Endings and New Beginnings | June 6, 2022

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • VOL. CXXVII NO. 09

SPORTS

CITY

OSU wrestling and gymnastics welcome back summer campers for the first time in 3 years. 10

Despite high teacher turnover nationwide, the Corvallis School District isn’t seeing any higher turnover rates than normal. 15

Summer camps return after long break

National Teacher Resignations

Board of Trustees to announce candidate under consideration for OSU president, profile of finalists

By KIMBERLY CLAIRMONT News Contributor

With Oregon State University’s Commencement taking place in-person again this year, students voice their appreciation for the years they spent gaining valuable experience in college.

Soon-to-be graduated students will attend the Commencement ceremony starting at 10:30 a.m. on June 11 at Reser Stadium on the Corvallis, Ore. campus, despite the fact that the stadium currently underconstrucThe

is going tion. gates will open to all friends and family at 9 a.m. This is the first time since the 2019 Commencement that the ceremony will take place in person at OSU. For most students in this year’s graduating class, they took a year and a half of inperson classes at OSU before being transferred to about a year and a half of online Zoom classes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The class of 2022 then returned to in-person classes at OSU for their final

year in college.

“I think the thing I am most proud of from the last four years is how hard I have persevered,” said Sophie Caldwell, an OSU student studying agricultural sciences and graduating in June.

Caldwell said she is proud she is graduating within four years and feels she has gained a great deal of confidence in the person she has become.

At 9 a.m. on June 11, undergraduates will initially report to the Memorial Union Quad while graduate students should report to the Valley Library clock tower.

At 9:45 a.m., the processional will begin and enter Reser Stadium at about 10:30 a.m.

The Commencement ceremony will begin at about 11:10 a.m. and should conclude at about 1:30 p.m.

Despite the recent construction project being undertaken at Reser, everyone celebrating the accomplishments of their OSU graduating students will convene for the special celebration.

“I absolutely think the last f o u r ye a rs were worth my degree,” Caldwell said. “I put in a lot of hard work…

A

bachelor’s of agricultural sciences is very versatile and highly employable.

I am excited to start work in the field.”

Caldwell said she’ll miss having time set aside for herself and opportunities to grow and said her time spent at OSU was very intentional.

“The most important thing college has taught me is the importance of continuing education,” Caldwell said.

More information regarding OSU’s commencement will be released as the event draws nearer but, according to the Commencement ceremony website, seating at Reser Stadium will be outdoors and first-come, firstserve, meaning no tickets will be required. The event will also happen regardless of rain or shine.

Umbrellas will not be not permitted at the ceremony but sun visors and sunscreen or ponchos are recommended.

At OSU-Cascades in Bend, Ore., according to Nathan Moses, associate director of University Events and Community Engagement, each graduating student of OSU-Cascades will receive six tickets initially for friends and family members to attend the ceremony but will have the opportunity to pick up more tickets during finals week.

OSU-Cascades’ commencement ceremony will take place on June 12 at the recently constructed outdoor Oval Green in Bend instead of the Les Schwab Amphitheater, where the OSU-Casades commencement is normally held.

“One of the great things about the amphitheater is it can literally hold thousands and thousands of people, but we don’t have that ability at the Oval Green,” Moses said. “As we get closer to the event, we expect students will need more tickets.”

Another soon-to-be OSU graduate, Ben Moore, said, looking back on the last four years, he’s most proud of how much he learned to put himself out there.

COMMENCEMENT Continued on page 2

By ADRIANA GUTIERREZ Editor-in-Chief The Oregon State University Board of Trustees will publicly announce their pick of the two finalists for OSU’s next president, in a meeting on June 7.

The public announcement does not automatically mean the chosen candidate will take over for OSU Interim President Becky Johnson, unless the candidate accepts the appointment at the BOT meeting.

OSU community members are invited to the meeting, hosted at 10 a.m. in the Memorial Union Horizon Room on the OSU Corvallis campus. If the candidate accepts the appointment, trustees plan to host an outdoor reception in the Student Experience Center Plaza from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. to welcome the president-elect.

Finalists Dean Charles R. Martinez, Jr., from University of Austin, Texas, and Dean Jayathi Y. Murthy, from University of California, Los Angeles, are the two candidates being considered for Tuesday’s appointment. When chosen, one of these candidates will serve as president of OSU starting July 1.

The Barometer has consolidated information regarding both candidates into smaller profiles based on information released by the candidates as well as information given in recent community forums.

Charles R. Martinez, Jr. Martinez currently serves as the dean of the College of Education at UT Austin and has been since 2019. Prior to his time at UT, Martinez spent 20 years at the University of Oregon in various positions, including the vice president of Institutional Equity and Diversity and the director for the Center for Equity Promotion—a center he founded in 2012.

During a university forum held on May 23, Martinez spoke of his time at UO and connected the work he did regarding equity and inclusion with his work as a research scientist in psychology. His focus was, and is, on working within Latine communities in Oregon to determine educational and health disparities.

NEW PRESIDENT Continued on page 3

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KAYLA JONES | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

OSU senior Lily Noling poses in front of the Oregon State sign in her regalia attire on May 26. Noling will be graduating June 11 with a Bachelor of Science in the College of Business, majoring in marketing.

COMMENCEMENT Continued from page “I’m not an extroverted person at all and coming to a college where I knew absolutely nobody and had to start completely from scratch was terrifying,” Moore said. “That little internal push helped me make friends that I know I’ll have for life, have experiences that I absolutely wouldn’t have had if I’d done what felt easy or natural, and gain confidence that I know is going to serve me well in all aspects of my future.”

According to Moore, he’s had a great time at OSU and made amazing memories, but he is ready to move on to the next chapter of his life.

“Currently the plan is to move out to Boulder, Colo., and spend time living with my brother while I get some last-minute work and volunteering in before I apply for physical therapy schools this winter,” Moore said.

Rachel Maggio said, as graduation approaches, she has found she’s most proud of her ability over the last four years to bounce back.

“The most important lesson I learned was— this is going to sound so cheesy but I mean it—never to give up,” Maggio said. “After what

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happened to me as a junior and having to take a two-year medical leave, I felt really beaten down and like I didn’t have any fight left in me, but I met some people and professors who really helped me find it again and get back to fighting for what I thought was right.”

Post-grad, Maggio said she is headed to grad school to pursue two master’s degrees, one in children’s literature and one in library and information sciences.

“I think college was worth it,” Maggio said.

“But I wish I had made a more informed decision and I wish I knew what I was going to be getting myself into. If I could do it over again,

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OSU senior Lily Noling poses in front of the Oregon State sign in her regalia attire on May 26. Noling will be graduating June 11 with a Bachelor of Science in the College of Business, majoring in marketing. Photo by Kayla Jones, OMN photographer. Confetti illustration sourced from PNGtree.com.

2 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

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NEW PRESIDENT Continued from page 1

Commitments to the university if hired as president are listed in Martinez’s materials as “leading with an equity lens, distributed and inclusive leadership, transparency and authenticity, academic curiosity, sense of urgency, data-informed decision making and always having one foot in the academy and one foot in the community.”

In separate community forum conversations, Martinez was asked by community members about his plans for the university regarding commitment to first-generation students, the resources for graduate students as there have been CGE protests in full-swing on campus, and making OSU more affordable.

“The support for first-gen students is not really a photo-op,” Martinez said when asked about support of programs on campus like the Educational Opportunities Program for first-generation students. “It really is deep committed work on a regular basis to demystify the challenges of [support groups on campus].

The support networks that exist within those programs are really important and they need to be expanded to create access and network opportunities for students throughout their experiences.”

Comments on support for students were in high demand by those attending the May 23 forum. Among these questions were concerns about student pay rates and how Martinez would feel about supporting increases in pay for graduate students in particular.

“I think we forget that we are obliged to provide these as mentored experiences for graduate students, not just because we need more instructors of records or courses,” Martinez said. “That’s a part of the fundamental problem of not properly valuing graduate students is that we fail to understand our responsibilities to mentor and train them in those experiences.”

According to Martinez, he raised the rate of graduate employees’ wages during his time at UT Austin through first raising the set-rate and then reforming and standardizing the way graduate students across different departments and roles in the university were paid.

The entirety of Martinez’s forum conversation and application materials can be found on the OSU’s presidential search main site.

Jayathi Y. Murthy Murthy currently serves as the dean for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA since 2016. Prior to her time at UCLA, Murthy was a professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UT Austin from 2012 to 2015.

Her first job as a professor was at Purdue University, teaching in the School of Mechanical Engineering from 2008-2011.

While at UCLA, Murthy has helped create the multiple departments bridging one school of study to another and increasing the

UCLA community, including the Department of Computational Medicine and the Institute for Technology, Policy and the Law. She also helped create Women in Engineering, a body on campus geared towards providing a sense of community for women who study in a male-dominated field and saw a 6% increase in female engineering majors from 2021-22.

During a similar university forum to Martinez’s held on May 24, community members came to listen to Murthy’s plans if hired at OSU as well as ask Murthy questions.

In Murthy’s presentation, she highlighted key issues and plans including broadening the access for those who can study at OSU as well as “expand and deepen research, scholarship, and innovation” through increased investment plans.

In separate community forums, Murthy was asked about how she will work with Indigenous groups on campus, support gender-based advocacy and the future of remote learning, among other topics.

Murthy touched on remote learning in her answers more than once, describing the pandemic as a tsunami that has created waves of change that are yet to come to the education system.

“I worry about what happens to campus culture when there is actually nobody on campus,” Murthy said. “What happens to education where students with different ideas, conflicting ideas, don’t run up against each other and learn how to talk to each other and learn how to live with each other?

When campus changes intellectually in such a fundamental way, what is the future that we’re actually evolving for education? These are deeply important questions. I don’t have all the answers for you, but the next decade is going to be one where every one of us is going to have to try and shape reality.

Questions from Student Health Services representatives surrounded Murthy’s plans for working towards a culture of consent and supporting gender-based advocacy.

