 8:50 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and the family 1k goes from 11:30 a.m. to noon.

The event was started by the Rotary Club of Corvallis After Five as a club fundraiser, which has netted over $350,000, according to Hazleton.

The money has been donated to local non-profit organizations such as LinnBenton Food Share and to the Rotary Club’s local and international efforts, which includes various humanitarian projects in pursuit of their mission to provide service to others, promote integrity and advance world goodwill and peace, among other goals.

These projects include ending polio, providing aid after a natural disaster, supporting education and more.

PROFILE

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Benton County continues with the Corvallis-Albany bikeway

By NINO PAOLI News Reporter

The Corvallis-Albany bikeway will continue to be an ongoing project, and although construction is set to begin in 2024, the completion date may be over 10 years away.

According to the Benton County website, the Benton County Board of Commissioners directed staff to focus on a final destination for the bikeway –which would also be pedestrian-friendly – along U.S. Route 20 in 2017.

After a pause during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, the project to build this multi-use path connecting the two towns still has yet to break ground.

Currently, there are plans to construct the NE Pilkington Avenue to NE Merloy Avenue section of the bikeway in 2024, and there is a section in North Albany between NW Hickory Street and NW Rainwater Lane that is scheduled to be built in 2025 at the latest, County Engineer Laurel Byer said.

Byer said that Benton County is acquiring right-of-way from property owners where the Pilkington to Merloy connection will be constructed, in anticipation of the 2024 start date.

“We had to delay our project a bit to coordinate construction with the Oregon Department of Transportation's planned safety improvements along Highway 20,” Byer said. “The State's construction project is starting next month and will continue through 2024, so it made sense for construction of the path to occur after ODOT's contractor is done with their work.” also referred to as the

Corvallis-Albany Multi-Use Path, must be broken into phases. The only way Benton County has been able to make progress on construction is by applying for state grants, Byer said.

“The project is very competitive and generally we are successful in securing grant funding, but it only comes available every other year, and to be competitive we limit our funding requests to around $2 million,” Byer said. “Between design, right-of-way acquisition and construction, that might buy us a mile of path and costs continue to rise.”

The timeline for the multi-use path will vary depending on Benton County's ability to acquire additional funding, and even if funding is attained for one mile every three years, a completion date is still 10 to 15 years away, Byer said.

Byer hopes to receive a major grant award through the federal or state setaside process, but notes that those are extremely competitive grants and may not be a realistic option for the project.

“The community has been expressing the need for a separated multi-use path between Corvallis and Albany since before 2004 when the first feasibility study was completed,” Byer said.

Byer said that two ways community members can help the process is writing letters of support, as they can be included in future grant requests, and reaching out to state representatives.

New CEOAS dean sets the stage for OSU scientists

By ALEXANDER BANKS News Contributor

As a young girl, Tuba Özkan-Haller said she was afraid of water. Even with a father serving as admiral in the Turkish navy and being born in Istanbul — surrounded by the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea — she refused to learn how to swim.

“When they took me to the beach I remember keeping my boots on, because I knew my dad wouldn’t toss me in the water with my boots,” Özkan-Haller said.

Eventually, she learned how to swim. With guidance from her father, she became comfortable around water by learning more about it and maintaining a respect for it.

On March 13, she became the new dean of the College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University.

With a drive for inclusivity, engaging communities and keeping people safe around water by keeping them knowledgeable, Özkan-Haller plans to set the stage for OSU scientists to maximize their impact in the science world.

The work from Özkan-Haller focuses on the nearshore ocean and waves, which according to her, are a major driver of long term change to coastlines and of acute damage to cities and towns during storms.

Her research includes studies on water hazards such as sneaker waves and rip currents. Since 1966, her work has garnered over 2,000 citations.

“If we know how they work, if we can predict them and if we have people understand what to do if they’re caught in one, we can really save lives,” Özkan-Haller said.

Sneaker waves are sudden surges of water that have enough force to sweep people off their feet or pin them against something.

In an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting, Özkan-Haller said sneaker waves cause two to four deaths along the Oregon Coast each year.

Rip currents are a localized current that flows away from the shoreline toward the ocean, which have enough power to pull people out to sea–even the strongest swimmers.

Coming from an egalitarian family, Özkan-Haller received her family’s full support when she decided to study civil engineering in college. She received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees all in the same field.

According to Özkan-Haller, there weren’t very many women in engineering where she studied at Boğaziçi University and the University of Delaware.

“I did have one math professor who was a woman who was an excellent, excellent teacher. I remember thinking: ‘That’s how I want to be…that’s the kind of teacher I want to be,’” Özkan-Haller said.

Özkan-Haller thinks it’s extremely important for people to see professors who look like themselves because it gives them the ability to imagine. She still remembers the face of her undergraduate math professor.

In 2014, Özkan-Haller was named coprincipal investigator for OSU’s ADVANCE program, funded by the National Science Foundation, which aimed at increasing the participation of women in science and engineering careers.

Özkan-Haller has been working at OSU for 22 years, initially as an associate

professor. She remembered her first six years here being tough, on top of wanting to participate in various projects and having two children–she admitted to facing extreme burnout.

“I was clinically depressed a few years in,” Özkan-Haller said. “I was very good at keeping up a facade, but inside I was not in a good place.”

During that time, Özkan-Haller even contemplated leaving academia. It took her a while to seek help, therapeutically and medically. According to her, once she got help and got out of that “hole” the world looked different.

Now when she notices herself getting overwhelmed or too close to burnout, she steps away and takes a day off. Or she’ll make time in her schedule to do things that make her happy, like facilitating “ignite sessions.”

“Ignite sessions” are one-hour events where people are allowed to speak freely for two minutes about a certain topic, like for instance, water. According to Özkan-Haller, these sessions re-energize and remind her why she’s doing the work she’s doing.

Özkan-Haller’s first faculty position was at the University of Michigan, however, ocean science — Özkan-Haller’s main interest–wasn’t as prominent there as it is at OSU. Currently, OSU ranks third in the world for their oceanography program.

“(OSU) is the kind of place where I think my work really could accelerate,” ÖzkanHaller said. “I still have to pinch myself. This is a dream job.”

Her advice for women and people of color desiring a science, technology, engineering or math career is to be themselves, be authentic and a little stubborn.

How Corvallis residents turn food waste into fun

OSU and the greater Corvallis community share ways to reduce food waste through various activities from dorm pilot programs to turning leftover spaghetti into pies. 5

Saber es Poder: Latinx women in leadership

By SYDNI ZIDAREVICH Justice, Equity and Diversity Beat Reporter

Saber es Poder is an annual leadership program focusing on Latinx leadership, activism and self-exploration. This year, it will be celebrated through an overnight immersive experience that will take place April 15-16 in Woodburn.

Lodging, food and transportation for the overnight experience will be provided, and there is no application fee. Spots are limited and the final deadline is April 7, with the application available online.

Saber es Poder is a leadership program and collaborative series by Diversity & Cultural Engagement, presented through the Centro Cultural César Chávez and Community Engagement & Leadership.

Through the overnight program, participants will be able to connect with community leaders and learn from their stories and experiences. This is an opportunity for participants to dissect and reflect on their own personal experiences and leadership skills.

“It’s a program that exposes students to whatever the theme of the year is,” fourthyear Public Health major and student organizer, Rocelia Celedonio said. “This year, for example, we're doing Latinx women and leadership. We are just focusing on doing that by teaching feminist views from the Latinx perspective on leadership, exposing

SAFETY

ASOSU SafeRide introduces Beaver Buddies, new evening guided walking service

By HALEY STARK News Reporter

The SafeRide program by the Associated Students of Oregon State University provides students with free rides around the OSU campus and Corvallis at night. Their newest addition, Beaver Buddies, expands this service through guided walks around campus.

Like SafeRide as a whole, Beaver Buddies is based around making students feel more secure while traveling in the dark. The program allows students to request a pair on the ASOSU SafeRide app to walk with them across campus at night, operating from 7 p.m to 8:30 p.m. during spring term.

