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n OSU considers options as legislature looks at bills for institutional boards at the University of Oregon, Portland State University
By Jack LammersThe Daily BaromeTer
Universities rely on strong central leadership to make investments and prioritize projects. Currently, the pros-pect of institutional boards has a spot on the Oregon State Legislature’s agenda and, if passed, could reshape the structure of major Oregon universities.
“These boards of directors could change the leadership and receive regional buy-in,” said Jock Mills, OSU government relations director.
Right now, Oregon State Senate Bill 270 proposes institutional boards for Portland State University and the University of Oregon. The boards would effectively localize responsibilities now delegated to the State Board of Higher Education. Universities currently make recom-mendations to the Higher Education Coordinating Committee tied to the Oregon Education Investment Board.
The language remains unclear in spots of the bill.“When all is said and done, we want the option to deter-
mine whether it is in our interest, and the interest of the people of Oregon, to have a board at OSU,” Mills said. “We will not be able to make this determination until the bills have been passed and we have engaged in conversations with the campus community.”
The proposed 11 to 15 member boards, ideally com-prised of members looking out for the best interests of the university, would play a role in decisions regarding capital projects for the university, missions for the institutions, and appoint or remove university presidents.
A few obstacles stand in the way of deciding on institu-tional boards, including expected turnover of board mem-bers, specifications on who will make up the board and how the autonomy provided by the boards will affect the Oregon University System goals. One example of interference with OUS involves Senate Bill 253 establishing a “40-40-20” goal for the universities.
The bill’s goal is for 40 percent of Oregon students to receive a high school diploma, 40 percent to earn a com-munity college degree and 20 percent to obtain a bachelor’s degree or higher. The separation of university control into local boards would potentially negate the system’s goal. The establishment of institutional boards could create more competition between the schools.
“The boards will bloat needs on students,” said Associated Students of Oregon State University President Amelia Harris. “These boards would not be in the best interest for students, because they bring in another level
of management and could sway how the university runs. Our 40-40-20 goal won’t be possible if we have boards governing institutions with complete authority.”
Instead of having projects prioritized by the State Board of Higher Education and OUS, the institutions would vie for their own needs before the legislature.
“Establishing institutional boards at multiple universities presents potential for increased competition among and between universities for scarce resources in Salem,” Mills said.
On Tuesday, the Oregon State Senate Education and Workforce Committee held a public hear-ing for the bill and heard from Joe Robertson, president of Oregon Health and Science University. Robinson com-mented on OHSU’s institutional board, created 18 years ago. He said the boards should have access to capital, clarity of mission and nimbleness to adapt to the institutions’ needs. The boards will control the dispersal of money from revenue bonds, given to the school from the state.
“It’s essential for us to have the ability to do what we want with revenue bonds,” Robertson said in his presentation to the committee. “The legislation was crafted specifically for OHSU.”
Robertson emphasized the importance of unbiased board members who put the institution first and have no special interests or ulterior motives.
“There should not be designated positions or factions on the board,” Robertson said in the meeting. “The members
BarometerThe Daily
THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 2013 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITYCORVALLIS, OREGON 97331 DAILYBAROMETER.COM VOLUME CXVI, NUMBER 98
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Rosoff still in racen Elections committee finds
nothing wrong with Rosoff’s meeting last Friday
The Daily BaromeTer
Yesterday, the Associated Students of Oregon State University elections committee found nothing wrong with Nick Rosoff’s meeting last Friday in the Native American Longhouse.
A member of the committee had concerns that Rosoff’s meeting may have gone against the sanctions issued by the committee last Thursday. However, after a short discussion of the details, the committee decided not to take action.
The committee also heard Rosoff’s appeal of last week’s charges and sanctions. The committee decided to remove two of the minor offenses, but did not lift the sanctions issued against Rosoff.
Rosoff was found guilty of one major and five minor elections violations last Thursday by the committee. He was charged with beginning to cam-paign before April 1 and with distrib-uting campaign materials before then. Rosoff’s sanctions do not allow him to begin campaigning before April 6.
The committee also discussed minor changes to the election packet, like prohibiting campaigning in Snell 149.
The elections committee will meet again March 12 at 6 p.m. in MU 206.
The Daily [email protected]
on Twitter @baronews
hannah gusTin | THE DAILY BAROMETER
hugo mekaoui, vice president of the muslim Student association, has initiated activities through his position to teach oSU about islam.
Celebrating Islam, dispelling prejudice A close look at religionsn Religious Studies Club takes a
comprehensive approach to study religious diversity
By Dacotah splichalovaThe Daily BaromeTer
For students who are interested in learning about and celebrating the diversity of religions at Oregon State University and throughout the world, the newly founded Religious Studies Club just may be the engaging extra-curricular activity for them.
The club is a non-devotional and non-denominational organization dedicated to creating a community of students and faculty mentors, part-nered together in the academic study of religion. The members aim to support and learn from one another within a space of intellectual and spiritual exploration through philo-sophical inquiry and discussion.