“I do know that this last year… You’ve obviously encountered a transition and I know that is tied to SBSH issues and I’m keenly aware that there is a great deal of campus healing that needs to happen around that,” Murthy said. “I would be working very hard to facilitate that and to build lines of trust in our administration again as we try to make that next leap.”

Murthy also mentioned going over protocols and reform the process of reporting sexual assault where necessary. She mentioned that the processes need to work in a way that is accountable and transparent in order for them to prove they work—otherwise, reform is needed.

The entirety of Murthy’s forum conversation and application materials can be found on the OSU’s presidential search main site. *** When the candidate is selcted and appointment following the June 7 meeting, the president-elect will begin their time as the new OSU president starting July 1. Johnson will continue as interim president for the remainder of June.

Student Fee Committee reduces summer fees

than one-third be professional staff,” Khan said. “They’re still majority students.”

One of those things that the majority student board alongside the greater ASOSU was During the 2021-22 school year, the Student to set a new minimum wage for student workFee Committee, which makes decisions on ers including those who work at Dixon. incidental and Student Facility Improvement The Student Facility Improvement fee of fees, voted to remove the incidental fees from $48.50 will be the only remaining summer what students taking summer classes are fee because it cannot be removed by the SFC required to pay. themselves. The SFI fee is utilized by the The SFC is an advisory board composed of university to pay off the debts incurred by the both students and professional staff for the school in building and developing the different purpose of providing guidance on how much parts of OSU’s campus. students should be charged for student-run ser“In 2011 or so we took out a bunch of vice positions on campus. There are eight units bonds, like $48 million,” said Joe Page, SFC that the SFC makes financial decisions for, Chair. “[It was] to pay for buildincluding the Memorial Union, ing this [Student St u d e nt E x p e r i e n ce s Experience and Engagement, Center], to Associated Students b u i l d S EC of OSU, recreational Plaza, to sports, performing build student arts, Basic Needs legacy park, Center—formerand add turf ly the Human fields in McAlexander Services Resource [Fieldhouse], there’s Center—Family a few different projResource Center ects that went and intercolleinto that.” giate athletics.

As a result of The Daily a referendum in Barometer, that year, students of which is a part OSU agreed to pay an of Orange Media additional fee alongNetwork, falls side the normal SFC under SEE and incidental fees to is impacted by the go towards payfinancial decisions ing off the debt, of the SFC. according to Page.

According to To make up Matteo Paola, H. BECK | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK for the money ASOSU Associated Students of Oregon State University’s Student Fee from president as Commitee sets the summer fees, which are banked to fund eight l o s t reducing sumof June 1, the units around campus. The SFC voted to lower fees for the summer mer fees, the reduction in 2022 term.

SFC voted to fee costs over the summer should encourage more students increase fees during the regular school year. to take summer classes. However, Paola also However, according to Khan, the price increassaid he believes that many students don’t even es won’t have to be as high as expected.

“We were expecting there to be an 8% know what the SFC incidental fee is. decline in enrollment because of COVID-19,” “I see posts on Reddit and like this word all the time, like, what is this incidental fee?” Khan said. “That didn’t happen. We weren’t Paola said. “I think it’s like a university admin- as worse off.”

This means that because this year’s student istration thing, but I think [the SFC fee change] attendance numbers are projected to be higher is a positive change.”

The incidental fee is one that is charged to than previously calculated, the SFC comall students of OSU; students who paid inci- mittee was able to dilute costs of fees across dental fees this year will not need to pay for a more people.

“That gave us a little bit of cushion to be gym membership over this summer.

According to SFC Committee Chair Mak able to absorb that cost, and then be able to Khan, voting on SFC fee changes are restricted do everything we wanted to do without a huge only to student positions within ASOSU; non- price tag attached to it,” Khan said.

While costs of SFC fees may have increased student members of the SFC Committee are due to inflation and increases in student workonly there to provide advice and feedback.

“A couple of years ago, the fee committee er wages for the regular school year, summer made a requirement for all of these advisory students now need to only worry about the flat boards [including the SFC] to not have more $48.50 fee from the SFC.

By SAM MISA News Contributor

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 3

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CHRIS KEIPER | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Construction is underway on the east side of Reser Stadium where Student Health Services will be relocated to the Oregon State University Wellness Clinic for future use. Student Health Services and the Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center will both move out of Plageman Hall and be separated from each other.

Student Health Services, Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center to move out of Plageman Hall

By EMMA COKE News Contributor In the fall of 2023, Oregon State University’s Student Health Services, which is currently housed within Plageman Hall, will move to the southeast side of Reser Stadium.

SHS moving to Reser Stadium is part of the Completing Reser Stadium Project, which aims to revamp and expand the football stadium to include a welcome center and wellness center.

This new wellness center, which will become the new home of SHS, is anticipated to be a four-story, 32,000-square foot building.

In addition to being the new home of SHS, this new wellness center will also include Samaritan Health Services. Samaritan will be located on the first and second floors while SHS will be located on the third and fourth floors.

According to Steve Clark, vice president of University Relations and Marketing at OSU, the collaboration between Samaritan and SHS will provide clinical and urgent care services to OSU faculty, staff and students along with Corvallis, Ore. residents to better serve the community as a whole.

The decision to move SHS from its current

CHRIS KEIPER | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Construction is underway on the east side of Reser Stadium where the Student Health center will be relocated to the Oregon State University Wellness Clinic for future use. Parking is limited as trucks come on and off the construction site.

location at Plageman Hall to Reser Stadium was a logistical one, according to Kelly Hower, interim executive director for SHS. “It makes very good sense to invest in and relocate to a new clinic that will be in a much better location for our students, given the age of Plageman Hall and the high cost of renovations,” Hower said. “Plageman Hall is located a long distance from most on-campus residence halls and cannot be easily reconfigured to serve as a modern health center.”

4 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

Plageman Hall, which will close upon the opening of the new wellness clinic, is also currently the home of the Survivor Advocacy and Resource Center.

According to Hower, SARC will not be joining SHS at the new wellness center. It will be moved to an appropriate and accessible location that will ensure and protect patient confidentiality, Hower said.

“It was considered that locating SARC within a very busy new health center, that will

offer general student and primary care and urgent care for employees and community members, would not be the best location to support survivors with confidential care and assistance,” Clark said.

Allsion Riser, interim director for SARC, said moving SARC from a clinical setting to a more survivor-focused setting will provide increased privacy for survivors.

“While not located directly within the new clinic, SARC advocates will continue to have access to consultation space at the new health clinic that will provide a private space to meet with survivors who also are being seen by SHS clinical staff,” Riser said. “SARC will continue to have a referral/connection flow that will enable clinical staff and advocates to collaborate closely to serve survivors.”

Despite being in two different locations after having shared the same building for several years, Clark said it is not expected that the physical separation between SARC and SHS will prove to be an issue for those seeking services from SARC. “SARC advocates will be able to continue to collaborate with clinical staff at the new health clinic who also may serve survivors,” Clark said. “In this way, SARC and SHS will remain very complimentary and collaborative.”

CALENDAR

JUNE COMMUNITY CALENDAR 6 MONDAY

7 TUESDAY

8 WEDNESDAY

World Ocean Day

9 THURSDAY

Strand Hall 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.

10 FRIDAY

11 SATURDAY

12 SUNDAY

OSU Commencement 2022

OSU-Cascades Commencement 2022

Reser Stadium 10:30 a.m.

13 MONDAY

Edward J. Ray Hall, Oval Green 10 a.m.

14 TUESDAY

15 WEDNESDAY

16 THURSDAY

17 FRIDAY

18 SATURDAY

19 SUNDAY

20 MONDAY

21 TUESDAY

Lebanon Family Pride Day

KBVR-FM Radio Orientation

Lebanon Academy Square 1 p.m.

22 WEDNESDAY

SEC 421 3 p.m.

23 THURSDAY

24 FRIDAY

START Freshman Orientation

25 SATURDAY Albany Pride Celebration

Memorial Union Lobby All Day Events

Albany City Hall Plaza 10 a.m.

START Transfer Student Orientation Memorial Union Lobby All Day Events

26 SUNDAY

27 MONDAY

28 TUESDAY

START Freshman Orientation

29 WEDNESDAY

Memorial Union Lobby All Day Events

30 THURSDAY

EVENTS INFORMATION

LEGEND

Memorial Union Lobby All Day Events

tual and in-person events require

OSU EVENTS

participate. All June events and event

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information

SPORTING EVENTS

START Freshman Orientation

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descriptions, as well as registration the

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website or on the Oregon State

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CITY EVENTS

Use a QR code scanner or Snapchat to view Oregon State University’s Events Calendar in full

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 5

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ZAP biking aims to encourage students to bike more through prizes and competition incentives

By HAYDEN LOHR News Reporter

ZAP biking is an on-campus service at Oregon State University that, since COVID19 quarantine is over for most, is now trying to increase awareness and encourage more people to bike to and around campus.

ZAP biking is offered at OSU’s Corvallis, Ore. campus and is open to both employees and students.

Community members can get a ZAP tag from one of three locations on or near campus.

The tag then attaches to the bike so when the user passes a ZAP station, they get a ZAP. The more of these ZAPs someone gets, the more eligible they are for prizes and other things.

“We wanted to find a way to encourage people to bike more and have a little fun with bike commuting and have fun with a little community on campus,” said Meredith Williams, director of Transportation Services at OSU. ZAP was originally founded at OSU in 2017 with the launch occurring in 2018 during the Beyond Earth Day spring event, according to

Sara Dalotto, the sustainable transportation coordinator at OSU. Josh Norris, the director of the Adventure Leadership Institute, was one of the crew members to help install the stations back in 2017.

From there, people all over the campus were able to invite others to join in the program.

“My dream is to look at a bike rack anywhere on campus and see more than half with ZAP tags,” Dalotto said. “We were going really strong until the pandemic where we slowed things down a bit…We are just rebuilding now that people are commuting back to campus.

Every time we go out people are interested and excited to hear about the program.”