While Beaver Buddies was just launched this winter term, a service like it had drawn interest in the past.

According to ASOSU SafeRide Program Coordinator Jeff Baxter, ASOSU passed a resolution in 2018 to create “OSU With You.” Like Beaver Buddies, OSU With You was intended to be an evening escorted walking service for students. However, the pandemic halted the program before it was ever introduced and caused future delays.

“We were hoping to start the pilot for the program last spring, but I didn’t have enough staff because we were still recovering from COVID-19 levels of staffing,” Baxter said.

According to ASOSU SafeRide Graduate Teaching Assistant Rebekah Short, the absence of a walking service like OSU With You or Beaver Buddies was evident in past years.

“Unfortunately, there were a few incidents in the OSU and Corvallis area in 2021 and 2022 where individuals were assaulted and a program like Beaver Buddies could have helped prevent that,” Short said.

Beaver Buddies is the beginning of a series of improvements ASOSU hopes to implement in making their SafeRide program more sustainable. The new walking program eliminates the emissions created by driving, one of the biggest issues with SafeRide.

According to Baxter, SafeRide has a long-term goal to transition from gas to electric vehicles. Coordination with the University Motor Pool, installation of charging stations and upgrading the city’s power grid will all be required to make this change possible.

people to community leadership. We're also trying to do community partnerships around the area.”

Not only is the CCCC working in conjunction with the CEL, but they are also working with outside organizations such as CAPACES Leadership Institute, located in Woodburn, who aim to serve, organize and build the leadership of Oregon’s Latinxs, Indigenous and Afro-descendants to “improve the quality of life for all.”

CAPACES intends to do this through strengthening the wellness, capacity and political consciousness of individuals, organizations, movements and communities “to eliminate social disparities.”

CCCC is committed to creating an environment in which individuals feel safe and can learn from other Latinx women to join and deliver programs. Although the program is centered around Latinx women and leadership, this program is not exclusive to just the Latinx community.

“We're trying to invite people with different backgrounds and stories, because, I feel like that's one of the ways that we connect to (each other) is just storytelling,” Celedonio said. “We learn a lot about each other and a lot about…different ways of life that aren't memories. And I think that's very powerful, and very, very rewarding.”

Through the Saber es Poder Leadership Program’s overnight experience, the CCCC

CONSTRUCTION

OSU receives federal grant to reduce industrial carbon dioxide emissions

The United States Department of Energy grants OSU $540,000 to research reducing the construction industry’s carbon footprint through sequestering carbon in cement. 4

and CEL hope to not only empower the Latinx community, but engage a larger part of the OSU community.

“The idea is to empower really anybody who attends a program, it doesn't matter if

what you identify or anything,” Celedonio said. “It's a little bit different from what it's been presented in previous years… our central theme is to just empower our participants.”

OSU’s new upper-classman residence hall met with mixed community

By NINO PAOLI News Reporter

Graduate students and upperclassmen will have expanded housing options starting in the fall term of 2024, after a new residence hall is built on the corner of 11th and Madison Avenue.

Oregon State University is finalizing building permits with the city of Corvallis and plans to break ground for a new, five-story residence hall soon, despite pushback from individuals of the Corvallis community.

The project will cost $56 million – $6 million of which will be funded by reserve funds held by University Housing & Dining Services and the remaining $50 million being funded by revenue bonds issued by the university – and will take 15 to 16 months to complete, according to UHDS Associate Director Dave Craig.

The bonds will be repaid through revenue generated by the new building, Craig said.

“This residence hall is conceived to house 221 upper-division and graduate students living in a blend of studio and two-bedroom units,” Craig said.

Fences have been put up on the block east of McNary Field in anticipation for Fortis Construction to begin the project, but it comes with mixed reactions.

“(UHDS) has conducted multiple market studies over the past 10 to 12 years using outside firms,” Craig said. “The studies have consistently shown a need for additional housing for upper division and graduate students.”

Though, since 2019, community members have opposed the construction of the residence hall. One, in particular, is

Corvallis-based attorney Ron Marek, who objects to the construction, as it is occurring on a state-designated wetland, among other reasons.

“I withdrew from contesting the destruction of the wetland,” Marek said. “When I withdrew… the fences went up and staging the construction has begun.”

Marek said that OSU “has already destroyed” historic neighborhoods in Corvallis, and has contributed to the problem of inadequate accessible parking for Corvallis residents, both on-and-off campus.

“A worker at the Day Care Center across Madison has indicated that sometimes their workers have to walk seven blocks to work,” Marek said. “And that is before several hundred people, potentially with vehicles and few parking spaces, move in across the street.”

Marek pointed out that two graduate student associations — the Fisheries and Wildlife Graduate Student Association and Coalition of Graduate Employees — opposed the project as soon as it was announced, as well.

“Projected rent was (at first) $1,200 or $1,250… now the university says it will be up to $1,500,” Marek said. “That is ridiculous if the university has any intent to keep educational costs for attending college reasonable… I believe housing rent is an income generator for the University and it will charge whatever it thinks it can get.”

Craig said OSU does not anticipate parking issues for future residents of this hall.

“In addition to the 34 spaces being built on the site, parking for hall residents is available at several nearby locations,” Craig

said. “This site is significantly served by fare-less public transit operated by OSU and the city of Corvallis (and) is within walking distance of downtown Corvallis and the center of the OSU campus… we believe is not auto dependent.”

Craig said that the residence hall, like other new housing developments in Corvallis, will emphasize walking, transit, biking and carpooling; which is in keeping with state of Oregon guidelines, city of Corvallis community goals for sustainability, and the university’s Pathway to Carbon Neutrality plan.

George Heilig, another Corvallis-based attorney who opposes the new residence hall, said OSU is failing to protect the iconic entrance to the lower campus.

“No matter how well designed, the mass of the building will diminish the pastoral approach to our land grant university,” Heilig said.

Marek resents the fact that OSU changed its construction plan which initially proposed two smaller dormitories on the same plot of land, after, he claimed, OSU learned that it could not cross utilities between the proposed buildings because of the Protected Vegetation Area designation between the two.

“OSU makes decisions, then tries to sell the decision to the neighborhoods, and if that fails it pushes its decisions, good or bad, through the system… There is no collaboration in the true usage of that word,” Marek said.

Craig said OSU has completed all of the city’s necessary land use processes and that the city’s approval of the building’s construction has been upheld at all appeal levels.

The construction site of the upcoming grad student resident hall located at the corner of SW 11th St. and SW Madison Ave. on April 5. The building is expected to be completed around June or July of next year.

OSU receives federal grant to reduce industrial carbon dioxide emissions

By NINO PAOLI

Oregon State University has received a $540,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to reduce the carbon footprint of the construction industry by sequestering carbon within cement.

The grant will span three years of research and was awarded to Pavan Akula of OSU and his partners from Sandia National Laboratory in India.

This comes after preliminary research in their proposal introduced a method to capture and trap carbon dioxide emitted by industrial processes within 3D-printed cement.

“Improving sustainability is quite important for the construction industry moving forward,” said Akula, an associate professor in the College of Engineering. “It's associated with almost 13% of the global CO2 emission.”

Even though 3D printing cement requires less manual labor and has proven to be more efficient than conventional processes, it still uses Portland cement, the primary construction material in most countries, which yields high CO2 emissions when manufactured, Akula said.

“This process that we are trying to develop with Sandia and the partners in India is to look at capturing some of the CO2 and trapping it into the concrete that we are making now,” Akula said. “Here we are trying to reduce the amount of CO2 footprint of that 3D printable material by plugging in some of the CO2 back into the material.”

Akula, along with researchers from Sandia, the Indian Institute of Science and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, will work together to create cement mixtures that are both sustainable and viable mixtures that can be scaled-up for construction, as two industry partners, Graymont and Verdant Building Alternatives, will provide feedback on sample mixtures made during the research project.

The international partnership was a proposal submission requirement by the Accelerating Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies Consortium, which approved funding for this research project, along with five others. Akula said that each research partner has a unique skillset.