With an inclusive philosophy, the Religious Studies Club focuses on investigating scholarly issues and cre-ating a collegiate community commit-ted to interreligious values and study.
The Religious Studies Club is spon-sored directly by and works closely with the School of History, Philosophy and Religion. The club seeks to partner with organizations on campus and desires to connect with the commu-
n Muslim Student Association educates campus on Islam, responds to misconceptions
By Kate VirdenThe Daily BaromeTer
“Islamophobia” is the irrational fear of Muslims. As a result of the post-9/11 world, many misunder-standings about Islam have resulted in an epidemic of fear surrounding the religion.
The Muslim Student Association at Oregon State University is dedi-cated to sharing the truth about Islam with the campus commu-nity. The MSA Vice President Hugo Mekaoui shares the mission state-ment, “We strive to remove the dark-ness of misconcep-tion and replace it with the light of knowledge.”
The group orga-nizes several events each year, which are open to anyone of any religion. They do a Fast-a-Thon during Ramadan in the sum-mer and will host a comedy night during spring term. MSA recently hosted the popular Night of the Crescent with almost 200 attendees. The event included a live fashion show with traditional Muslim dress, a guest speaker and delicious food.
The fashion show was meant to help disband the “us vs. them” mantra instilled in many minds after Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, by identifying and upending common misconceptions about Islam.
One common fallacy asserts Muslim women have no rights. Bayann Gonda, a sophomore math major and MSA member, said the hijab — the traditional heads-carves and modest dress that many Muslim women wear — is a matter of choice.
“You don’t wear it because you have to,” Gonda said. “You do it when you’re ready, solely for the sake of God.”
Her experience wearing the Hijab on campus has been cordial, because the OSU community wel-comes all cultures and religions. Similarly, Mekaoui finds OSU a beautiful community and campus
with an abundance of understanding and a desire to learn about Islam.
She says it is mor-ally wrong to criti-cize someone based on appearance.
Another mis-conception about Muslims is they’re all terrorists.
“Many people look solely to the media for beliefs and want to stay in a bubble of ignorance,” Gonda said.
Both Mekaoui and Gonda have been pulled out of airport security lines and separately checked with pat-downs.
“At the end of the day we’re all the same,” Mekaoui said, who is originally from Paris. “We all desire peace and respect,”
Mekaoui understands the mis-conceptions society places on
‘‘ ‘‘You don’t wear it because youhave to. You do it when
you’re ready, solely for the sake of god.
Bayann gondasophomore, math major and MSA member
‘‘ ‘‘You have to look at the hand you’re being dealt and decide what’s
in the best interest of the university.
Ed RayOSU President
See isLaMOPhOBia | page 2
See RELigiOn | page 2
ASOSU House hears two billsn One change of language in
statutes passes with no opposition The Daily BaromeTer
The Associated Students of Oregon State University House of Representatives heard two new bills and passed one during its weekly meet-ing last night.
A bill changed language in the ASOSU statutes which referred to a congressio-nal clerk and a congressional secretary, to referring only to a congressional clerk, as there is no congressional secretary.
Michael Robb, who has been a rep-resentative the longest, said during the House of Representatives’ first year there had been both a secretary and a parlia-mentarian, but because the position couldn’t be filled it was forgotten.
Taylor Sarman, congressional clerk, said he felt he could do the duties of both positions because he had been all year. The bill passed with no opposition.
The House also heard a bill that would peg compensation of SafeRide employ-ees to a percentage above minimum wage. Currently SafeRide employees are paid $9.25 an hour.
The bill would make employee pay be 7 percent higher than the mini-mum wage. If passed, this would mean employees would be paid $9.57 an hour.
Drew Desilet, ASOSU organizing adviser, said the bill would have a finan-cial impact of an increase of $4,900 annually if passed. The bill will have its second reading next week.
The house also heard from two task force directors and an announcement about upcoming elections meetings.
The ASOSU House meets again March 13, at 7 p.m. in MU 211.
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Local boards under state legislative review
See REViEW | page 2
2• Thursday, March 7, 2013 [email protected] • 737-2231
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CalendarThursday, Mar. 7MeetingsBaha’i Campus Association, 12:30-
1pm, MU Talisman Room. The Nobil-ity of Humankind - Devotions and discussion on how we are noble with occasional slips rather than sinful with occasional flashes of good.
College Republicans, 7pm, StAg 107. General meeting.
EventsCampus Recycling, 9am-4pm, Recy-
cling Warehouse (644 SW 13th St.). Film, Plastic & E-Waste Collection Week. Bring broken or unused elec-tronics and clean film plastic for free recycling.
Women’s Center, 5-7pm, Women’s Cen-ter. Movie Night - two movies, When the Bough Breaks and We Always Resist. Discussion to follow.
Women’s Center, 10am-1pm, Women’s Center. Join us for snacks and a book giveaway. We will be giving away about 30-50 books.