There are three stations in Corvallis where people can get a ZAP tag, according to Williams. These are the ALI bike shop, the ZAP office in the Western Building at 850 SW 35th Street and the Corvallis Bicycle Collective ZAP BIKING Continued on page 7

HAYDEN LOHR | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Bikes locked on the bike rack near the Memorial Union at Oregon State University on May 31. The ZAP program encourages OSU students to bike on campus to win prizes and stay healthy.

HAYDEN LOHR | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Bikes locked on the bike rack near the Student Experience Center at Oregon State University on May 31. Bikes are a common way to travel campus and ZAP encourages more people to bike for sustainability and health reasons.

6 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

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ZAP TAG LOCATIONS ZAP stations • Graf Hall • Campus Way @ SW 14th St. • SW 15th Ave. @ SW A Street • Jefferson Way @ McNary Hall • Wiegand Hall • Plageman Hall • Campus Way Bike Path • 35th St. @ Washington Way • Oceanography Bldg • Gilfillan Hall • LaSells Stewart Center ZAP Tagging Locations • Transportation Services • Adventure Leadership Institute (ALI) • Corvallis Bicycle Collective

KELSY VALENTINE | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK A map of the ZAP Stations and ZAP Tagging Locations on the Oregon State University Corvallis, Ore. campus. ZAP Stations are marked with bike icons and ZAP tagging stations are marked with pins.

ZAP BIKING Continued from page 6 on NW 11th St. Community members can also get involved if they find ZAP workers at a table on campus, where they do outreach in order to recruit more students.

Joining ZAP comes with many benefits.

Every time a user passes one of the 11 ZAP stations on campus, they’ll hear a beep sound.

“The beep goes off and there are students going like, ‘What is that?’” said Elizabeth Dennis-Pavlich, the transportation options outreach assistant and student at OSU. “The beep is pretty loud, it is supposed to be loud.

You can hear it while riding a bike, it is the confirmation.”

Students who get more than 10 of these ZAPs a month are entered into a drawing for free stuff. Bike brands out of Portland, Ore. or Eugene, Ore. have been known to sponsor products, so users might get a water bottle or lights for their bike.

“We have a couple of tiers of prizes in our structure,” Dalotto said. “We have small sets of bike lights that we hand out generally in the fall; when it starts to get dark. We have patch kits as a thanks for joining the program. For the prize drawings, many people are entered into the drawing and then 20 people are selected at random for that win, so those prizes are of higher value.”

Essentially, the more someone bikes, the higher the value of prizes they could get.

According to Williams, community members can look at the zap.oregonstate.edu website for more information, or just search “ZAP OSU.” “There aren’t really any disadvantages,” Dennis-Pavlich said. “It is not high commitment, we are not asking people to do things…

You can read the ZAP newsletter to get

involved or go to a station on campus.”

According to Williams, the ZAP tag is also passive, though antennas send out signals to read the tags, as data is kept private.

Those who sign up will also become eligible to make teams and participate in certain events. There is also a map on the website of

Win Prizes • Collect 10 ZAPs in one month to be entered into a drawing for bike gear or gift cards for local businesses ZAP stations on campus.

“I’ve noticed people have made some pretty cool connections,” Dalotto said. “I love seeing the mixed teams of faculty and students, and how that builds relationships in their department or work group. I also enjoy just hearing from the people participating in ZAP.”

“My dream is to look at a bike rack anywhere on campus and see more than half with ZAP tags... We were going really strong until the pandemic where we slowed things down a bit. We are just rebuilding now that people are commuting back to campus.”

- Sara Dalotto, sustainable transportation manager at OSU

HAYDEN LOHR | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Christine Castles bikes past the ZAP logo outside the Adventure Leadership Institute at Oregon State University on May 31. There are three locations on or near campus where one can get a ZAP tag, the ALI being one of them.

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 7

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UHDS locations experience ongoing worker shortages

By EMMA COKE News Contributor

Employment at Oregon State University’s Housing and Dining Services locations, for both students and professional staff members, is still not up to pre-pandemic levels.

UHDS locations, which include coffee shops and dining halls, are being negatively impacted due to these staffing shortages. As the year has progressed, some UHDS locations have reopened, such as La Calle at McNary Dining Center, but staffing shortages are still an issue.

“Due to these staffing shortages we have reduced the number of locations open, and reduced our hours of operation when compared to pre-pandemic,” said Lisa Narrow, assistant director of dining for UHDS. “We had to close Calabaloo’s this term due to an employee shortage in McNary. Bing’s at Weatherford has not opened at all in the last two years.”

Unlike dining halls, the Memorial Union has not been hit as hard by staffing shortages thanks to student fees, according to Deb Mott, director of the Memorial Union.

“Regardless of what our staffing levels are, the Memorial Union will still provide the level of service that students pay through their incidental fees,” said Mott.

Narrow believes the isolation during the shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the way students choose to spend their time, making a job seem unappealing.

“Now students are more used to being alone and spending their time online, instead of out and about,’’ Narrow said. “The idea of spending 10-20 hours at a job seems to be overwhelming for some.”

In the past, Narrow stated that word of mouth was how they would usually get more students. However, with an already small team of student workers, relying on word of mouth to get more applicants doesn’t work so well.

UHDS, instead, has had to find other ways to increase their student workforce.

Back in April, UHDS raised their hourly pay for student staff to $15.15 an hour, which is 16% higher than Oregon’s standard minimum wage of $12.75 an hour, to get more students to apply.

“These higher wages are an investment back to student employees at a time when so many are reporting facing a multitude of financial stressors,” said Jennifer Viña, director of marketing and communications for UHDS. UHDS has also attempted other ways of enticing students. In March, they tried to give away free coffees during interviews, however Narrow noted it didn’t seem to have an impact.

Additionally, UHDS has expanded their advertising through the use of flyers and advertisements throughout campus to get the word out.

“There’s a lot of flexibility and variety in the types of jobs available, so we’re working hard

JASON MAY | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Students wait in line to order at Trader Bings Cafe in Austin Hall on the morning of May 16. Worker shortages at on-campus dining halls and cafes have caused long lines and further difficulty for current staff members.

to advertise positions that fit into students’ schedules,” Narrow said.

They plan to continue promoting through the summer for incoming students who hope to apply to work in the fall.

“As students arrive for START orientation this summer, we will be promoting open job

positions and encouraging them to apply before they arrive on campus for fall classes,” Viña said. “This way, they can interview throughout the summer and in some cases arrive earlier than the start of classes for hands-on training.”

During the summer, UHDS will still need a team of student workers. According to Narrow, 40-hour-a-week positions will be available for any student taking the term off. Open positions are available for catering, dining centers and all coffee shops and stores located on campus.

“Due to these staffing shortages we have reduced the number of locations open, and reduced our hours of operation when compared to pre-pandemic. We had to close Calabaloo’s this term due to employee shortage in McNary. Bing’s at Weatherford has not been open for two years.”

8 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

- Lisa Narrow, assistant director of dining for UHDS

JASON MAY | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Lily Smalling places a finished iced latte at Trader Bings Cafe in Austin Hall on the morning of May 16. On-campus dining halls and cafes have been short staffed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAMPUS

“The most powerful sense of relief I’ve felt in my life:” Trans Pride Center representative discusses LGBTQIA+ life

By ZEVA ROSENBAUM News Contributor Lee Niemi, a community relations representative at the Oregon State University Pride Center, said he joined the queer community after learning most people didn’t feel the same way as him.

“I’ve known I wasn’t straight for as long as I can remember having a concept of sexuality,” Neimi said. “But I still felt unsure about that until after I was able to deal with some of the gender stuff more properly.”

According to Niemi, he first considered he could be trans just before starting high school, but it was easiest to “ignore” those thoughts, particularly once he got a boyfriend. He said he cut his hair short during his first time away from home and began to become more aware that he wasn’t cisgender. However, Neimi said it took another year, damaging his relationship and friendships and hitting the lowest point of his life to start dealing with it.

Niemi said he’d been stuck in a depressive

episode for a few months following high school graduation when he pursued getting on testosterone hormone replacement therapy, all the while keeping it private, even from his mom.

“I honestly didn’t know at the time whether it was the right decision for me, but my antidepressants weren’t really working and I didn’t see how I’d be able to decide whether I wanted to be on testosterone without trying it,” Niemi explained. “It worked out well, because literally as soon as I left my doctor’s office after getting my first [Testosterone] shot, I felt the most powerful sense of relief I’ve felt in my life and cried on the drive home.”

According to Niemi, shortly after starting his HRT therapy, he left home to attend OSU and officially came out. He said OSU has felt “fairly welcoming” to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, but there are some “shortcomings” that are likely common at similar universities as well.

Niemi said he went to a conservative high school, so OSU is a “major improvement” for him, although, according to Niemi, this may not be the experience for everyone. Niemi was

initially an engineering major and said the engineering dorms were not “the most queerfriendly place,” but that groups like Out in STEM, or oSTEM, and other people who are openly out make it possible to find support.

“In general, I’ve found that people might be ignorant but usually mean well and are receptive to criticism,” Niemi said.

Niemi said he has felt welcomed as a BFA student in the art department thanks to its small size, few professors, and limited class size, allowing classmates to get to know each other and their professors better. He said he’s been “really happy” with the support his work has received.

“It’s allowed me to make way more personal work about my transness than I would’ve ever thought I’d be able to,” Niemi said.

According to Niemi, he thinks it’s far easier to really find a community and connect with other queer people thanks to the Pride Center, despite it being a little difficult to reach since it’s on the edge of the Corvallis campus.

“One thing I’ve been working on basically the entire time I’ve been here is managing the

JESS HUME-PANTUSO | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Studio Art major Lee Niemi poses inside the Pride Center at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore. on May 17. Niemi is a student worker at the OSU Pride Center which celebrated its 20th year anniversary last year.

Pride Center and SOL: LGBTQ+ Multicultural Support Network Discord server,” Niemi said.