“OSU will do most of the mixture design for 3D printing and carbon sequestration — we're doing some heavy lifting here,”

Akula said. The carbon-sequestered samples will then be sent to Sandia, and the researchers there will test whether or not they have reasonable engineering properties.

Though the research is still in the development stage — with the project officially set to begin May 1 — preliminary data used in the proposal and accredited to recent OSU graduate Jaxon Moore was promising enough to receive the federal grant.

Moore, who completed his master’s degree in civil engineering at OSU in fall 2022, said he’s “really excited” that Akula received this grant.

“I’m really happy for Dr. Akula,” Moore said. “If this research does prove to yield significant results, then… it's going to be a good way to kind of make your mark on the world, right?”

Moore said that Akula had presented the idea of recapturing CO2 from the highemission processes of manufacturing lime, an industrial product, from limestone. Moore would work on and later defend this research for his master’s thesis.

“Dr. Akula came to OSU at the early part of my second year, and he had done some work with lime, and he had done some work with carbon sequestration of cementitious materials,” Moore said. “He kind of had this thought of: ‘Hey, can we combine the two?’” Moore said he was lucky enough to be the student Akula chose to work with.

“In general, OSU is fostering a lot of creativity among the professors,” Moore said.

This creativity is reflected in Akula’s ambition to trap other, locally-sourced waste material into 3D printable cement mixtures as well, which may lead to a unique cement mixture tailored to Oregon.

“The Indian partners will be looking at adding fly ash to their mixtures and sequestering them, and here we'll be looking at locally-available products, for example, slag from the steel plants and sequestering them,” Akula said. “Both of us will be working on a set of materials that are common, but then eventually we'll look at adding certain additives that are locally-sourced.”

Matt Evans, an OSU professor of geotechnical engineering, said that significant time, effort and money has been spent by the geotechnical engineering faculty, school of civil and construction

engineering and college of engineering over the past decade to provide facilities to support research like Akula’s.

“Our combination of facilities, faculty expertise, and excellent students makes us an attractive collaborator,” Evans said.

Though Akula aims to create a viable product that can be scaled-up and used in the U.S. and India, he said it is up to the industrial industry to adapt to a more sustainable cement mixture.

CAMPUS EVENTS

“At the end of the day, if you need to capture your CO2, (the industry) has to make some investments in changing how they do that,” Akula said. “We'll propose the solutions, we'll publish everything and then it's up to the industry to adopt it or not.” Akula will be carrying out this research at the civil and construction engineering research lab in Graf Hall, and will be looking for two undergraduates in the beginning of spring term 2023 to assist him with the research.

Beyond Earth Day events celebration

By VINCENT HO News Contributor

Beyond Earth Day is a two-week long event from April 15 to 25 that celebrates people and the planet. There are multiple scheduled events during this celebration at Oregon State University where Beavers can honor and learn about the earth.

Events that will take place during BED include in-person and virtual experiences to lend a hand or learn more about how to live green, use art for change or volunteer to make a difference for the planet.

In the past, volunteers have taken on projects like removing trees to assist an endangered butterfly habitat and painting tiles to help beautify the Willamette Park community garden.

Upcoming events for this year include the Green Living Expo, Youth Poetry

Celebration, Earth Saturday of Service and Common Fields After Work Earth Day Party. To participate or learn more about these events, scan the QR code.

Campus Editor Katie Livermore contributed to this report.

JIRATANA TUNGKAWACHARA | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Researcher Dr. Pavan Akula (he/him) poses for a photo on March 24 on Oregon State University’s campus in Corvallis. A $540,000 grant was awarded to Dr. Akula and his team that would span three years, awarded upon proposal of a new carbon sequestration method.

PHOTO COURTESY OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

A group photo with the Solve garbage bags is from Alsea Bay, a service project from the Earth Saturday of Service!

How Corvallis residents turn food waste into fun SUSTAINABILITY

CAMPUS EVENTS

OSU to hold events in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Week

By LILY MIDDLETON News Contributor

Holocaust Memorial Week, also known as Holocaust Remembrance Week is an annual event that takes place with the purpose of honoring and remembering the victims of the Holocaust.

The genocide which took place from 1939 until 1945 targeted minority groups such as the Romani people, disabled people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, political prisoners, in addition to the six million Jews who were murdered under the Nazi Regime. Further, the Holocaust resulted in the displacement and PTSD of millions of survivors.

In the last week of April, Oregon State University plans to hold the annual week of memorial event, which includes Holocaust Remembrance Day on April 27.

This year will be the 37th annual OSU Holocaust Memorial week.

The OSU Holocaust Memorial Week is organized by a committee of community members which works to ensure the events are respectful, informative and engaging in addition to reaching a wide audience. The events planned are structured to raise awareness of the Holocaust and its impact on the world, promoting tolerance and understanding and inspiring people to take action against hate and xenophobia.

By VINCENT HO News

Leftover spaghetti that you are throwing away is causing food waste — did you know that you could instead revive it by turning it into a pie?

Many may fail to realize that Americans waste about 25% of the food that they purchase. Not only that, the food waste is using 25% of our fresh water and wastes enough energy to power the country for over a week.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Recovery hierarchy shows that the biggest impact that can be made to food waste is reducing it from the source.

The Food Waste Prevention Pilot Program at Oregon State University found that on campus residents waste about 1.3 lbs of food per student outside of dining halls every week.

During the Food Waste Prevention Pilot Program — a program that was dedicated to seeing how the amount of food waste in dining halls could be reduced — three strategies were tested to see if the program could reduce the amount of food waste. The program ended up reducing the amount of food waste from the participants by 51%.

The three strategies were: tracking food waste, having prompts to eat leftovers and signing a pledge.

Kaylee Smith, administrative program manager for Materials Management and a prominent researcher in the pilot program, said tracking food waste is the most effective tactic.

“On average, participants in the study reduced their waste by 51% over 4 weeks. This is likely due to greater mindfulness surrounding wasted food as the result of regularly tracking edible food waste,” Smith said.

Using prompts gave residents a constant reminder of why they should want to eat their leftovers.

These prompts include ideas ranging from money that could be saved, the environmental impact of food waste and social impact of not eating leftovers.

Residents signed a pledge and displayed a photo of themselves in the resident hall lounge. The objective of the pledge was to show that residents were making an effort to reduce food waste which caused more residents to want to do the same.

“When people see other people carrying out a behavior and you like the behavior you are more likely to follow out the behavior,” Smith said.

Another way that food waste can be saved is through composting.

nutrients. It improves soil structure. It retains water, decreases runoff and feeds beneficial soil organisms,” according to the Oregon State University Extensions website.

According to No Food Left Behind Corvallis, while composting is better than using a landfill, there are other alternatives that lead to better outcomes including feeding it to animals and donating excess food.

Reusing leftovers into new recipes is another way of reducing food waste. NFLBC has many recipes from locals in the community that can repurpose leftovers into a meal.

From turning leftover chicken into chicken with Indian spices, to turning leftover spaghetti into a pie, there are many different recipes that will reduce the amount of food waste you produce.

NFLBC is is a program of the Waste Watchers Team of the Corvallis Sustainability Coalition. According to their website, their “team was asked to develop this program in response to the mind-blowing statistics about the economic, environmental and social impacts of growing food that is never eaten.”

Their website has a myriad of ways for anyone interested to start watching their food waste. This includes a meal planner, shopping planner and a wasted food discovery form.

Keynote speeches by survivors, film screenings, panel discussions and exhibits of artwork and artifacts are examples of events held in the past, as well as observances among local middle and high schools which relate to the topic at an age-appropriate level. In terms of this year's events, the Holocaust Committee has planned six events which will be offered both in person and online, all of which have registration available on the Holocaust Memorial Program website.

EVENTS:

PARAGRAPH 175

April 17, 1:00 p.m.

Film Screening (remote only, live via Zoom)

German Statute that criminalized sexual relations between men but not between women. This statute also predated the Nazi Regime; however, the Third Reich then revised it to be more cruel and more broad.

ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA: THE NUMBERS, WHY

THEY ARE SO BAD, AND WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THEM

April 18, 7:00 p.m.