Friday, Mar. 8EventsOSU Music Department, Noon, MU
Lounge. Music å la Carte: OSU Clarinet Mafia.
Campus Recycling, 9am-4pm, Recy-cling Warehouse (644 SW 13th St.). Film, Plastic & E-Waste Collection Week. Bring broken or unused elec-tronics and clean film plastic for free recycling.
Monday, Mar. 11EventsCampus Recycling, 9am-4pm, Recy-
cling Warehouse (644 SW 13th St.). Film, Plastic & E-Waste Collection Week. Bring broken or unused elec-tronics and clean film plastic for free recycling.
Women’s Center, 9am-6pm, Women’s Center. Want a new wardrobe? Want to get rid of that loud sweater that no lon-ger fits? Come to the Clothing Swap!
Tuesday, Mar. 12MeetingsASOSU Senate, 7pm, MU 211EventsIFCS - Interfaith Community Services,
Noon-1:30pm, Snell Hall Kitchen. Bag-It Better Together. Bring your own lunch. Serving OSU Emergency Food Pantry.
Campus Recycling, 9am-4pm, Recy-cling Warehouse (644 SW 13th St.). Film, Plastic & E-Waste Collection Week. Bring broken or unused elec-tronics and clean film plastic for free recycling.
The Asian Pacific Cultural Center, 5-7pm, The Asian Pacicif Cultural Cen-ter. Deadweek Feast: Providing study and focus tips for students along with a full meal.
Women’s Center, 9am-6pm, Women’s Center. Bring what you don’t need, score something new!
Wednesday, Mar. 13MeetingsASOSU House of Representatives,
7pm, MU 211. EventsCampus Recycling, 9am-4pm, Recy-
cling Warehouse (644 SW 13th St.). Film, Plastic & E-Waste Collection Week. Bring broken or unused elec-tronics and clean film plastic for free recycling.
Women’s Center, 9am-6pm, Women’s Center. Want a new wardrobe? Want to get rid of that loud sweater that no lon-ger fits? Come to the Clothing Swap!
Contact Jack Lammers, News Editor [email protected] or stop by 118 MU East/Snell Hall
Contact Megan Campbell, Forum Editor [email protected] or stop by 118 MU East/Snell Hall
Contact Andrew Kilstrom, Sports Editor [email protected] or stop by 118 MU East/Snell Hall
nity to raise awareness of the plurality of religious traditions as well as the role religion plays in our everyday lives.
“We seek to foster solidarity among individu-als with different religious and spiritual back-grounds,” said student member Trenton T. Ogden, a junior in philosophy.
Membership in the Religious Studies Club on campus is open to all interested students, faculty and staff. Club members plan and participate in activities and programs to increase their under-standing and appreciation of a wide range of religious traditions.
Activities include weekly meetings, utilization of local, national and international guest speak-ers, visiting places of worship, film screenings and faculty-led panels. Activities and events are planned based on the interests of the membership and interested participants.
The Religious Studies Club at OSU meets every week. The club will be holding its next meeting on Friday, March 15 at 4 p.m. in Milam 301.
Dacotah splichalova, news [email protected]
RELigiOnn Continued from page 1
Muslims, and through the Muslim Student Association he, and more than 100 other members, aim to accept all kinds of people through tolerance and patience.
Mekaoui notes the MSA is open to everyone — Muslim or not. He encourages all members and new participates to actively engage in discussions and ask questions.
Mekaoui noted all members of the MSA are tolerant and willing to replace the fallacies about Islam since 9/11.
Kate Virden, news [email protected]
isLaMOPhOBian Continued from page 1
are there to represent all of the citizens of the state.”
Though Robertson voiced his approval for the boards, his expe-rience draws from a healthcare university and not a general state university like UO, PSU or OSU. Details on the jurisdiction and make-up of the boards will come as the legislation develops over the coming months. The bill
will likely leave space for OSU to request a board as well, said OSU President Ed Ray.
“The way things are teeing up, we’ll have the flexibility to determine whether or not we want a board,” Ray said. “You have to look at the hand you’re being dealt and decide what’s in the best interest of the university. We do care about what’s in the best interest of the state.”
Jack Lammers, news [email protected]
REViEWn Continued from page 1
DacOTah sPLichaLOVa | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Philosophy Professor, Dr. David arnold facilitates a discussion at the religious Studies Club at oSU..
Bolshoi Ballet ‘villain’ arrested in director’s acid attack (CNN) — Ballet dancer Pavel
Dmitrichenko, often cast as the villain in Bolshoi Ballet productions, is now the lead defendant in a plot worthy of a Tchaikovsky score.
The 29-year-old allegedly choreo-graphed an attack intended to blind Bolshoi artistic director Sergei Filin, the man who put him in the roles of Ivan the Terrible and Swan Lake’s evil genius.
The mystery of who threw sulfuric acid into Filin’s face in January has captivated Russians and kept Moscow detectives busy probing rivalries within Russia’s renowned 240-year-old ballet company.
It might well send Hollywood literary agents and producers scrambling for story details as described by police reports and local media accounts.