“The goal of the server is to make the community accessible without having to physically come to the center. It’s definitely been a learning experience.”

According to Niemi, he’s worked on events like Trans Story Circles and has enjoyed being involved with educational programs like Trans Sex Ed and helping to inform student teachers about supporting queer students.

“If you’re questioning and want support, this is a great example of a time to reach out to the Pride Center and SOL, either in person or on our Discord!” Niemi said. “Discord can be especially nice for situations like this since you don’t have to go anywhere if you’re anxious or worried about being outed. Talking in person, however, can be nice if you feel like a face-to-face conversation with somebody would be helpful.”

Niemi said staff members are helpful, but connecting with people in both the Discord and the physical center lets community members support each other and discuss their stories. He said staff members have differing boundaries in terms of talking about their experiences.

“Some, like me, are pretty open about it for the sake of being able to help other people, so if there’s something you want to talk about, just let us know and we can find the best person available to chat with you!” Niemi said.

Niemi said the 2022 Lavender Celebration— OSU’s graduation celebration for queer students—is the main event in June. The Lavender Celebration will take place on June 9 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom. Graduates and departing students can register online.

The Little Gallery in 210 Kidder Hall is also holding an exhibit titled “Shade,” curated by Dharma Mirza and described as “A Genealogy of Queervallis QTPOC Drag.” The exhibit runs from June 2 to June 17.

Niemi recommends students reach out to Student Health Services for information about medical needs including HRT, reproductive care, birth control, STI testing or general medical care, and CAPS for more mental health resources and counseling.

“I’ve been going [to SHS] for all my medical needs for the last couple of years and [they] have been better with trans patients than other clinics I’ve been to,” Niemi said.

The Pride Center Instagram @osupridecenter and Discord server are places to find more information about resources and upcoming events, and there are also resources like trans and non-binary roommate matching and Name-In-Use changes on the Diversity and Cultural Engagement page online.

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 9

SPORTS

OSU athletic summer camps open at full capacity for the first time in three years

By SAM MISA Sports Contributor This summer is the first time that summer athletic camps at Oregon State University have opened without COVID-19-related restrictions.

Some summer athletic camps haven’t been able to operate since the summer of 2019. This is the case with the wrestling summer program under camper director Josh Rhoden.

According to Rhoden, while he has had previous experience as a camp director at Clackamas Community College, this will be his first time directing a camp for OSU. “It’s just exciting to get people back on campus here in Corvallis, to be honest,” Rhoden said. “It’s just a unique way for kids to experience what we’re doing here and to meet the staff and be around us.”

Alongside Rhoden and the rest of the coaching staff for the wrestling camps, eight to 10 members of the OSU wrestling team are planning to help coach the campers as well.

“I think it’s just an opportunity to reintroduce ourselves and get our guys involved in helping young people enjoy the sport that we all have been afforded the opportunity to enjoy,” Rhoden said.

Rhoden’s camps are set to run from late June into early July with three separate camps

that range in age from 12th grade down to the kindergarten level.

While Rhoden and his part of OSU athletics have been shut down for the past couple of years, other sports camps, including gymnastics and volleyball, were more fortunate.

“Last year there were, I think 30 athletes maximum, no more than 10 people in a group,” said Camp Director of the gymnastics summer camp as well as Associate Head Gymnastics Coach, Bryan Raschilla.

“There were all kinds of crazy restrictions.

Then again, by the time we actually got to camp, they were lifted,” Raschilla said.

According to Raschilla, who is himself entering his second year as camp director for gymnastics at OSU, summer athletic camps help provide experience to new or young coaches.

“My daughter is actually a volleyball player and loves to do gymnastics camps because she’s six foot three and knows how to spot,” Raschilla said. “But yeah, they’re just camps that can, for the most part, be a great positive learning experience for coaches and athletes.”

For Raschilla, his summer camps for gymnastics will run from mid-June to mid-September and feature four different options for participants eight years or older.

Alongside Rhoden’s and Raschilla’s camps are the volleyball camps organized and directed by Alyssa Whitney.

According to Whitney, most of the volleyball camps at OSU have already been sold out two months before their starts, which is the first time this has happened for Whitney in her six years of coaching at OSU. “I think post-COVID-19 people are just kind of ready to get back to it and get out and moving and enjoy the things that they once loved,” Whitney said. “In general, we found that it’s booming this year.”

For Whitney, whose camps are reaching participation levels of up to 240 campers, expansion of the camps will be difficult because of the limitations of the volleyball courts on campus.

“We have been in talks about if this interest continues,” Whitney said. “How can we expand the camp for more participants to be able to enjoy it, but also keeping obviously the risk and safety factors in mind and just making sure that everybody is happy and healthy?”

Following the guidelines put forward by OSU, none of the camps have any COVID19 vaccine requirements, but all of them are taking precautions to avoid the spreading of the virus.

Looking ahead to the summer, the volleyball program will host their first of four camps on July 14, open to participants ages ten through high school seniors. The remaining three camps all take place in late July.

KAYLA JONES | OMN ARCHIVES Oregon State junior gymnast, Kayla Bird, highfives OSU associate head gymnastics coach, Bryan Raschilla, after completing her uneven bars routine during the Oregon State, San Jose State, and University of Washington tri-meet on Jan. 15, in Corvallis, Ore. The OSU gymnastics team will have three camps over the summer.

KAYLA JONES | OMN ARCHIVES Oregon State senior gymnast, Madi Dagen, hugs head OSU gymnastics coach, Tanya Chaplin, after completing her routine during the Oregon State and Arizona State dual meet on Feb. 5 in Corvallis, Ore. Dagen plans to return to the program next season.

KAYLA JONES | OMN ARCHIVES Senior wrestler Devan Turner receives congratulations from the OSU wrestling program’s head coach, Chris Pendleton, and associate head coach, Nate Engel, during his senior night on Feb. 4 inside of Gill Colliseum. The OSU wrestling team will have three wrestling camps over the summer, including an intensive camp, technique camp and a team camp.

10 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

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Congratulations 2022 graduates!

Your future starts today. We are so proud of you. You will always be a part of Beaver Nation.

Welcome to the family of the College of Agricultural Sciences Alums.

Go Beavs!

Dr. Staci Simonich Dean, College of Agricultural Sciences

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 11

SPORTS

Slama reflects on senior year at OSU

By RYAN HARLAN Sports Contributor For Oregon State senior Ellie Slama, the sport of golf has always been a family affair.

She started out her journey to playing golf competitively when she would tag along to watch her older brother and dad play.

“I started playing because my dad and my brother both played,” Slama said. “My dad always played but never played competitively, and so he always kind of pushed us into every sport and tried to get us to try a bunch of different ones. My brother really took a liking to golf, so I would kind of get [dragged] out on the golf course with them and just kind of hang out. I wouldn’t really play for the first couple of years, I’d just walk alongside them.”

It wasn’t long until those days of hanging out on the golf course would spark her interest in playing golf with a little encouragement from her mom, who signed up Slama for several golf tournaments.

Slama’s love of the sport would grow from there as she went on to compete in many major amateur golf tournaments, which included top ten finishes in the IMG Junior worlds tournament, Pacific Northwest Golf Association Girls Junior Amateur tournament, Pacific Northwest PGA Sectionals tournament, Annika Invitational tournament, Scott Robertson Memorial tournament and the Joanne Winter SilverBelle Championship tournament.

Entering high school, she would compete for South Salem High School’s varsity golf team, lettering in all four years for golf, as well as let12 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

tering in swimming and cross country. She would win all high school league golf tournaments as a sophomore, junior and senior, and collect many accolades and awards along the way. These included competing for the Saxons, winning two OSAA state championships in 2016 and 2017, being selected to the OSAA All-State First Team all four years and being selected to the All-Mid Valley Team/All State Tournament Team four times.

“I think I definitely got more and more competitive as I got older and when I was about eleven or twelve, I realized ‘I’m going to have to practice to be really good at this’, ‘’ Slama said. “And so I would start going to the course with my brother and practicing and yeah it just kind turned into like what was hobby ended up being like my life and so it was cool, I definitely had to cut back on swimming and cross country because I didn’t have the time to do all three, but I’m very happy with my decision to stick with golf and it’s opened a lot of doors and opportunities for me.”

Those opportunities led Slama to take her talents to the next level to play competitively after high school with her verbally committing to Oregon State, which was an easy decision for her as both her parents and brother attended Oregon State.

As a freshman in 2017, Slama would find early success at the college level playing in all eleven tournaments finishing with the year with a scoring average of 72.79 in 35 rounds, which is the best single season scoring average for a freshman in Oregon State history.

Her sophomore season saw Slama build off her early success and had several top ten finishes at tournaments, winning the individual title at the Trinity Forest Invitational, and was one of seventy-two golfers invited to the inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur tournament. However, going into her junior year, despite Slama’s season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she would play in six tournaments that ZEVA ROSENBAUM | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Ellie Slama, an Oregon State University golfer, at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis on May 23. Slama is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Slama started playing golf as a child and completed her five years at Oregon State University with the best scoring average in OSU history at 72.95.

year with a career highlight of Slama’s being a second-place individual finish, which she shot a three-round score of 8-under 208 and a team win in the Cougar Cup. “It was the spring before COVID-19, so 2019, we won as a team and we had two new people on the team that were traveling and so it was kind of a younger team, it was just really good atmosphere and everyone played super well the last day. I think we had like three of us that shot in the sixties the last day to win it and it was just a super fun tournament and another course that we hadn’t played before.”

With competition resuming for the 20202021 season, Slama would pick off right where she left off competing in six tournaments for the Beavers, including winning the individual title at the Silverado Showdown with a three-round 8-under 208 at the Silverado Showdown.

“Individually I would say, my most favorite moment was [the Silverado Showdown during] my senior year,” Slama said. “I won individually, [and] I played three super solid rounds, [even though] I missed the practice round so it was the first time I had ever seen the course.

It was just like a very fun three days of golf, and I played super well. It definitely helped me as a player and just like go through and get that win.”