Public Talk by Stephen Paolini (hybrid)

CHINA AND THREE ISSUES OF HUMAN RIGHTS

PANEL DISCUSSION

April 19, noon. (remote only, live via Zoom)

THE LIGHT OF DAYS: THE UNTOLD STORY OF WOMEN RESISTANCE FIGHTERS IN HITLER’S GHETTOS

April 19, 7:00 p.m. Book Talk by Judy Batalion

DRAMATIC READING - PERFORMANCE ON CAMPUS (AND STREAMED VIA YOUTUBE)

April 20, 7:00 p.m.

CLIMATE CHANGE, PEACE, AND GLOBAL SOCIAL JUSTICE

April 21, 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Continued from PAGE 1

“(They were) two outstanding historical programs that now operate under a multidisciplinary scope of survivor care,” Sullivan said. “Survivor care and advocacy have been vital parts of our community for years under the guidance of a few different programs and organized efforts.”

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S. every 68 seconds, that’s over half a million victims each year despite sexual violence rates having fallen by half over the past 20 years. 13% of all college students experience sexual assault or rape.

Sullivan said survivors and others in need of support can reach out to the CAPE team, many members of which are experts in advocacy and preventative education, as well as OSU’s Counseling and Psychological Services for 24/7 crisis care, emotional support, and more, all of which is confidential. Sullivan said off-campus resources include the Linn-Benton County Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV) and Sarah’s Place for services like crisis care and survivor support. There are also resources like RAINN’s confidential hotline for survivors.

Sullivan encourages students to educate themselves on principles like bystander intervention and consent.

“In the simplest terms: see something, say something!” Sullivan said. “A well-

“Compost contains essential plant

Ave)

informed and committed community is a community conducive to effective Sexual Assault and Interpersonal Violence prevention. Removing the stigma and lack of knowledge is the first step to building a safer community.”

CAPE’s professional staff was not able to provide immediate comments.

Please find the working schedule of SAAM events as of March 30 below, details may change:

Working Sexual Assault Awareness/ Action Month (SAAM) Calendar

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5TH: RHA X CAPE SAAM TRIVIA NIGHT

• 6-8pm, MU Ballroom

• Join the Residence Hall Association (RHA) and Center for Advocacy, Prevention & Education (CAPE) Team for a SAAM trivia night to kick off the month’s events! Topics will include legislation, history, activism, campus and community resources, and pop culture. There will be prizes and free food! Sign up here to create or join a team.

MONDAY, APRIL 17TH: CAPE, CAPS, EOA & OSU ASSIST OPEN FORUM

• 4-5:30pm, MU Horizon Room

• Join representatives from Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS), the Center for Advocacy, Prevention & Education (CAPE), the Office of Equal Opportunity & Access (EOA), and OSU Assist to ask questions and provide feedback about the services and resources each organization offers.

TUESDAY, APRIL 18TH: CHIPOTLE

DINE-OUT

5-9pm, Chipotle Mexican Grill (Monroe

• Coordinated by Fraternity & Sorority

7th Social Justice Student Conference guidance to student team members.

Life, proceeds from this dine-out will go to the Center for Advocacy, Prevention & Education (CAPE) Survivor Fund. Contributions support existing programs that provide direct assistance to survivors of gender-based violence, and sustain the development of programming that aims to create lasting social change and eliminate gender-based violence in our community.

TUESDAY, APRIL 25TH: SAAM

ACTIVITY FAIR

• 11am-3pm, MU Quad

• Join the Center for Advocacy, Prevention & Education (CAPE), the SAAM Planning Committee, and campus and community organizations for a SAAM activity fair! The goal of the fair is to bring our community together to share resources, promote upcoming SAAM events such as Denim Day and Take Back the Night, and give people an opportunity to engage in SAAM-related creative activities.

○ Organizations tabling at the Activity Fair include the Residence Hall Association, Westminster House, Beaver Advocates, the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence (CARDV), Students for Reproductive Freedom, Sarah’s Place, Diversity & Cultural Engagement, Hattie Redmond Women & Gender Center, CAPE, Operation Period, and more!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26TH: DENIM

DAY (ALL DAY)

• Denim Day, typically recognized on the last Wednesday in April as a part of SAAM, emphasizes the importance of folks in power demonstrating their support for

survivors. Denim Day originated from a 1999 ruling by the Italian Supreme Court overturning a rape conviction. The justices reasoned that since the survivor was wearing tight jeans when she was harmed, she must have helped the perpetrator remove her jeans, thereby implying her consent. The following day, the women legislators in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the survivor—a particularly significant show of support because jeans defied the Parliament dress code. Denim Day has since grown into a national campaign that encourages our leaders, community members and students to wear denim to protest the misconceptions surrounding sexual violence and show their support for survivors.

• Denim Day is the longest-running sexual violence prevention and education campaign in history. We invite our OSU community to take part this year by wearing denim to express solidarity with survivors and commit to action to prevent sexual violence on our campus. Tag @cape_osu in an Instagram story of your denim on April 26th to be entered into a prize raffle!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 26TH: TAKE

BACK THE NIGHT

• 6-10pm, MU Lounge

• Take Back the Night is an internationally recognized event that brings communities together to believe and support survivors in a safe, confidential space. This year’s Take Back the Night at OSU will feature keynote speakers, student performers, a survivor

Contributor

JAKE FISCHER | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

A photo illustration of someone holding compost in Corvallis on March 23. A great way to minimize your food waste could be by making compost.

TERESA AGUILERA | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

A guide to OSU’s academic petitions and forms

The Way of Things

By ZEVA ROSENBAUM Columnist

Illness, jobs, family and life in general can all get in the way of ideal academic progress, not to mention the confusing process of transferring credits from a prior college, or not wanting to take a class you know you already have the knowledge for.

Thankfully there are resources available, although it’s hard to find them if you don’t know they exist. So here’s a little guide to Oregon State University’s petitions and forms, all of which are available on the Registrar’s forms page.

According to Chris Hunt, assistant registrar at OSU, the most common requests they receive are probably the change of grading basis, extra credits petition and the late change of registration.

“(The forms) are all there for a reason,” Hunt said. “We certainly don’t look down on anyone for having to use them.”

Hunt said there are a lot of resources available through the Associated Students of Oregon State University and the Dean of Students to help provide support to students in processing these petitions.

“One thing people don’t usually know is that the Writing Center can help with creating the text that’s needed for justification for (the petitions),” Hunt said.

INCOMPLETES:

When granted an Incomplete in a particular course, a student is given permission to complete missing assignments at a later date than the normal end of the term so they can still receive a grade without retaking.

This request is perfect for students who may have fallen behind in a class for whatever reason; I’ve used this multiple times for a variety of issues including illness and mental health. Generally, you need to have completed at least half of the assignments in the class, but it’s ultimately up to the instructor.

Incompletes generally need to be completed within one year of being granted, so if you’re granted an incomplete in winter term 2023, you’ll need to finish the work by the end of winter term 2024. Unlike some other petitions, this one is submitted directly to the instructor of the course.

LATE CHANGE OF REGISTRATION:

If you missed the deadline to register for a class, to drop or withdraw from a class, or change a grading basis, or if you want to take more than 25 credits in a single term, this is the petition for you.

While it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card, the committee is generally pretty understanding.

“This allows students flexibility if something happens to them during a term and they can’t complete, or if they just don’t think they did what they should’ve done — that’s a process that can help a lot of students,” Hunt said.

Hunt said he wants students to know the difference between a drop and a withdraw; a drop means the dropped class won’t appear on the transcript and the student won’t be charged for it but it does have a shorter deadline, while a withdraw will be charged at either 50% or 100% of tuition depending on the date of request and will appear on transcripts.

I’ve personally used this a few times, in particular after a rough time dealing with COVID-19, mental health and family tragedies. I was able to petition to retroactively withdraw from the entire summer term and save my GPA.

EXAM FOR CREDIT OR WAIVER:

According to Hunt, this petition is often for classes like Bacc Core requirements HHS 231 and Writing 121. Much like the title suggests, students can petition for class credit that will be applied to their record, or for a waiver that allows the student to skip the class altogether.