Police declared their case was solved this week with a confession by Dmitrichenko.
“I organized this attack but not to the extent that it happened,” he is heard say-ing in a video released by police.
The characters in this drama include Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend, Anzhelina Vorontsova. She has not been charged, but local newspapers quote ballet members as saying Dmitrichenko was angry because
he thought Filin was stifling her career.Two alleged co-conspirators have been
detained: Alleged hit man Yuri Zarutsky — a burly, bearded Russian who was pre-viously convicted of beating someone to death — and Andrey Lipatov, who alleg-edly drove the getaway car after Zarutksy’s battery acid attack on Filin.
While the final act must still play out in a Russian courtroom, the story opens in the nearly two-century-old Bolshoi Theatre.
Act 1 — The Bolshoi TheatreBallet is a world where competition
is fierce, and where the artistic director wields considerable influence in making or breaking careers.
Filin, 42, was promoted to the Bolshoi Theatre’s coveted post in March 2011, shortly after the deputy ballet director, Gennady Yanin, who was widely seen as a favorite for the artistic director post, resigned when pornographic pictures of him surfaced online.
There was “fierce rivalry” for the Bolshoi position at the time, according to the RIA Novosti news agency.
That year, two dancers quit, unhappy with the direction the ballet had taken.
Another dancer, Nikolai Tsiskaridze,
loudly criticized Filin for going over budget in the ballet’s multimllion-dollar renovation.
Tsiskaridze, incidentally, was also a contender for the artistic director job that Filin got.
But beyond professional disagreements, sinister factors were also at play.
Act 2 — The Streets of MoscowRIA Novosti reported that before the
attack, Filin suffered months of intimida-tion, including threatening phone calls.
Someone slashed his car tires. Somebody also attempted to hack his Facebook page.
The trio of conspirators obtained bat-tery acid at a car parts store, and made the acid stronger by evaporating the water from it, police said.
Dmitrichenko, who studied Filin’s schedule, called Lipatov and Zarutsky when he saw Filin leave the theater on the cold night of January 17, police said.
As Filin entered the security code at the door of his Moscow apartment, authori-ties say, Zarutsky confronted him and tossed the sulfuric acid into his face. It caused third-degree burns and left him blinded.
3 •Thursday, March 7, 2013 [email protected]
The Daily BarometerForum editorial board don iler Editor-in-ChiefMegan Campbell Forum Editorandrew kilstrom Sports Editor
warner strausbaugh Managing Editor Jack Lammers News EditorJackie seus Photo Editor
Editorial
LettersLetters to the editor are welcomed and will be printed on a first-received basis. Letters must be 300 words or fewer and include the author’s signature, academic major, class standing or job title, department name and phone number. Authors of e-mailed letters will receive a reply for the purpose of verification. Letters are subject to editing for space and clarity. The Daily Barometer reserves the right to refuse publication of any submissions.
The Daily Barometer c/o Letters to the editor
Memorial Union East 106 Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-1617or e-mail: [email protected]
Opinions are inherently
biasedI could give a flying Furby
whether someone’s a “geed” or a Greek, but I am biased.
My friends are vocalists, “bronies,” tabletop gamers and sci-fi geeks. If I don’t think I have something in common with someone, I’ll probably just ignore them.
If there’s one thing I learned from my gender studies class last year, it’s that everybody’s biased. As humans, we come with factory-installed prej-udices. We like this food more than that food, we prefer this TV pro-gram to that, and when we’re with friends we watch this genre and mock another one.
There is no opinion that is unbi-ased. The most we can hope to do in a discussion about conflicting biases is stay cool and not let our tempers get the better of us, if it’s about if Twilight Sparkle turning into an alicorn is ridiculous, that guy whose fraternity raised the money for his F-to-M surgery, or who wins the geeds vs. Greeks flame war on the Barometer website. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, even if it doesn’t align with mine.
If I don’t respect the right for oth-ers to have opinions, I’d be a giant hypocrite to continue writing an opinion column for the Barometer.
What opinions need are facts — True, reliable, verifiable facts on that to base our opinions. Yes, I realize I’m saying this after a letter to the editor called me out on some facts that I hadn’t researched as thoroughly as I should have. I was wrong. But, I’ve had more practice than most in own-ing up to my mistakes. I’ve made a lot of them, and it’s taken me time, but I own them now.
However, the recent Greek vs. geed flame war has shown that open minds aren’t exactly a priority at our school. By open minds, I mean minds open to opposing opinions and different points of view. I’m not saying Oregon State is a hotbed of prejudices and hatred — but it is full of stubborn people who don’t want to admit there’s a possibility the other side has a valid point — just like everywhere else.
Prejudice and bias aren’t limited to skin color, sexual orientation or someone’s favorite movie genre. We finished off a month dedicated to celebrating civil rights milestones, equality and triumphs over prejudice with a vicious, unending argument over whether geeds or Greeks were right. Individuals on both sides acted immaturely and did it with peacock-like displays of bias. Individuals on both sides acted with maturity and restraint.