However, even with highs that the season brought for Slama and the Beavers. Their season would once again be cut short as they did not get to compete in NCAA regionals that year, which were held in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Beavers were seeded 7th going into regionals and the top six teams advanced to the NCAA Championship that year but didn’t get an opportunity to compete in regionals that year.

“Baton Rouge was just a disappointing week for the whole team and every school that was seeded seven through eighteen,” Slama said.

“The course had gotten some rain and they said that it was ‘playable’ but it wasn’t ‘playable at a championship level’, which has never been a term used in my fifteen years of golf. And it was a bunch of people on this committee that didn’t try their hardest and didn’t put all their work into making the course more ready for the tournament. It was just really unfortunate that the whole situation happened the way that it did.”

Those factors from the last two seasons led Slama to come back for her fifth year this season, using the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think returning for my fifth year was just really important to me after we kind of had a crappy ending to the season in Baton Rouge,” Slama said. “It was another opportunity and SLAMA Continued on page 13

SPORTS

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ZEVA ROSENBAUM | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Ellie Slama, an Oregon State University golfer, at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis on May 23. Slama is graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Slama started playing golf as a child and completed her five years at Oregon State University with the best scoring average in OSU history at 72.95.

another full year of golf when we missed out because of Covid, so I just really wanted to end my time at Oregon State on my own terms.”

In her fifth year, Slama finished out the regular season with a top-ten individual finish at Silverado and the team finished with a top-ten finish placing 6th. In her final PAC-12 championship appearance Slama finished in a tie for 13th individually, but the Beavers finished with a second-place finish, which is the best in program history, which was a highlight for Slama.

The Beavers qualified for their fifth straight regionals, earning a bid to the NCAA Franklin Regional in Tennessee after their historic performance at the PAC-12 championship finishing in second place, and playing their first regional since 2019.

“It was really kind of a bit of relief and we were excited to go, we went out there with a good mentality,” Slama said.

The team placed eighth in the Franklin regional and did not advance to the championship. Slama in her final competition for the Beavers finished in a tie for 27th place to close out her last competition.

Wrapping up her career at Oregon State, Slama leaves the program as the most accomplished golfer in school history. She holds

several records in the women’s golf program including most top ten finishes in a season, lowest single round score, highest scoring average by class, and lowest individual three round score.

Slama also earned three all PAC-12 selections, was named a WGCA All-American Scholar in 2021, named a three-time PAC-12 All Academic, and is the first golfer in Oregon State history to be named PAC-12 golfer of the month. She has played in three NCAA regionals and one NCAA championship as an individual, becoming the fifth Beaver in program history to do so.

Slama has her post-Oregon State plans already lined up. She plans on moving down to southern-California and looks to play golf professionally, continuing to build off the work and lessons she learned from competing at the college level.

Reflecting on her five years competing for the Beavers, Slama looked back with appreciation for her time at Oregon State.

“Oregon State definitely shaped me very well and helped me succeed, so it is cool to look back on that and think about how little freshman Ellie came in like I didn’t expect any of it really, ” Slama said. “I knew that the team was going to be good, and our ranking got significantly better in my first two years, which is really cool. Overall, the five years definitely turned out to be all I expected and much, much more.”

Corvallis’ Home Base for Nerds Who Love to Play!

SLAMA Continued from page 12

Expires Sept 30, 2022 JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 13

CITY

Small Corvallis businesses have generally positive outlooks for a summer without COVID-19 restrictions Businesses reflect on pandemic, look toward future, lifted mandates

By HAYDEN LOHR News Reporter

Many small businesses have struggled under COVID-19 and mask restrictions, which have been coupled in Corvallis, Ore. with reduced student populations, but some businesses are positive about the upcoming summer.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused many businesses to struggle due to reduced consumer presence, various restrictions, shutdowns and supply chain shortages.

The summer of 2020 saw multiple restrictions as cases hit a peak in Oregon, and the summer of 2021 saw some restrictions lifted, though only for a short period.

This summer will be the first in two years without major COVID-19 restrictions in place.

However, not all businesses fared poorly, and the way businesses were impacted varied.

“I had a good clientele, so I wasn’t really affected,” said Ian Tooth, owner of the Corvallis Meat Pie Shop. “I went up the ladder, not down.”

According to Tooth, it depends on luck and what you sell. Tooth said he was actively building clientele over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even so, he still anticipates this summer to see an uptick in new customers.

“Clientele will probably increase,” Tooth said. “We have word-of-mouth advertising. We get new clients every day… I think the restrictions have been lifted, a lot more people out and about. A lot of people are glad that has happened, the world is going to go on. Not just sleeping anymore.”

The First Alternative Natural Food Co-op, which has locations at 1007 SE Third St. and 2855 NW Grant Ave. in Corvallis, faced different challenges over the pandemic.

“We experienced the big stock up in March of 2020, and the big drop off in April of 2020,” said Cindee Lolik, the General Manager of both Co-ops and the commissary kitchen.

The big stock up refers to that period of time when people hoarded items like toilet paper, and massive supply chain shortages and people panic-buying groceries led to empty shelves in many supermarkets.

Aside from that, the Co-op experienced difficulties in managing restrictions among customers as well.

“We had to enforce the mask mandate,” Lolik said. “Sales for us have been strong for the past two years—we don’t see the changes

lately to decrease our business, it will increase.

We continue to do pickup and delivery for immunocompromised individuals.”

Recent events however have made things more complicated, according to Lolik. Supply chain shortages due to the war in Ukraine and rising COVID-19 case counts in Benton County are hitting the Co-op.

Lolik also noted that usually the summers are not ideal because a lot of students and professors leave town.

According to President of the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce Simon Date, however, outlooks from many businesses for the summer are still good, especially when compared to summers over the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Restaurants are very excited for the summer,” Date said. “Then again, I don’t think anyone is really looking at this like we are in the clear—everyone is excited for the future.”

Date noted that many restaurants were hit harder than other businesses.

According to Date, a lot of retail stores didn’t have the same restrictions. People were encouraged to stay six feet apart but stores set their own occupancy limits, if any.

Restaurant capacities, however, were reduced by 50%. Date described that as a double-edged sword.

On one hand, capacity was halved, and on the other hand, some people decided not to go out fearing that they wouldn’t get a seat, or would need to wait for hours. “[We] are definitely looking forward to more of a normal summer than we have had over the past two years,” Lolik said.

14 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

Use a QR code scanner or Snapchat to view the Corvallis Chamber of Commerce’s new app Experience Corvallis.

SOLOMON MYERS | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Corvallis Chamber of Commerce President Simon Date outside of the Chamber of Commerce building.

With the summer approaching, the Chamber of Commerce is gearing up to stimulate business and the economy as college students leave for the summer.

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CITY

Amid the nationwide Great Teacher Resignation, Corvallis School District teacher turnover remains low

By SAM MISA News Contributor

The consumer price index in the United States increased at the highest rate this year since December 1981; many workers have found wages unable to keep up.

This is the case with teachers resigning across the country, a mass exodus being called the “Great Teacher Resignation.” The National Education Association reported in February that 55% of educators surveyed indicated they were leaving their professions sooner than originally planned.

For Corvallis School District, however, Human Resources Director Jennifer Duvall said the district is not seeing a higher number of teacher resignations than is average for CSD. “We have only a few retirements this year and those have been based on age and eligibility,” Duvall said. “We do not always get reasons for resignations. Of those who have shared, it is to get closer to or be with family.”

For teachers in Corvallis, Ore., the average salaries per full time equivalent is $72,315.50, according to Director of Finance and Operations Olivia Meyers Buch. This is almost $12,000 more than the average teacher salary for the nation, or about 20% higher than the national average.

However, Corvallis is also in the top 6% of the most expensive cities in the world to live in, with some teachers finding it virtually impossible to live in the same city they work in.

“Unless they grew up there and inherited a home, you don’t have the ability, or any sort of access to be able to afford the homes in the area,” said one Corvallis teacher, who wanted to remain anonymous for job security reasons.

“It forces teachers to commute. It just doesn’t seem right for when you’re teaching kids that are living in the area.”

According to the Corvallis teacher, salaries increase depending on how many years you have worked in the district at rates of 1-2%.

There are no built in contingencies for when inflation rises as high as it did this past year.

“When it comes down to it, I’m still happy being a teacher,” the teacher said. “I think that’s something that a lot of the people who are working for the CSD can agree to.”

While it may not always be the fault of CSD, according to the teacher, they feel that they have been receiving less respect and appreciation as a teacher.

“After the [COVID-19] pandemic sort of cooled down, we went back to the status quo of teachers being just an asset that we use, and we pay our taxes and they get paid from that,” the teacher said.

“When it comes down to it, I’m still happy being a teacher. I think that’s something a lot of the people who are working for the Corvallis School District can agree to.”

- Corvallis School District teacher

As for why teacher turnover rates aren’t as high as may have been expected, the Corvallis teacher believes that teachers feel they are trapped in their jobs.

“I know that we’re sort of put in between

a rock and a hard place,” the teacher said.

“Many of the people who are teachers don’t have anywhere else to go in the industry or in the private industry.”

According to the teacher, because of the current setup of the Public Employees Retirement System in Oregon, most teachers can only continue to be teachers.

“When you’re working for Oregon as a state employee, you can’t transfer over and pick up for another [state],” the teacher said.

The PERS system is limited to only Oregon, which means that state employees can only expect to be able to transfer their progress toward retirement if they transfer jobs in state.

“I think sometimes the administration knows that the teachers are stuck where they are, so they can ask them to do just about anything they need them to in order to make the district or the public or the state happy, as far as what they’re asking us to do,” the teacher said.

•

• • •

TEACHER RESIGNATION

55% of U.S. educators indicated leaving their positions earlier than anticipated in Feb. 2022 (NEA).

The average teacher salary was $65,090 for the 20202021 school year (NEA).

The average CSD teacher salary is $72,315.50.

A 2018 poll by CBS News found 68% of Americans believed teachers in their communities were underpaid.