The petition can be submitted for most courses, but won’t work for some that require a lot of class participation. The class the student is petitioning for has to be available in the given term, and the instructor should be consulted early on so there isn’t any confusion.

AUDIT A COURSE:

Audits are a great way to participate in a class without having to pay tuition or worry about grading. If a student is

interested in auditing a course, they should talk to their advisor. Sometimes audits can’t be used in classes that are degree requirements, and audits don’t count toward degrees since they have no associated credits or grading basis.

EXTRA CREDITS:

In phase 2 of registration, students can petition to take more than the standard 19 credit limit. Students can also petition to take over 24 credits, but this is a different process since it would be an exception to academic regulations, according to Hunt.

LATE REGISTRATION FEE REMOVAL:

“Sometimes students have to register late for reasons beyond their control,” Hunt said. “And sometimes that’s actually the university’s responsibility, something that didn’t happen that the student needed to happen to be able to register on time, so we do allow students to request that the late registration fee be removed.”

Justification for the fee removal does have to be provided in most cases though, according to Hunt, and they generally only allow this removal to happen once.

Assuming there aren’t any issues, it generally takes around two to three weeks to either approve

or deny a petition, as it has to go through multiple levels of approval, Hunt explained. He said the petitions have to be reviewed by the Academic Requirements Committee, although it is sometimes delegated to the Registrar.

ACADEMIC FRESH START:

Hunt said students who struggled at a previous institution and want to effectively start over, this petition allows students to request parts of their record be removed from their GPA and credits.

BIOGRAPHICAL CHANGE

REQUEST:

This is generally used for students who legally change their name; for instance, if you get married or have a legal name change in general.

“It’s also possible for a student to request a change in first name as a ‘name in use,’” Hunt explained.

“Then that name in use will be shown to most academic systems unless it’s really required that we need to have the legal name on some documentation. So the name in use wouldn’t show up on a transcript, a bill, or financial aid, but it would go out to Canvas and class lists, things like that.”

ENROLLMENT VERIFICATION

REQUEST:

According to Hunt, this is often used to provide proof of enrollment for a variety of things that may require someone to be enrolled in school, such as remaining on a parent’s insurance policy. OSU has a partnership with Student’s Clearing House so students can get instant proof of enrollment instead of having to wait, but the Registrar can also provide more in-depth verifications.

There are 19 other forms and petitions on the Registrar site for all kinds of things like reinstatement, extended leave, and more. I highly encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with them; it’s always important to know what options are available because life is unpredictable and being informed is something we should incorporate into all aspects of life.

“There’s a lot there and we’re always willing to answer questions,” Hunt said. “Students can email us at registrars@ oregonstate.edu, they can come in, they can call us, and we’re willing to answer questions about what forms do what and how to work with them.”

Hunt also encouraged students to talk to their advisors about what petitions and forms are right for them, and to explore the website for more info.

EL GUO | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

Photo illustration depicts Kylie Andrews (she/her) appearing frustrated while looking at her computer at the Memorial Union on March 8. There are many different types of petitions that could be submitted for late drops, withdrawals and grade changes.

Beavers star freshman finds peace in the diamond and controls of the cockpit

GAVIN TURLEY SEASON STATS

24 total games

22 games started

.310 batting average through 24 games

5 home runs through 24 games

14 RBI's 21 hits

16 runs 85 at bats

By LILY MIDDLETON

Instead of accepting an offer from the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 19th round of the 2022 MLB first-year player draft, freshman outfielder Gavin Turley began building a name for himself on the field of Goss Stadium.

With his growing reputation as one of the faces of Oregon State baseball, Turley reflects on some past OSU Baseball alumni who had the same reputation — Garrett Forrester, Cooper Hjerpe and Andy Anderson being some examples — and how he has begun to gain that same traction.

“I kind of know how other people look at the face of Oregon State baseball and for people to be already calling you that it's a big deal for me,” Turley said.

Joining his dream college baseball team has been an experience for Turley.

“A blessing and a privilege that I'll never take for granted. It's a very special time in my life that I'm very, very excited to be a part of,” Turley said.

Not only has playing alongside his

teammates been a great experience, but so are the experiences off the field during travel days.

“I'd say the best memories that I love are just like the airport trips with the team,” Turley said. “There's always guys kind of cracking good jokes and having a good time just with each other. Or just playing on the field with them competing, it is always up there.”

Beginning his baseball career at the age of six with help from his dad and older brother, Turley began to turn heads even then.

With family in the game as well, he was able to visualize the exact path he wanted to take, which was playing collegiate baseball for Oregon State.

With hard work and the need to prove his skill to the older kids on his teams, Turley was able to make this dream a reality by his freshman year of high school.

“It didn’t feel real. It was just something written from a book, or out of a movie,” Turley said. “Baseball is always a game of just getting better. So the amount of progress I've made since I've been here has been so

huge and I'm stoked for it.”

Playing with kids a few years older than him wasn’t always easy with the feeling of needing to prove that he belonged with them. However, this pressure just grew into motivation to improve.

“I mean, I like to see it as like the saying ‘no pressure, no diamonds.’ I like to embrace the pressure and the stress of it and learn from it,” Turley said.

Despite baseball being an end goal for the freshman outfielder, Turley has begun to think ahead, beyond baseball. Studying agricultural sciences, he has begun to reflect on his childhood in Utah.

“I grew up in Utah, the backside of like Park City up in the mountains up there and kind of always grew up doing ranch work. Whether it's moving hand lines, moving hay, or moving cattle even and then ended up kind of falling in love with it,” Turley said. “That's the kind of life I want to live after baseball.”

In addition to ranching and the recent attention drawn to his ability to play piano by ear, Turley has also spent plenty of time

in the air.

Since the beginning of 2022, Turley has found an escape from his daily life and baseball in aviation. Once he takes the written test to go along with his logged hours, he can get his certificate which allows him to fly solo.

“I feel like every athlete kind of finds their own way of doing. My way is flying or going outside and hiking or whatever it is,” Turley said.

That being said, when the time comes to take the step into the major leagues, he will have to give up this pastime.

With the exact limitations on this hobby still unclear in terms of what the MLB would and wouldn’t allow, Turley remains open to the reality that he may have to press pause on his newfound love for aviation.

“I have no problem giving it up to pursue my dream at all. I mean, it's just a snap of the fingers,” Turley said. “But most of the time the liability comes from flying the plane by itself whereas if you have an instructor with you or another pilot it seems to be okay in the MLB contracts, I think.”

The NCAA transfer portal is not kind to Beaver basketball

on social media a week prior.

BENJAMIN

RABBINO Sports Chief

Taylor Jr. was a leader for the Beavers this season, with it only being his sophomore season, and coming into this season I expected him to make the biggest leap as both a player and a leader, being one of the four players returning from the 3-28 season.

The news of Taylor Jr. entering the transfer portal at first came prematurely, with reports of his entrance to the portal coming out

As a fan, I was saddened to see this news, but I have also learned to never trust any news or reports about an athlete until you hear it directly from them. However, on Tuesday April 4, Taylor Jr. made it official with a post on his Instagram page.

This will be a big hit for the Beavers entering the offseason and the start of the 2023-24 season. Taylor

Jr. averaged 11.6 points and 3.7 rebounds this season, production that could be hard to replace as Taylor Jr. is a 6-foot-6 versatile ball handler who can get to the rim while still having the ability to knock down the three point shot.

| continued on PAGE 8 |

Sports Contributor

LILY MIDDLETON | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

Freshman outfielder Gavin Turley celebrates his home run with his teammates after running the bases inside of Goss Stadium on Feb. 26 against Coppin State. Turley has made his mark on the team being the only true freshman to get 85 at bats for the Beavers during this season.

FOOTBALL

Beaver football looks to maintain last season’s success ahead of the 2023 football season

By RYAN HARLAN Sports Writer

While the start of the 2023 college football season is just over six months away, the Oregon State football team has kicked off their offseason with spring football practices after the team finished the 2022 season with a 10-3 record and a SRS Las Vegas Bowl victory.