Bust out those leadership skills and the maturity you’ve hopefully learned at college, instead of threat-ening to beat up the Barometer’s staff or labeling all Greeks as hotheads living in dens of iniquity.
Smear campaigns always make both sides look equally bad, and don’t deserve respect. Don’t point out why someone’s worse than you. Instead, you should be able to prove your merit without bringing anyone else into it.
If you can’t, that sounds like some-thing you need to work out for yourself.
Keep that in mind as we head into the ASOSU elections.
t
irene Drage is a senior in english. The opinions expressed in her columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Drage can be reached at [email protected].
Editor’s note: The following let-ters to the editor are in response to Harrison Pride’s column, “Questioning the ‘hipper,’ ‘cooler’ PETA2,” published on March 6.
A life is a lifeOur petition to have more vegan
options was originated with my club, Vegans and Vegetarians at OSU. I am meeting with University Housing and Dining Services to discuss future options. They have expressed interest in this topic and the students on campus have told me time and again that there aren’t enough things for them to eat. I was contacted by PETA and they came to help me out.
I could argue point for point with Harrison Pride with peer-reviewed research, but I’ll save you the details. In general, this and other developed nations which eat the most animal products in the world also have the highest cases of heart disease and cancer. He is right to say that some people have perfect health and eat meat, it is also correct to say that you can be a junk food vegetar-ian and have just as many health problems. These last two points are anecdotal. Pride and I agree that epidemiological evidence proves that the more vegetables, fruit and whole grains we eat the better off we are. Where I diverge is in that you can only increase intake for so long until you also decrease other things. Increasing vegetables, fruit and whole grains leaves less and less room for animal products.
As far as science goes: We are all animals. Cows, pigs, chickens, dogs,
cats and humans all have the same neurons that feel pain and perceive and react to fear. My choice to be vegan overall reduces the amount of pain and suffering in the world. Nitpick all you want about PETA and their outlandish advertisements, but the point is: A life is a life. As humans we have the choice to take a life or not. Believe me, the 3 million other healthy vegans and 15 million veg-etarians in this country, when I say that you do not need to take the life of another living, feeling being to have a fully nutritious diet.
If you are concerned for the envi-ronment, check out what the UN has to say in their report “Livestock’s Long Shadow: Environmental Issues and Options” at www.fao.org/docrep/010/a0701e/a0701e00.HTM.
If you are concerned with health, check out what a group of physicians and dietitians, called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, have to say at www.pcrm.org. If you have faith-based concerns, veganism is in line with Jewish, Muslim, Baha’i, Hindu and Buddhist ideals.
AmAndA RhodesOSU student in nutrition
VVOSU president
A lifestyle to reduce sufferingThere is little doubt among estab-
lished dietetic organizations that a vegan diet is healthier than a meat-based one.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, vegetar-ians are less prone to heart dis-ease, cancer, diabetes and obesity than meat eaters. The academy’s
stance has long been that vegetar-ian and vegan diets are healthy, are nutritionally adequate, may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases and are associated with a lower risk of death from heart disease. Furthermore, vegetarians tend to have a lower body mass index and lower overall cancer rates than meat eaters. I could also go on about stud-ies from Harvard concluding that cured meats contribute to leukemia and that grilled skinless chicken can lead to bladder cancer or the recent study showing that 84 percent of all fish flesh contains unsafe levels of mercury.
Of course, this is all on top of the fact that nearly 2 million animals are slaughtered each hour in the United States. Chickens have their beaks cut off with a hot blade; pigs have their teeth, tails and testicles cut off and cows are castrated — all without any painkillers. Simply calling the treat-ment “routine” doesn’t mean it isn’t cruel, and eating meat means pay-ing people to treat animals this way on your behalf. Moreover, a vegan diet isn’t about personal purity — it is about making lifestyle changes to reduce suffering.
Students interested in learning more about healthy, humane diets are encouraged to visit peta2.com to receive a free vegetarian/vegan starter kit and to check out our “Glass Walls” exhibit, the world’s first factory-farming experience, on May 20 and 21 in the Memorial Union.
Kenneth montville
College campaigns assistant PETA2
Institutional boards are riskyBoth the University of Oregon
and Portland State University have requested individual
institutional boards. Currently the leg-islation is still being revised and dis-cussed in the state legislature. Oregon State President Ed Ray has asked the legislature to consider OSU and give us the option of having a board. At this point, however, the legislation is too vague and nebulous for the editorial staff to endorse.
As it is now, the Oregon University System ranks and reports the needs of the seven public universities’ to the state legislature. Institutional boards would act in place of the OUS for universities. This board would advocate the indi-vidual needs of its university directly to the legislature.
We definitely see the benefit of having our own board. We’ve discussed how having a personal OSU cheer squad in direct contact with the legislature would help make a case for OSU-specific fund-ing. We see the potential of having more flexibility in where and how money is allocated.