MATTHEW MCKENNA | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK The outside of Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Ore. on June 1. Though teacher turnover rates are increasing nationwide, representatives from Corvallis School District say they are not seeing higher turnover rates than normal.

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 15

CITY

OSU alumna-activist, Albany Pride founder speak on PRIDE

By ZEVA ROSENBAUM News Contributor While Corvallis, Ore. is not throwing an official Pride celebration, Albany Pride will hold their Pride event at 10 a.m. on June 25 at Albany City Hall Plaza, where participants can find LGBTQIA+ owned businesses and resources.

The City of Albany made a 2022 Pride proclamation as they’ve done in some capacity since 2017, which was unanimously voted on by council members, and Linn County also issued an official Pride Month proclamation.

Corvallis government hasn’t made or rejected a Pride Month proclamation this year.

Lebanon’s Downtown Association will host Family Pride Day on June 18 at 1 p.m., starting in the Lebanon Academy Square. Philomath’s Pride was held on June 4.

Keith Kolkow founded Albany Pride in 2017 despite initially being worried about “resistance” on the part of Albany city councilors who supported anti-equity votes and language.

But, Kolkow said, he believed his talents and knowledge were needed to help the community after Donald Trump’s presidential election.

“I knew people were scared and feeling isolated, so I decided to put on a Pride event,” Kolkow said.

Albany Pride has held a Pride event every

year since 2017, according to Kolkow, except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the organization has received “staggering amounts of grassroots support” from allies and members of the community, without whom he said he couldn’t have made it all happen.

“It is truly a grassroots event with everything that happens, from sound equipment to local drag performances all being donated,” Kolkow explained. “Since 2018 we have also featured resource tabling for organizations that directly serve the LGBTQIA+ community as well as LGBTQIA+-owned businesses.”

2022 is Albany Pride’s fifth year of operation, and Kolkow said it “marks a major shift for Pride.” He said he’s formed a partnership with United Way of Linn, Benton and Lincoln Counties, who now act as Albany Pride’s fiscal agent.

Kolkow said he believes money brings “immense responsibility” to incorporate equity and deliver [results] for the community from the very first dollar, and most of their funding goes toward covering Albany Pride’s overhead costs and compensation for performers.

“These artists deserve compensation,” Kolkow said. “Additionally, we will provide honorariums for our activist speakers and tribal representatives performing land acknowledgements. I will not be compensated as I believe this is an honor to

bring to our community.”

According to Kolkow, remaining donated funds are to be donated to organizations directly serving Linn County’s LGBTQIA+ youth. He said Albany Pride is often referred to as a Pride Parade, but Albany Pride is not a parade, despite including an annual march. He believes everyone who is able should actively participate and take part in marching.

“We must always march and remember why we march,” Kolkow said.

Michaela Martin, an Albany-Lebanon local and Oregon State University alumna, said she’s always been interested in LGBTQIA+ rights and advocacy, partially thanks to her own bisexuality.

Martin explained that policy has been important to her since she was young; it impacted her directly since she’s been out as bi since before she left high school.

“My mom would always be like, ‘You can’t complain about things if you’re not trying to change them,” Martin said. “I think I took that really literally, which meant I got to complain about anything I was trying to change.”

Martin said she was in bed researching rules for adding code to the ballot when she came across Chapter 270 and immediately reached out to the Linn County Commissioners the following day.

Adopted in June of 1993, Linn County Code

Chapter 270 “No Rights to Homosexuals” denied minority or protected status to individuals identifying as LGBTQ+ and prohibits the spending of county funds in ways that express approval of homosexuality.

“It really wrecked me,” Martin said. “Lying there in my bed at two in the morning and I was like, ‘What is this?’”

At first glance, Martin said there was no indication that the code was, in fact, unenforceable and she later found that it was not enforceable, but was “being retained” in case the commission decided to either enforce or remove it.

According to Martin, the code was quietly removed from the website during this process and is now only available via a public records request and, when she called to ask why, they didn’t provide an explanation.

“How would anyone even know to do that?”

Michaela asked.

Martin said once Oregon introduced LGBTQIA+ rights, multiple smaller counties and towns enacted a “wave” of anti-LGBTQIA+ opposition via local bills, but they were ultimately shut down in Oregon Supreme Court.

“But the fact that our commission was PRIDE Continued on page 17

OLIVIA METCLAF | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Elijah Stucki is the executive director for Mid Willamette Trans Support Network and has been volunteering for the network since 2017. Mid Willamette Trans Support Network has a community at The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, Ore.

16 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

CITY PRIDE Continued from page 16

retaining it,” Martin said. “How do you process it?”

Martin said that, regardless of being unenforceable, she saw Chapter 270 as “a beacon of homophobia,” and the symbolism can’t be forgotten.

Basic Rights Oregon has a timeline of Oregon’s pro- and anti-LGBTQIA+ policies spanning 1853 through 2021, including repeated attempts to push Measure 9 on the part of the Christian organization Oregon Citizens’ Alliance.

According to Martin, she started contacting any advocate she knew, but it was difficult for organizations to put resources toward removing such a small, unenforceable code. She said some of her advocate friends were concerned and told her she should be cautious about bringing attention to the issue at the risk of “galvanizing opposition.” Martin said she even took out a Post Office box so her physical address wouldn’t be found on any paperwork, especially since her son, Ezra, was only two or three years old at the time and she was concerned about their safety.

Martin was involved with Linn County Democrats in 2017 as well and ended up connecting with Kolkow.

Martin said she started going to protests when she was quite young and described the “occupy” movement she started at 21 while visiting cousins in Michigan. She said she and a coworker sat alone outside for the first two days before others started joining them, and after the movement picked up and it started getting cold outside, she realized she wanted to “be at the table” and take part in the con-

versations surrounding advocacy and policy, although it took some time to get used to really taking the initiative.

Since her days of advocacy in Albany and receiving her bachelor’s degree in communications and a minor in psychology from OSU, Martin has graduated with a law degree from Southern California University of Laverne. She said she plans to continue working in policy in the future as well as taking on consulting work.

Martin said she’s excited to be speaking at Albany Pride this year.

“I have a pretty great message about how often we’re waiting for someone else to do ‘the thing,’” Martin said. “Because we think we don’t know how, or we’re not the right person, or there’s someone who does know more or has more power and [we think] they should be the one to do it,’ and we just kind of… let things exist.”

Martin said her speech will also cover Bill 565 and will encourage people to “be empowered to ‘do the thing’ and research and take part in local government.

Kolkow said he and Martin began talking when he heard about her work, and he invited her to speak at their first Pride. He said he only expected about 100 attendees at the first Pride, but they ended up with over 1,000.

Kolkow said part of him always knew he was different, but growing up in “actual rural” Malin, Ore. led to him only coming out after serving in the Air Force. He said during the enlistment process, he only actively read one document out of the “mountains of paperwork” he had to sign: the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Policy.

“That’s kind of when I really knew, or at least acknowledged to myself, that I was gay man, though it took me years to say it out loud,” Kolkow explained.

Kolkow said the 1990s and early 2000s were

a “very different time,” partially due to the “‘Christian’ undercurrent’” that intensified post 9/11.

“I do have my own religious beliefs but I certainly don’t believe they should govern the rights and human dignity of others,” Kolkow added.

According to Kolkow, before becoming politically outspoken and being openly out as gay, it was much easier to live and work in Albany, in particular once he ran for local office.

“We are failing the youth and many of our neighbors in our community, that’s a fact that cannot be ignored,” Kolkow said. “There is still a lot of work to do here—to acknowledge and remove the vestiges of our exclusionary present and past, it is a moral imperative for me and I’m honored to be a part of that among many others who bring infinitely more experience

and insight into the numerous inequities in our communities and local institutions.”

There are multiple Pride month events for Willamette Valley residents throughout June, including the Albany Pride celebration as well as Philomath, Ore. and Lebanon, Ore.’s first Pride events.

According to Kolkow, people can get involved by messaging the Albany Pride Facebook and Instagram @albanyorpride.

Kolkow also encourages people to attend the Linn-Benton NAACP Juneteenth event at LBCC on June 18.

“LGBTQIA+ allies and the (caucasianpassing) LGBTQIA+ community need to start showing up more for our [Black, Indigenous people of color] community members— we absolutely owe them our allyship through action,” Kolkow said.

OLIVIA METCLAF | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Elijah Stucki, executive director for Mid Willamette Trans Support Network. Mid Willamette Trans Support Network is for gender-diverse people and provides needs and a welcoming community for the people within the community.

Stone Soup Corvallis Inc. faces increased demand for meals, seeks community volunteers

By SAM MISA News Contributor Corvallis Ore. based group Stone Soup Corvallis Inc. has experienced increases in demand for meals as high as 40% this year compared to last year, and is seeking the help of volunteers.

“This demand, along with inflation in food prices, is stressing the Stone Soup budget,” said president of Stone Soup, Sara Ingle.

“Fortunately, Stone Soup has just relaxed a COVID-19 precaution and now accepts donations of packaged or canned goods in their original packaging—unless expired.”

According to Ingle, January through March saw 40% increases compared to a year prior. She also said the opening of dining rooms within St. Mary’s Church as well as at First Christian Church has also slightly increased demand.

“More than three-fourths of the meals we serve are cooked by our volunteer crews in

the kitchens of the two churches,” Ingle said.

“The remaining meals are cooked by a caterer and served at our walk-up/drive-through site at Third Street Commons.”

Other things that have been contributing to demand for meals include the lifting of rent moratoriums as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits being scaled back as the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be ending, according to Ingle.

“Reopening the dining rooms has really increased our volunteers needed for serving, dishwashing, set-up, and take-down shifts,” said Ingle. “Interested volunteers should contact stonesouphelp@gmail.com. Some are relatively short shifts.”

According to academic advisor at Oregon State University as well as volunteer at Stone Soup, Katie Harvey, the workers are happy to help fill the role of providing to more people.