Now, the Beavers are tasked with building upon that success for the season ahead. But with the end of a season comes players departing either for the NFL Draft or the transfer portal and it’s no different for Oregon State, resulting in the loss of multiple key contributors to either place.

“The theme is always about improvement spring ball wise and that’s no different from year one to year six. We have to improve and need guys to develop and get better,” said head coach Jonathan Smith on how the team plans to build on last season’s success. “Even the guys that are returning starters potentially have areas to take a step; we want to get better during the spring.”

One of the first steps to that improvement is replacing key contributors they lost, like starting tight end Luke Musgrave, who went to the NFL Draft along with defensive backs Alex Austin and Rejzohn Wright. Wright and Austin started at cornerback for the Beavers throughout the season before declaring for the NFL Draft, while Musgrave only started two games for the Beavers before being sidelined due to a knee injury.

The Beavers also lost starting inside linebacker Omar Speights and quarterbacks Chance Nolan and Tristan Gebbia to the transfer portal. Gebbia transferred to The Ohio State University and Speights transferred to Louisiana State University. Even with these losses, Smith and the coaching staff have been able to bring in players to help bolster the talent on the roster on both sides of the ball including a former five-star quarterback whose commitment to the Beavers is one of the highest ranked in school history.

Former Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei transferred to Oregon State after playing three years for the Tigers. Uiagalelei in his time at Clemson started for two years and filled in admirably at times for future No.1 overall pick Trevor Lawrence, but struggled this past season being benched in favor of his backup, Cade Klubnik, to start the Orange Bowl.

With the decision to hand the starting position to Klubnik going forward, Uiagalelei looked for a fresh start elsewhere.

“First of all, I think Clemson was a blessing. I thank all of the people there. I had great teammates, great coaches, great people around there. But ultimately, I wanted to go somewhere that they were going to maximize my talent as a quarterback. I wanted to go somewhere that was a little bit different,” Uiagalelei said of his decision to leave Clemson.

Uiagalelei also felt that coming to Oregon State would give him the best opportunity to succeed at the next level in the NFL. “It was a feeling. Before I put my name in, I felt like this was one of the places I really wanted to come to. I kind of knew that if it ended up putting itself on the table it was a great fit for me. I felt like this was the right place for me, where I wanted to grow as a quarterback,” Uiagalelei said, “It’s a pro-style offense and had everything I was looking for. I felt like Oregon State was the right place to go, so I appreciate them.”

Uiagalelei had scouted the Beavers offense

NCAA Transfer Portal

Continued from PAGE 7

is 6-foot-9 but plays more like a center compared to Taylor Jr.

The OSU men’s basketball team is already young, maintaining a group of primarily freshman and sophomores, and one of the Beavers brightest freshman stars this year was point guard Jordan Pope.

Pope can be the future of Beaver

the Las Vegas Bowl, Uiagalelei didn’t hear anything for around two weeks.

each reporter before the interview session started, then explained his reasons for

“I wanted to go somewhere that was going to put me in the best position.

I did a lot of homework on a lot of different colleges, and ultimately, I did a lot of homework on Oregon State and watched a lot of games.” Uiagalelei said about what drew him to the Beavers,

“I watched a lot of film on Oregon State. I watched a lot of their games, probably every single game and I liked that they run a pro-style offense, and that was something was looking to run.”

brother in November.

The transition for Uiagalelei to the team has been relatively smooth, but the challenge has mainly been learning a new playbook along with the work that comes with it such as film study, throwing after practice to receivers, and playbook study. Teammates and coaches have both praised his eagerness to learn and improvements every single day in practice.

“He’s still getting used to the offensive and getting into his groove. He’ll definitely dominate once he does that,” sophomore running back Damien Martinez said. Uiagalelei added that he’s leaned on teammates and coaches to help him learn the plays along with just practice and film studying.

“It’s been great. The quarterbacks in the room: Ben, Travis, and Dom having been helping me and Aidan out a lot. It’s been good just being able to pick their brain and for them to help us, and also coach Lindgren and all the other coaches helping us out with the offense,” said Uiagalelei. “Every day I feel like it’s getting better and better. Every single day we have a new install, so learning the install, and then going back and watching the film and learning from it.”

Another reason for Uiagalelei’s commitment to Oregon State were the players that were returning on both the offensive and

Other additions to the team involve changes to the coaching staff as a familiar face to Beaver nation rejoins the team as a coach. Former Oregon State linebacker Avery Roberts has been hired as a Graduate Assistant giving him an opportunity to begin his coaching career back where he played in his college career.

The Beavers also welcome a new running back coach in Keith Bhonapha as he replaces coach Steward who left to go to Baylor University to take the same position. Bhonapha recently served as the running back coach at Boise State University and has familiarity with Smith from their time together at both Boise State and the University of Washington.

“I’ve seen this team and program get better year after year,” Bhonapha said on his decision to come to Oregon State. “I was at a great place in Boise State and a place I care about a lot. It was not an easy call but at the end of the day I wanted to put both programs in the best situation.

I’m just happy to be here and be a

The plan for the Beavers in the offseason is to evaluate players as an opportunity to show how much they’ve improved in the program and reps during scrimmages. This will allow coaches to figure out position battles at cornerback, kicker, wide receiver, quarterback, etc.

Uiagalelei, freshman quarterback Aidan Chiles, and quarterback Ben Gulbranson each have gotten plenty of experience with calling offensive plays during this period and will likely see a fair amount of playing

On special teams, punter Josh Green will not be available until training camp and his backup Max Walker will handle punting duties in spring camp. Smith mentioned that there is an open competition at kicker with Everett Hayes’ struggles last season. The time in spring camp will also give Smith and the coaching staff the opportunity to see how players have adapted to position changes in the offseason as both Makiya Tongue and Riley Sharp Beaver Football will play their annual spring game on Saturday April 22 at 10:30pm in Reser Stadium. Admission is free to the

JASON MAY | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

DJ Uiagalelei throws a ball during the second spring practice of the 2023 season at Reser Stadium in Corvallis on Thursday. Uiagalelei is a transfer from Clemson University and a former 5-star.

basketball, if he chooses to stay. Pope averaged 12.6 points and tallied 74 assists during his freshman campaign, playing in a way that quickly won over Corvallis and fans of Beaver basketball.

Following the conclusion of the PAC-12 men’s basketball tournament for the Beavers, Taylor Jr. and Pope were both asked about their commitment to the team moving forward.

“We’re both with the Beavers,” Taylor Jr. said.

women’s basketball team more than the men’s team, having players Taylor Jones (University of Texas), Kennedy Brown (Duke University), Sasha Goforth (University of

The transfer portal can be great, as bigger programs at Oregon State, such as football, have benefitted from it greatly.

However, for a smaller program, such as basketball and others, it seems too easy for players to achieve some sort of success and then depart to a situation that they deem better for themselves and

Lots of decisions need to be made now. How much longer will OSU stand with Tinkle? Can recruiting get any better? Who will replace Taylor Jr.?

OSU settles dispute with graduate employee union: How impacted students are doing now

By OLYVIA NEAL Beaver's Digest Contributor

By GABRIELLA GRINBERGS

Digest Contributor

Graduate student employees are finally receiving back pay from Oregon State University after months of bargaining, dispute, and settlement on cost of living adjustments in minimum salary negotiations.

Back in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coalition of Graduate Employees, the student-run and funded labor union for OSU’s graduate studentemployees, and its negotiation team approached the bargaining table with OSU with proposals regarding health and safety as well as “relatively low cost of living adjustments”, according to Christian Solorio, vice president of Grievances for the CGE and fifth-year doctoral candidate in physics.

The CGE bargaining committee then revisited the topic of salary during the 2022 contract cycle. During this process, the university barely moved on adjusting minimum salary amounts to reflect the increased cost of living in Corvallis, explained Solorio.

However, OSU and the CGE signed a contract agreement in July of 2022 stating, what the CGE understood, secured a 9% minimum salary increase for all graduate student employees and a 4.75% increase for returning graduate students who met academic standing and employment standards for the following year.