Still, there are several issues we would like further defined and clarified. For instance, who would be on the board? In general, the boards would be made up of 11 to 15 people. Anyone on the board with special interests, however, would be a huge risk. This is because these board members would have the potential influence to designate funds for things they deem most important — like allocating funds to pay increases for board members, refurbishing a chemis-try building into a new athletic building or arbitrarily hiking tuition costs.
To overcome these fears, the board members should be chosen extremely carefully. We’d also like to see a couple of students on the board — an under-graduate and a graduate student.
Despite our reluctance, if the University of Oregon and Portland State have their own boards, we would like Oregon State to have one too. Basically, if everyone’s going to make this move, OSU should as well.
If U of O and PSU have their own boards advocating for their needs direct-ly to the legislature, and OSU does not, OSU will have to make a case against the other four public universities in Oregon that do not have boards to the Oregon University System. Having a board would separate us from the six other public universities in Oregon and would allow us to directly communicate our needs to the state legislature.
Looking to the future, we wonder at what point these boards will be point-less. There is only so much money the state has to give to the universities. We agree having one board repre-sent a specialized, smaller university, like in the case of Oregon Health and Science University, would be beneficial. Once everyone in the state signs up for one, though, boards could become counterproductive.
In this sense, universities will eventu-ally become privatized. At some point all seven institutional boards will advocate directly to the legislature and the Oregon University System will be a thing of the past.
t
Editorials serve as means for Barometer editors to offer commentary and opinions on issues both global and local, grand in scale or diminutive. The views expressed here are a reflection of the editorial board’s majority.
RYan MasOn is a sOPhOMORE in gRaPhic DEsign.
Letter to the Editor The Daily BarometerIrene Drage
4 •Thursday, March 7, 2013 [email protected] • On Twitter @barosports
The Daily Barometer SportsBeaver Tweet
of the Day
“Any woman that can't pay for themselves when out on a date has no
room to talk about a guy being cheap..$1 mcdouble is all u gettin outta me”
@32_Chocolate_Rd Jarmal Reid
Thursday, March 7Men’s Basketball vs. Utah6 p.m., Salt Lake City, UtahWomen’s Basketball @ Pac-12 Tournament (vs. USC)12 p.m., Seattle, Wash.
Friday, March 8Softball @ Fresn State Invitational (vs. St. Mary’s/Fresno State)3:45 p.m./8:45 p.m., Fresno, Calif.Baseball vs. Texas State5:35 p.m., CorvallisWomen’s Basketball@ Pac-12 Tournament (vs. TBA)TBA, Seattle, Wash.
saTurday, March 9Softball @ Fresno State Invitational (vs. Iowa State)11: 15 a.m., Fresno, Calif.Men’s Basketball @ Colorado1:35 p.m., Boulder, Colo.Baseball vs. Texas State2:05 p.m., CorvallisWomen’s Gymnastics(Comfort Suites Invitational)vs. Washington/Sacramento State7 p.m., CorvallisMen’s Rowing @ VictoriaTBA, Victoria, British ColumbiaWomen’s Basketball@ Pac-12 Tournament (vs. TBA)TBA, Seattle, Wash.
COMING SOON
EMMa-KaTE schaaKE | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Junior guard ali Gibson drives to the basket against No. 19 Colorado’s Chucky Jeffrey last Sunday. oregon State led 33-28 at halftime, but fell to the Buffaloes, 66-63, in overtime.
VinaY BiKKina | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Freshman guard langston morris-Walker defends Utah’s Glen Dean on Feb. 6. oSU won, 82-64, in Gill Coliseum.
OSU takes on USC in first round
Walk-on to walk away: Nielsen transfers to Sacramento State
n Women’s basketball faces a treacherous road to the Pac-12 Championship, including No. 5 Cal and No. 14 UCLA
By sarah KerriganThe Daily BaromeTer
The Oregon State women’s basket-ball team takes on USC in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament today at noon.
The first and only time these two teams have met this season was back at the beginning of Pac-12 play. On Jan. 4, USC (10-19, 7-11 Pac-12) snatched the win from the Beavers (10-20, 4-14) with a buzzer beater that ended the game by a score of 56-55.
“That was a game where we would love to have the end of the game back,” said head coach Scott Rueck after Sunday’s loss to No. 18 Colorado. “We would like to have those last four seconds back.”
Oregon State recognizes the signifi-cance the win could have had toward close losses the Beavers had early in the season. The four-point loss to No. 14 UCLA and the overtime losses to both Washington and Washington State particularly stand out.
Oregon State has shown what type of team it can be when the Beavers play with confidence. When at its best, OSU can compete with any school in
the conference. Although Oregon State fell to
Colorado, 66-63, in overtime last Sunday, the Beavers showed glimpses of their potential, competing toe-to-toe with the one of the better schools in the Pac-12.
Oregon State is heading into the Pac-12 Tournament playing its best basketball of the year. The Beavers will look to continue to play up to their capability if they want to make it past the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.