For more information on how to help Stone Soup Corvallis through volunteering or donating supplies, visit their website.

SAM MISA | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Oregon State University Ph.D student Saichon Sumantakul (left) and second year biohealth science major Melissa Richards preparing silverware for Stone Soup diners at First Christian Church in downtown Corvallis, Ore. on May 24.

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 17

CITY

The Corvallis Arts Center will host Arts Alive in person for the first time since 2019

By HAYDEN LOHR News Reporter The Corvallis Arts Center is a local arts center that features classes and residency for artists-to-be and a gallery; this year will be the first since the COVID-19 pandemic that they will host Arts Alive in person.

“Community, connection and the positive role of the arts would be the buzz phrase I would use [to describe the Arts Center],” said Hester Coucke, the curator of the Corvallis Arts Center. “[It’s] a cultural hub, where one could get an introduction to first rate art and art by beginners from Oregon, get inspired, participate in art-making events, learn about the business of being an artist. Welcoming people from all backgrounds such as race, education level, financial (in)stability.”

CAC provides a way for the community to get involved in art, and for local artists to exhibit their work. Being located so close to campus also means that it can be easily

viewed and utilized by Oregon State University students. During the summer, they host an event called “arts alive” which is a festival aimed at showing art and showing off the Corvallis Arts Center.

“Arts Alive is a great way to test the waters to what we do, or apply to Arts Alive to jump in the deep end,” said Claire Elam, the director of the Artist Accelerator Program. “If you aren’t ready to take that step, attend a lecture or view the online lectures.”

There are a number of other ways to get involved in the CAC aside from the big Arts Alive event in August, however.

“Come to our monthly artist meetups, come to as many receptions and art talks and volunteer,” Coucke said. “Volunteering can be done once a week, once a month, to only a few times a year. We need all kinds of expertise, talents and levels of commitment.”

CAC is a community focused building, and it is supported—both in art and finance—largely by the public. The funding for the center comes through donations and city support, and

the center has paid and volunteer positions that keep it running.

“A diverse mix of city, state, business sponsorship and foundation funding [support the Corvallis Arts Center], some earned income from registrations and service fees, with the largest contribution coming from the over 700 members/donors making individual gifts of ten dollars to thousands of dollars each year,” said Cynthia Spencer, the Executive Director of the CAC. CAC also features classes and programs, such as the AAP. According to Elam, the AAP is an all-inclusive way for artists to achieve their art goals, and to help learn the business and management skills that might come with an art career.

“By the time they are leaving, they will have a rough draft of a business plan, artist’s statement, materials for pricing, CV listings and acceptance to a show or add to their resume, and the idea of how to structure a business,” Elam said.

According to Elam, the AAP is open to

everyone. They mostly see two different groups of people—people who are done with art as a hobby and want to make it their career, and those who have tried that and had some trouble.

Along with the AAP, artists can get involved in the artist meetups from 5 to 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month.

“The Arts Center was founded by a collaborative effort that included artists, civic leaders and Departments of the College of Liberal Arts in an effort to connect city residents and the OSU community through the arts,” Spencer said.

The Corvallis Arts Center has a history of working with Oregon State University, such as with exhibitions on campus and working along with staff and students to produce and display art.

“We hope to be able to engage younger people, and do meaningful work for young adults,” Coucke said. “It would be nice if the realization of the importance of art in one’s life, was more widespread and supported.”

HAYDEN LOHR | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK The outside of the Corvallis Arts Center on May 12. The CAC building used to be a church and is over 100 years old, and the center features classes, residency for artists-to-be, a gallery and community events.

18 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

FORUM

Why it’s hard to study abroad, but important to try Hayden Lohr F*ck it, real talk

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tudying abroad is difficult to do; there are many barriers, from finances and classes to the bureaucracy of actually getting into a program, but it is still valuable to try while in college.

The first thing most people think of when studying abroad is finances. That makes sense considering programs range from just a bit more than Oregon State University—already overpriced because education should be free—to $20,000 or $30,000 for term or yearlong programs.

“I am hoping to use my OSU scholarship for study abroad,” said Sophia Fischer, a psychology major and prospective study abroad student for the fall of 2022. “I have to be accepted before I can apply for their scholarships. I am hoping I can get a good portion funded through their scholarships, and I have been saving for a while, and with a couple hundred from my parents, I should be able to do it.”

For the big question, paying for study abroad, students have several options. All programs offered through OSU Global Opportunities allow students to use their financial aid towards the program. You can also pay for it out of pocket, apply for scholarships or take out outside loans.

Most program providers also have needbased and merit-based scholarships.

OSU offers several scholarships, and the global scholarship office will help walk you through certain scholarships such as the Gilman Award. According to Laura Hampton, the Study Abroad Manager at OSU GO, 21 out of 24 OSU Gilman Scholarship applications

COOPER BASKINS | OMN ARCHIVES A student on Oregon State’s Global Opportunities webpage looking into the different options for studying abroad. Some study abroad programs are expecting to welcome students this upcoming year, but few are certain that the experience will be available in person.

HAYDEN LOHR | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Student outside of the OSU Global Opportunities office on May 17, 2022, holding her passport. The OSU global opportunities office regulates OSU international programs.

got approved for this upcoming year, including myself.

“There are programs that are similar or just above the cost of attendance to OSU so I would encourage students to make the investment,” Hampton said.

Even aside from the financial part of things, working around classes and actually applying are all difficult. However, I would argue that if you can make it work, you should try. An international experience will make you wellrounded in a way that studying in the U.S. can never do.

According to Christopher Adams, the International Programs coordinator at OSU GO, he talks to people all the time out of college that say they wish they had the time to study abroad.

“As complicated and as costly, and as whatever barrier there is, it is probably not going to get any easier later in your life to do something like this,” Adams said. “This is one of your best opportunities [in your life] to get an extended international experience.”

That is fatalistic, as Adam himself noted, but it is a good point. So, aside from finances,

what other barriers do prospective students wanting to study abroad face?

“At first I was really confused, and the OSU GO page was really confusing for me to navigate; I didn’t know I was supposed to make an appointment with them,” Fischer said. “I got really stressed because I was trying to make an OSU GO advising appointment. They have them organized for majors and places, and the person [I needed] wasn’t available for 3 months.”

Admittedly, the OSU GO portal is a bit tricky to navigate. You have several options to start, you can schedule drop-in advising first to ask questions or you can search for programs.

After that, you pick one and go through some resources on the OSU GO page and the OSU GO Canvas page.

After all of that, you can schedule your “approval to apply” meeting with the university. You need to submit an application through both OSU GO and the external program provider if the program is affiliated with OSU but not through OSU—don’t worry your financial aid still works for these programs. Don’t forget you have to pay an application fee for both the

OSU GO and external program provider site.

After you apply, you’ll hear back from both OSU and your external provider—assuming you applied through them. If you are accepted, you’ll have some post application materials through OSU GO and the external program provider, and then you’ll need to pay. This was the process I went through, but please note that yours might be different.

In all honesty, this was very tricky. There are a lot of deadlines and paperwork to submit, not to mention working this around your classes.

According to Adams and Hampton, the earlier the better when it comes to a traditional study abroad, but later in your degree path is better for an international internship.

All in all, the process is tricky, but I would argue it is worth a shot. There are a lot of resources to try and help you, and Adams was right when he said it can be really difficult to do this after college.

“My encouragement is to live with no regrets,” Hampton said. “If this is something of interest to you, can I afford it? Can I fit it into the academic program? We are here to help.”

Until next time, safe travels!

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 19

FORUM

Starship robots have gotten faster and more aggressive, taking OSU community by storm Hayden Lohr F*ck it, real talk

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he robots on Oregon State Universtiy’s Corvallis, Ore. campus have been here for almost two years, during which they have increased in number and confidence and become a part of the community.

I started at OSU prior to the introduction of the robots. I have had the privilege to watch them grow and mature into parts of the community. However, in this time, I have also noticed the robots move more effectively on campus, and I started to wonder how this is and what consequences it may have.

“I think the robots being on campus definitely make OSU unique,” said Matthew McKenna, a first year tourism, recreation and adventure leadership major. “It’s fun when you first visit campus to see these little robots zooming around everywhere. Then, when you start your first term here, you realize that they are always taking the path of least resistance, the same path every student takes to get to class.”

Based on my experiences, it seems that the robots move differently than when they first arrived on OSU’s campus. At times, they are bothersome, but they make up for this in their ability to steal our hearts, but is that just a part of their long-term plan for world domination?

“Starship robots are often treated similar to a school mascot or puppies—they are a popular selfie, people want to pat them or see them, and fans have created social media pages for them,” said Henry Harris-Burland, the vice president of marketing for Starship Technologies. “Having said this, the robots are secretly programmed to rise up in the year 2065, but they must first conquer their nemesis—the 3 p.m. freight train that runs through campus—before this is possible.”

Well, there you have it, folks. Once the robots figure out how to get past the trains, they’re coming for the rest of us.In all honesty, I don’t think we need to worry about the robots rising up to the train any time soon, considering they often have difficulty navigating around students who aren’t made of several tons of solid steel.

“I don’t know if it is increased aggression or increased stupidity,” McKenna said. “Between

getting hit by cars and trains and running into students, their programming is certainly not the same as when I started here.”

According to Harris-Burland, the robots use machine learning as a sort of hive-mind in order to better understand their surroundings and navigate them.

This is why some people noticed that the robots were rather clumsy and slow at their introduction, but can now relatively effectively travel the OSU campus. However, if they decide to rise then, this technology will make them worthy adversaries.

Contrary to popular belief, the robots were not introduced to campus as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Apparently they were just expedited by this seminal tragedy.

“Starship approached us with the potential of bringing robots to campus,” said Kerry Patterson, the director of Residential Dining and Catering. “This, we explored and were investigating when COVID-19 hit in March 2020 and campus went remote. We soon realized that Starship’s ability to offer contactless delivery and a mobile ordering platform—with pick up—were necessary during that time.”