“This was, from what (union leadership) understood, a historically high cost of living adjustment that CGE has secured, which was really exciting for us,” Solorio said.

But after the fall term of 2022 began, graduate students across different departments noticed a lack of proper pay increase on incoming paychecks as OSU applied the 4.75% pay increase before the 9% minimum salary raise. This equated to roughly $100 lost per month for impacted students and disproportionately affected the lowest paid range of employees.

“I think it was pretty frustrating for a lot of people,” said Cassidy Wagner, vice president of Communications for the CGE and second-year doctoral student in physical oceanography. “Especially because we had people who were members of our bargaining team who were in that lowest paid range, and didn’t get that raise.”

To recuperate financial losses for students, the CGE filed a grievance with OSU, though the university denied any fault on their behalf, leading the CGE to revisit the negotiation table and even consider arbitration. However, OSU offered to settle the dispute instead. During this bargaining process, union members and impacted graduate students were present alongside leadership and offered testimony on how this lack of pay increase has affected their day to day lives.

“We would give our proposal, (OSU) would discuss it and (union members)

would watch OSU ask questions that felt critical and invalidating of the things we were asking for,” Wagner described.

Additionally, the contract also included anti-harassment training for supervisors and professors after reports of harassment from graduate students, according to Wagner, as she described the student testimonies given during bargaining.

“When you hear someone have a really meaningful connection to what we’re doing, it just makes it a little more important to keep going,” Wagner said. “Like hearing our members and colleagues and friends talk about what this means to them makes us wanna work harder.”

Solorio also explained the extensive process of “marathon sessions”, meetings that lasted over 12 hours and consisted of direct back and forth between OSU and CGE. However, the CGE was able to win back the expected result of initial contract negotiations with the OSU administration: proper application of a 9% minimum salary increase, 4.75% increase for returning graduate employees to adjust for increased cost of living, and back pay for graduate students whose salaries were cut.

So, how are these impacted graduate students doing now?

“I’m surviving,” said Brandon Gelvin, a fourth-year doctoral student in public policy and steward in the CGE. “For me, not that I couldn’t have used the money – I eventually did get it, of course – it was more of an insult than anything else. In my perspective, they are very consciously and willfully misinterpreting the contract.”

Gelvin became a steward, a liaison between the students in his department and the union, for the CGE during his second year of his doctoral program at OSU. He described his experience working in the labor union as “exhausting” and often “to the detriment of the academic work (he’s) supposed to be doing” in terms of workload, but wouldn’t change his decision to join after experiencing how graduate students are treated at OSU.

When talking about experiences from other graduates he has heard as a steward, Gelvin revealed he knew of another student in his department that was homeless while working for OSU.

“I don’t know if they still are, but the fact the university can be nickel and diming us over for (what), from their perspective, is very small amounts of money,” Gelvin added. “While at the same time, the people who are actually doing the work and keeping the university afloat, are homeless or next to homeless is really, incredibly exploitative and quite insulting.”

“It’s alarming the union had to catch that problem,” Ashton Cummings, a third-year doctoral student in biological and ecological engineering, stated. “The university is not gonna catch that problem if they’re underpaying us.”

Cummings’ spoke further of her concern on the issue, saying that, while she is in

stable situation, how the

amount lost per month could have meant the difference between being able to afford groceries, rent or other expenses for graduates who aren’t. Additionally, she described neutral reactions from department heads who were hardly aware of the dispute, mostly due to lack of supervisor knowledge on contract specifics.

Gelvin, on the other hand, described an interaction with a department head of the School of Public Policy in which the director called campaigning efforts for a cost of living adjustment to be “naive”.

“He made it clear that he (didn’t care),” Gelvin stated. “Which is quite remarkable for the head of a program where the content of the program is focused on social and financial inequality.”

When talking about her motivation to become more involved in CGE, Cummings added, “I think it’s important for people to be asked to be treated fairly and that’s not an unreasonable thing.”

She went on to express a boost in morale regarding union work after successfully negotiating in this dispute.

Though the dispute has been resolved, union representatives continue to stand in defense of the labor rights of all OSU graduate employees.

To undergraduate students and families, as well as graduates, Gelvin expressed, “The vast majority of money you are paying for tuition is not going to the people who are teaching you, because that’s us graduate employees, we’re not seeing barely any of it. So the question comes then, ‘Where is all that money going?’”

OSU financial department and bargaining team members were unresponsive when asked for an interview.

Creating something new out of nothing more than yarn, meeting new folks and gaining the benefit of a new skill is quite the offering from a club on Oregon State University’s campus, and all three are guaranteed to those who join the Craft Center’s new crochet and knitting club.

Since the pandemic, there has been a massive rise in the popularity of crochet and knitting as a hobby, and young adults in particular have been getting in on the action. Fortunately for curious OSU students, this year, the crochet club has found its way to campus.

Tehani Hussey, an apparel design student and the club’s leader, had a few things to say about the club and its benefits to students.

“I started it in fall term of this year,” Hussey said. “It sounded like a lot of fun just being an instructor and crocheting with other people.”

Over the last several months, she said she’s greatly enjoying her job and teaching people this new skill. The club loves getting new people in, and overall, the environment is quite welcoming.

“A benefit is making instant friends because everyone has a different project they’re working on, and there’s lots of easy conversation starters to use with them,” Hussey said.

Crochet has boomed in popularity in the last few years, particularly during the pandemic, because of the relaxing nature of the creative hobby.

“Crocheting and knitting are cheap and fun hobbies to start and I know a lot of people started during the pandemic because there’s nothing else to do and it’s easy to pick up,” said Hussey.

The club is open to all skill levels, and welcoming to all people both new to the hobby and seasoned in this method of crafting already. It is a hobby that a lot of people have shown interest in, and who doesn’t want to make things for themselves?

“When we get someone new to crocheting we can all help teach them and now they’ve got a great new skill which is really fun,” Hussey said. “We love getting new members of all experience levels.”

The crochet club meets in the Craft Center, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. every Friday, and materials are provided for free for anyone who joins.

JIRATANA TUNGKAWACHARA

Beaver's

RAFAEL QUERO JUAREZ | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Westminster House, located in Corvallis, is a student ministry organization at Oregon State University. The Coalition of Graduation Employees hosts meetings in this house.

Candidates and ballot measures seek approval in May election

By SKAND S. News Contributor

Two measures are on the ballot for Benton County voters to decide on May 16 before 8 p.m. alongside several candidates running for positions in the school district.

The first is the bond for “community safety, mental health and homelessness services facilities,” that proposes the Justice System Improvement Program. The ask for the bond from voters is to pay approximately $142 per year on residential property with a median assessed value of $258,596.

This money would go towards three major components:

• Justice Campus comprising the construction of a correctional facility ($64.3 million), new sheriff’s office and emergency operations facility ($40.4 million)

• Expansion of children and family facility where therapists provide mental health treatment ($1.5 million)

• Construction or renovation of a navigation resource center to support people experiencing homelessness ($3

mental health programs and initiatives.” Hoyle said. “I believe community, state and federal partnerships are essential to create comprehensive solutions to these issues.”

The second measure proposes renewing the five-year operating local option tax levy for the Palestine Rural Fire Protection District with residents having to pay $0.9707 per $1,000 of assessed value for five years beginning 2023-2024 for fire protection.

The filed measure mentioned that owing to the increase in cost of fire protection service, Palestine rural fire protection district is asking for the renewal.

CANDIDATES

Alongside the ballot measures, there are several candidates running for the Corvallis School District for a four year term. This election comes just after the

Working for a better Benton County

While three positions are being run unopposed, one school board position has two contenders – Chris Hawkins and Steven Castellano. Hawkins, who is a substitute teacher and a consultant for the school district, if elected, plans to dedicate time listening to staff concerns and supporting them. Alongside these, she also intends to be an advocate to parent and community concerns as well.