“I think our team is doing well,” said sophomore guard Ali Gibson after Sunday’s loss to Colorado. “I think we are playing the best we have played this season so far, we are ready for the tournament and we want to compete and just battle every night to see how far we can get in it.”
If Oregon State can pull off the upset today, the Beavers will advance to the second round and play No. 5 Cal tomorrow.
sarah Kerrigan, sports reporteron Twitter @skerrigan123
n Derek Nielsen signed full-ride scholarship to play at Sacramento State this fall
By Warner strausbaughThe Daily BaromeTer
Sophomore offensive lineman Derek Nielsen announced a month ago that he would be transferring to Sacramento State.
Transfers happen for many differ-ent reasons. In the case of Malcolm Agnew, he saw his playing time reduced at OSU and saw a better opportunity with Southern Illinois — where his brother plays fullback — to be the starting running back.
For Nielsen, it was a different story.The walk-on from Sheldon High
School in Eugene — who was also looking at a full-ride scholarship from Montana State and a walk-on role with Oregon before deciding to walk on at OSU in 2009 — found himself with a bigger role in the team by the end of his third season (he redshirted his freshman year).
He had the versatility to play cen-ter, guard and tackle on the offensive line, and was usually the go-to guy to replace a starter if one got hurt. When junior guard Grant Enger suffered a leg injury late last season, Nielsen made his first career start against California, and started again the fol-lowing week in the Civil War against Oregon.
With spring practices beginning in the first week of April, he had a legiti-mate shot at winning the starting right
tackle position vacated by graduated senior Colin Kelly.
“He had a good opportunity here to continue to move up in the depth charts,” said head coach Mike Riley. “He’s definitely a smart player . . . he’s played all the positions on the front line and that’s a valuable commodity.”
But being the valuable commodity he was last year but going three years playing without any financial support from the team prompted a question after the season ended.
“I went to the coaches and asked them if they had a scholarship open,” Nielsen said. “They said they didn’t, that they were basically out of scholarships.
“I was a little upset, but at the same time I understood where they were coming from,” Nielsen added. “It was
hard to understand . . . but it is a busi-ness. They have other recruits to look out for, too.”
College football teams have 85 full-ride scholarships to dole out, and unlike other sports, there are no partial scholarships.
“It’s a juggling act,” Riley said. “We not only have our current team to deal with, we have our future teams. We go through the evaluation and we’re making offers and trying to sign the upcoming class.”
Riley usually is able to give a schol-arship to a walk-on at least once per year, but it almost exclusively hap-pens in their senior season. Andrew Seumalo, Clayton York and Brian Watkins are recent examples of senior
OSU goes for sweep of Utahn Oregon State beat Utah 82-64
in Gill Coliseum on Feb. 6 and will try to repeat tonight
By alex crawfordThe Daily BaromeTer
There are only two teams faring worse than Oregon State in Pac-12 play this season.
Utah is one of them.The Beavers (13-16, 3-13 Pac-12) and the
Utes (11-7, 3-13) will both be trying for their first win since Feb. 13, when the two teams face off in Salt Lake City tonight at 7.
When Oregon State beat Utah 82-64 on Feb. 6, Oregon State dominated the entire game, taking a nine-point halftime lead and doubling it seven minutes into the second half.
In that game, senior forward Joe Burton finished only three rebounds shy of a triple-double, and ended up with 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the Beavers. He would have been only the second player in OSU history to record a triple-double, and was the first player since Lamar Hurd in 2004 to have a double-double with points and assists.
Junior guard Roberto Nelson was the scor-
ing leader for the Beavers with 26 points. Nelson currently leads the Pac-12 in scoring during Pac-12 play, averaging 19.4 points per game.
Nelson thinks the Beavers can repeat the success they had against Utah earlier in the season.
“We have to play hard and stick to the game plan,” Nelson said. “We have to limit [senior center Jason] Washburn and play him like we did earlier in the season.”
Washburn — who is currently averaging 11.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game — only made one field goal to go along with six rebounds in the last meeting.
Nelson added that a key for the Beavers is to make the Utes — who average a Pac-12-worst 63.6 points per game — take tough shots. Last time OSU and Utah met, Utah shot only 35.7 percent from the field, and were held to 25 first-half points. It was the Beavers’ best first-half defensive perfor-mance in Pac-12 play this season.
“I think we were able to gain confidence off of their missed field goals,” Nelson said.
Another point of emphasis for Oregon State will be free throw shooting. The Beavers
See niELsEn | page 5
See MEn’s BasKETBaLL | page 5
Derek Nielsen
Women’s BasketballWhat: Pac-12 TournamentWhere: KeyArena, Seattle, Wash.When: March 7-10, 12 p.m.Air: Pac-12 Networks
are second-worst in the Pac-12, only making 66.9 percent of their shots from the charity stripe, while Utah shoots a conference-best 75.3 percent from the line.
In the last meeting between the Beavers and the Utes, Nelson credited a cheap shot from Jarred DuBois, an elbow to his stomach, as the catalyst that got OSU fired up.