Considering that the robots remained prof-

itable, and have brought increased attention through media following to OSU, they have remained a part of campus and are likely here to stay.

Baring the possibility that they are ousted after a bloody robot-led revolution.

“I am definitely not prepared for the uprising, and I don’t think anybody else is either,” McKenna said. “Nearly nobody knows their secret weapon. The robots can climb stairs.

Literally nowhere on campus is safe. They know every inch of campus, literally.”

Since the robots appeared on campus, questions have been raised about their cost to students, and the danger they might pose to campus goers.

However, according to Harris-Burland, there is no cost to the university. The only costs incurred are when students order food with the robots. This, especially when compared to human deliveries and vehicles with rising gas prices, makes the robots incredibly economical.

“I would assume the robots work like race horses, as soon as they aren’t making a profit, they get put down,” McKenna said.

And as always, safe travels!

I’m getting a raise and you deserve one too Christine Castles Social Addendumn

O

regon’s minimum wage will increase to $13.50 an hour on July 1, but Oregon State University student workers who are funded by student fees will receive an extra bump to $15.

Student fee funded workers come in eight divisions: Student Experience and Engagement—including diversity and cultural engagement—the Memorial Union, Associated Students of OSU, Recreational Sports, Intercollegiate Athletics, Family Resource Center, Basic Needs Center and performing arts.

Orange Media Network and The Daily Barometer, which are a part of SEE, is among those who will receive a wage increase.

Raising minimum wage is absolutely necessary because students should not have to live off of the current minimum wage, which is pretty standard for on-campus work.

Emma Garland, third-year nutrition student, has felt the struggle of being a student and trying to work enough to afford living even while working 15 to 20 hours per week.

“At this time, I am relying on savings and I make enough to just cover my rent and not the utilities,” she said.

If you make minimum wage and work 20 hours per week—which is the maximum that students are allowed to work—then it can still be a struggle to afford even just rent and utilities, especially in Corvallis, where housing is becoming increasingly expensive.

Working those 20 hours is also still on top of being a full-time student which, realistically, already takes up more than 40 hours a week.

Without even considering that people deserve to be able to go to college without going tens of thousands of dollars in debt or that people deserve to have free time, the expectations for students are already unrealistic.

“Money is something that I think everyone stresses about,” Garland said. “I am always trying to pick up extra shifts, so I can afford school and rent.”

Of course money is stressful. If you don’t pay utilities, they will be shut off. If you don’t pay rent, you’ll lose your home. If you don’t pay for school, you get kicked out.

The health consequences of not having enough money make it even more difficult to work, and it can affect your ability to perform in classes, which can lead to a cycle

20 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • JUNE 6, 2022

of failing classes because of having to work and then needing to work more to afford retaking those classes.

All this is to say is that a $15 an hour minimum wage makes doing this impossible balancing act a little more possible.

According to Joe Page, third-year public health and Spanish major who is the current ASOSU Student Fee Committee chair elect, ASOSU was able to pass the bill that approved the minimum wage increase because it exerts its power in less than direct ways.

Page, as the chair of the budget committee, created a letter to the eight fee funded units that asked them to include a minimum wage increase in the budget request that they send to ASOSU, who then approved their requests.

This was a pretty simple process, Page said.

As for the student workers on campus who are not funded by the incidental fee, Page said, because there are so many more areas, it is more complicated.

Page said he hasn’t heard any indication that other student worker wages are going to go up in the near future because of ASOSU. However, there are other student work places on campus that have managed to raise their minimum wage on their own. According to Page, the student tour ambassadors were able to raise their minimum wage to a livable

$15 through self advocacy.

Other students should also feel empowered to advocate for a livable wage for themselves— working on campus or off—because that’s what they deserve.

ASOSU can help them advocate for those wages in ways such as passing resolutions and meeting with administrators, but they don’t have any decisional authority over their wage.

“We’re at a better place to be more sound advocates,” Page said.

Alas, spending more on wages is increasing the incidental fee, which is going to be raised $26.18. This is not all because of the minimum wage but also because of other increased spending including a regular increase to adjust for inflation and prices naturally going up.

Returning to the good news, Page also said that ASOSU was working with the eight fee units that are increasing their minimum wage to keep their wage increasing every year rather than having a single one and done increase.

Students should not have to take time they don’t have to ask for the bare minimum they already deserve, but they should feel empowered to advocate for themselves and find resources available to them such as the Basic Needs Center or ASOSU. Simply put, students are entitled to afford to live, and they shouldn’t be afraid to say as much.

FORUM

Oregon State football should keep Nolan as the starting quarterback for next season Ryan Harlan Here’s my two cents

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he college football season is a tradition like any other, and with fall training camp just around the corner, the anticipation grows for Beaver football’s return inside a half empty Reser Stadium, which is undergoing renovations this year.

Although it’s not quite football season just yet, it doesn’t mean that I can’t talk about the team headed into next season. I want to focus on the quarterback position specifically and whether current starting redshirt-junior quarterback Chance Nolan retains his starting job when the Beavers welcome the Boise State Broncos to Reser Stadium on Sept. 3.

I’m sure by now everyone is familiar with the quarterbacks on the football roster, outside of Nolan but if not, I’ll do a quick run through of the others quarterbacks on the team. The quarterback room behind Nolan includes redshirt-senior Tristian Gebbia, redshirt-freshman Ben Gulbranson, redshirt-freshman Jake Blair, and incoming freshman Travis Throckmorton.

However, I’m just going to focus on Gebbia and Gulbranson who have had in-game experience as Blair and Throckmorton haven’t played a snap yet for the Beavers.

Gebbia was the starter for the Beavers in the shortened 2020 football season, where he was 80-for-129 in the passing game, throwing for three touchdowns and 824 yards. He was having a phenomenal season, but was unfortunately injured in the rivalry game against Oregon. He was replaced by Nolan, who finished the game and secured the win for Oregon State courtesy of a one-yard quarterback sneak.

Gulbranson also saw some action in the 2020 season and made his debut appearance in the final game of the season against Arizona State, where he went 6-for-9, throwing for 64 yards and a touchdown. Gulbranson did not see the field this past season due to a shoulder injury sustained during spring practices prior to the start of the 2021 football season.

As a result of being down two quarterbacks to injury, Oregon State head football coach Jonathan Smith went to the transfer portal to bring in a veteran quarterback to the room and brought in senior Sam Noyer from the University of Colorado Boulder to bring stability and starting experience to the position. In the 2020 season for Colorado, Noyer went 88-for-160, throwing for 1,101 yard, six touchdown, seven interceptions, and led the Buffaloes to a 4-2 record and bowl game appearance.

Noyer was named the starter for the opener against Purdue after fall camp concluded and Nolan, who had started a few games in 2020,

was named the backup to Noyer. However, Noyer’s tenure as a starting quarterback would be short lived at Oregon State as he was replaced by Nolan in the second half of the game against Purdue to try and spark a comeback. Noyer went 10-for-21, throwing for 94 yards and an interception.

Nolan would almost complete the comeback for the Beavers, but fell just short in the season opener.

After that, Nolan ran away with the starting quarterback job, leading the Beavers and finishing with an overall record of 7-6 on the year, which secured a bowl game appearance for the first time in eight years.

The Beavers also finished with a undefeated record of 6-0 at home, including a win over Utah, who would go on to eventually win the PAC-12 football championship.

During the season, Nolan was consistently throwing for around 200-yards a game as a starter except for three games against where the running game was the main focal point of the offense. The Beavers had one of the best rushing offenses in the nation this past season, and as a result, there were times where Nolan wasn’t throwing a lot during a game.

For example, against Washington, Nolan only threw for 48 yards, going 7-for-15, his fewest passing yards of the season.

I heard a lot of criticism about this, but I was fine with the team running the ball most

of the game if an opponent could not stop the Beavers. Even if they did, Nolan would pick apart a defense using his ability as a dual-threat quarterback to extend plays to keep offensive drives alive. In the 2021 season, Nolan rushed 70 times for 286 yards and three touchdowns.

Looking back on this season and Nolan’s play under center, it was a good season when you consider that it was his first full year starting for the Beavers, which he also had some growing pains this year as a starter.

Although he struggled at times in the season, Nolan will only get better with another year and offseason in the offense. I personally feel that he’s the best option as the starter and all signs during spring practices point to him securing the job for when fall camp rolls around.

Gebbia and Gulbranson are starting to shake off some rust after not playing for more than a year after coming back from injury. They also haven’t shown any massive leaps in practice to separate themselves from Nolan, who has made improvements in his accuracy from last season during spring practices.

The starting job appears to be Nolan’s to lose even though Smith hasn’t named a starter yet, which is his way of handling the position.

However, Nolan gives the Beavers more options to win as a starter, and for that reason, I am ready to let Chance cook for the 2022 season.

CHANCE NOLAN STATS: 2020 Season (Beavers finished with a record of 2-5) • Rushing: 30 rushes, 147 yards, one touchdown • Passing: 46-for-91, 537 yards, six touchdowns, two interceptions

JAKOB JONES | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Oregon State redshirt-junior quarterback Chance Nolan looking for an open reciever against the University of Oregon Ducks on Nov. 27, 2021 in Eugene, Ore. Nolan finished the game 25-for-39, throwing for 308 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

2021 Season (Beavers finished with a record of 7-6) • Rushing: 70 rushes, 286 yards, three touchdowns • Passing: 204-for-318, 2677 yards, 19 touchdowns, 10 interceptions

JUNE 6, 2022 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • 21

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• Check out events, news and fun through the Beaver Lodge newsletter.

• Update your contact info and get entered to win a prize: ForOregonState.org/Grad22

SHOW YOUR BEAVER SPIRIT • Celebrate your graduation with fellow alumni at the Grad Connections event in July.

• Show the world you’re a proud graduate by sharing Commencement photos with us on social media: facebook.com/oregonstatealum @oregonstatealumn #BeaverGrad

@oregonstatealum

Share how you’d like to engage with your 210,000+ Beaver alumni network.

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