Hawkins also said that her experience as an educator has helped her garner a strong coalition-building skills, which she intends to use to build partnerships with the board, staff and community, especially in the areas of student safety and equity. “I don’t think our current board lacks anything except having a member on their team who has dedicated 37 years as an educator, 27 years in our district and has lived experiences as a teacher and support specialist in our district,” Castellano, who is a volunteer at Pathfinder Clubhouse and the Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center, said that he aims to prioritize teacher support staff and interns to increase current test

“I believe the current school board is lacking perspective that I bring to the table having lived and worked and went to school in multiple states and life experience my opponent and current leaders in Corvallis do not have,” said Castellano. “I will come without pride and change how we do things to support our students, teachers and schools and prioritize education as a public good of paramount importance over Both Castellano and Hawkins said that if they lose the election, they would continue to dedicate time and serve the community

Three people, all unopposed, are also running for the position of Board of Director at the Corvallis Rural Fire

For more information on the other candidates running for office, please visit here. https:// www.co.benton. or.us/elections/ page/may-16-2023special-election-

The 2040 Thriving Community Initiative

By JORDYN GREGORY News Contributor

Community leaders have identified Core Values from the input of Benton County residents to use as a guiding light towards a healthier future in the 2040 Thriving Community Initiative. Based on these values, the leaders will strategize and enact progress measures to address and combat long-term and complicated issues.

Dr. Allison Myers, associate dean for Extension and Engagement and the leader of the Family and Community Health Program says that meetings where people envision what they want their community’s future to look like are important because it keeps us moving in the intended direction, and that’s exactly what these Core Values will do. These identified Core Values include:

• Vibrant, Livable Communities

• Supportive People & Resources

• High Quality Environment & Access

• Diverse Economy that Fits

• Community Resilience

Sean McGuire, sustainability coordinator for Benton County, states that “from Spring 2018 until 2020, we had this internal group that operationalized the Core Values, and that process… it basically kind of translated these ambitious values (into) something a government agency could actually use as a construct.”

For example, these constructs might look like our free public transit system, that not only lowers our carbon footprint, but it also encourages residents to walk more than if they were to take a personal vehicle. Oregon State University students who reside on or near the Corvallis campus have access to this transit system and also live in a very walkable area that is designed more so for pedestrians and less so for cars.

OSU has collaborated with Benton County on 2040 TCI adjacent projects in past years. Brandon Trelstad, sustainability officer for OSU, says he “will play the sort of broker role of connecting projects with professors.” This allows OSU students to gain experience while also contributing to the public health and sustainability of the community.

On OSU’s involvement, McGuire commented that “they are obviously a major player in our community, they have their own long range planning, and it is so rewarding, so exciting, to be a part of this where the other sustainability coordinators are working so closely together.”

McGuire said that the COVID-19 pandemic put the initiative on hold.

“In January (and) February of 2020… we had been moving towards operationalizing the core values within our government, we were identifying and aggregating departmental goals and objectives, and then COVID hit, which really stunted what we’ve been doing,” McGuire said.

But luckily, he said that they’ve really been picking up steam again since this last fall.

On the topic of COVID-19, McGuire also stated that the pandemic really “put that mirror in our face,” which made them ask themselves if the community was resilient and they decided that yes, they were.

The 2040 TCI wishes to reach all of their identified goals by the year 2040, but McGuire states that we can definitely have “a resilient, stable, prosperous future” much sooner than the year 2040.

If you’d like to learn more about the 2040 TCI or OSU’s past contributions to the initiative, visit their website at www.co.benton.or.us/2040.

ASHTON BISNER | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

A photo illustration of Corvallis City Hall, photo taken on March 14, with new measures 2-139 and 2-140 flying around its exterior.

Corvallis’ Capital Improvement Plan lays out items heading into May budget vote

By WES FLOW News Reporter

The Corvallis Budget Commission will vote in May on recommending the city approve its budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year; this includes projects laid out in the city’s Capital Improvement Plan.

The CIP is Corvallis’ long-term planning document, with which the city tries to anticipate its capital projects over the next five years, from the project’s plan, timeframe, expected costs and sources of funding, according to the CIP. Once the plan is finalized, the first year of the CIP is adopted by the city council into the city budget.

Capital projects, according to the City of Corvallis website, are anything that creates a permanent asset for the city, through new construction, reconstruction of an existing facility or purchase of property not currently owned by the city. This does not cover things like annual maintenance of facilities.

According to Patrick Rollens, public information officer for the City of Corvallis, capital projects are an important part of ensuring the city has what it needs to grow.

"We talk a lot about the need for affordable housing in our community, for example,” Rollens said. “Those homes can’t get built unless we have a well maintained system of roads, water lines, sewer pipes and other critical infrastructure to support that new development. Most of that comes in the form of capital projects.”

The 2024-28 draft CIP has 19 proposed

projects with funding which would begin in the 2023-24 fiscal year, beginning on Oct. 1.

The most expensive of these projects will be street resurfacing and reconstruction work on Western Blvd. and 35th St., according to Corvallis Public Works Assistant Director Greg Gescher.

The project is expected to cost $4,490,000, will impact Western Blvd. between Philomath Blvd. and 35th St., as well as 35th St. between Washington Way and Western Blvd., and will also include resurfacing 11th St. between Van Buren and Filmore Avenues, according to the CIP.

“Resurfacing projects tend to impact all modes of travel,” Gescher said. “While we won’t begin thinking about traffic control on this project until it is initiated next year, it may involve a combination of closures, detours, lane shifts and flagging to accommodate construction.”

Gescher added that while the project would have an impact, most of the work would likely be done over next summer, which will mean far less university-related traffic.

Several of the transportation projects in the CIP are designed to improve cyclist and pedestrian safety, such as the neighborhood bikeway plan for Tyler Ave.

The $170,000 project intends to provide corridors focused on pedestrians and cyclists, and will involve the installation of bicycle guide signage, pavement markings, curb extensions and mini traffic circles, according to the CIP.

“Curb extensions make pedestrians more

visible to motorists and bicyclists at corner crossing locations,” Gescher said. “It also provides additional space for amenities like covered bike parking.”

Two unusual capital projects currently in progress, according to Rollens, are the renovations of Fire Station #2 and Fire Station #3. The projects, which involve both remodeling the stations and the installation of solar arrays on their roofs, according to the CIP, are unique in that they were funded by the American Rescue Plan Act, a bill passed by Congress in 2021 to mitigate the financial impact of COVID-19, according to the bill’s summary.

For the 2023-24 fiscal year, the capital projects in the CIP with a planned budget of over $1,000,000 are:

Street resurfacing and reconstruction on Western Blvd., 35th St., and 11th Street - $4,490,000

Bicycle park land acquisition - $2,000,000

Wastewater pipe replacement off Van Buren Ave. and off Hillcrest Drive - $1,235,000

Wastewater pipe replacement off Tyler Ave. - $1,054,000

Gescher said that this year’s CIP project list has been reduced down somewhat due to inflation, but the city believes that their current budget has been adjusted appropriately.

While the CIP lists projects by the fiscal year they are intended to begin in, according to Gescher, they rarely take only one year to complete.

“Most projects take a minimum of two

Projected

years to complete with design taking place in the first year, and construction programmed for the next,” Gescher said. “If the project requires land acquisition, environmental permitting or is especially complicated in nature, it will take longer than two years.”

Gescher added that even projects with funding may be delayed, such as if they’re dependent on development which hasn’t occurred yet.

According to Rollens, projects in the CIP are generally scheduled to line up with availability of funds either in the city budget or from outside sources, such as grants.

“If we know we will have an opportunity to apply for an infrastructure grant in 2025, then we may schedule a particular project around that time to take advantage of the funding opportunity,” Rollens said. “Likewise, if we know that a facility is at the end of its useful life and we have a solid replacement plan already scoped out, then we may accelerate that project in the CIP timeline.”

While the city is always looking for outside funding sources, the majority of CIP project funding comes from revenue generated by city fees, according to Rollens.

“Revenue from city fees generally forms the largest category of funding for CIP projects,” said Rollens. “For example, the water rates that customers pay on their water bills pay not just for the water that you use in your tap, but also a little bit extra that goes into the water fund to pay for pipe repairs, valve replacements and larger capital projects.”

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