The Beavers might need some kind of inspi-ration on Thursday night, after a heartbreak-ing loss to rival Oregon last week in Eugene. In that game, the Beavers saw a seven-point
halftime lead turn into a 17 point deficit in favor of the Ducks in the second half.
Still, Nelson says there is no hangover from that game.
“You have to have a short memory and we have to bring it the next game and try to get the win,” Nelson said.
With a win Thursday night, Oregon State will have swept Utah for the second straight year. The last time the Beavers swept a confer-ence opponent in back-to-back years was in 2000-2001 against Washington.
alex crawford, sports reporteron Twitter @dr_crawf
Q: When did you start playing basketball?
A: I was probably 4 or 5 years old.
Q: How quickly did you pick it up?
A: I would say it came to me pretty quickly.Q: When did you begin to enjoy playing?A: I don’t know. I think that playing it year after
year it just kind of happened.Q: If you weren’t playing basketball, what
sport would you play?A: I’d probably play softball. I played softball at
my junior college, Lower Columbia in Longview, Wash.
Q: What hobbies do you have?A: In my spare time I like to just relax, especially
during the season. I don’t know, hanging out with my friends. Does that count?
Q: What music do you listen to?
A: Rap music for the most part. My favorite rapper is probably Lil Wayne. I usually listen to him before games.
Q: Favorite TV show?
A: I don’t watch many shows, but I watch a lot of “SportsCenter,” if that counts.
Q: Name a movie that’s overrated.
A: Well, I don’t like “Twilight.” I think it’s dumb. I’ll put that out there: I don’t like “Twilight.”
mitch mahoney, sports reporter
on Twitter @mitchishere
[email protected] • On Twitter @barosports Thursday, March 7, 2013 • 5
Thursday March 7 – Improv Comedy TheaterHilarious off-the-cuff theater troupe – 9pm
Friday March 8 – MOsley WOtta & Landon WordswellOregon-grown live hip-hop – 10pm
Saturday March 9 – Mother Shrew & LacotaFunky, jazzy, soulful tunes – 10pm
Monday March 11 – Snowblind TravellerSoulful evening set – 9pm
Tuesday March 12 – Laura MeyerAcoustic folk and blues – 7pm
Wednesday March 13 – Down North & Brothers BrorSeattle-based funk band, bluesy black keys rock – 9pm
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Pac-12 Women’s Power RankingsBy sarah KerriganThe Daily BaromeTer
1. No. 4 Stanford (28-2, 17-1 Pac-12)
The Cardinal are clearly the best team in the league. Even though Cal has the same
number of losses, Stanford has been more impressive, winning by an average of nearly 20 points per game. Stanford has not only been winning games, but doing it in a
dominating fashion that leaves no doubt of its No. 4 national ranking.
2. No. 5 Cal (27-2, 16-1 Pac-12) The Golden Bears earn the second spot
because of a 28-point victory over Washington last Sunday, and because of a 15-game winning streak enter-ing the Pac-12 Tournament. Tenacious rebounding is Cal’s big-gest advantage over the rest of the
Pac-12 and will be a key factor in the tournament.
3. No. 18 Colorado (24-5, 13-5 Pac-12)
Colorado pulled itself together and showed why the Buffaloes are ranked No. 18 in the
nation last weekend in an overtime win against Oregon State. Colorado fought back after trailing by 18 at one point to earn the 66-63 victory.
4. No. 14 UCLA (23-6, 14-4 Pac-12)
The Bruins’ only losses in Pac-12 play came to Cal and Stanford — UCLA lost to both schools twice. The Bruins have been consis-
tent throughout the season, beating teams by an average of six points. UCLA heads into the weekend on a four-game winning streak, which makes
them a team to watch out for in the Pac-12 Tournament.
5. USC (10-19, 7-11 Pac-12)Sweeping the Arizona schools this past
weekend was a big boost for a USC team previously experiencing an eight-game losing streak. The Trojans looked like they did at the begin-ning of the season, when they were winning games.
6. Utah (17-12, 8-10 Pac-12)The Utes’ come in at sixth, which is higher
than where Utah stacks up, talent-wise. The Utes have three players that contribute more
than 70 percent of the total offense, telling me they lack depth — something the Utes will need if they want to make it far in the tournament.
7. Washington State (10-19, 6-12 Pac-12)
The Cougars were mediocre in Pac-12 play this season. WSU is cur-rently on a five-game losing streak that started with a loss to Oregon — the worst team in the conference. Washington State
tapered off toward the end of the season, which isn’t a good sign.
8. Washington (19-10, 11-7 Pac-12)
The Huskies lost by more than 25 points in both of their games this past weekend to Cal and Stanford. Washington is on a downward slide with a current four-game losing streak. Not the best way
to head into the Pac-12 Tournament.
T9. Arizona State (13-17, 4-13 Pac-12)
Arizona State and Oregon State are tied at ninth place. The Sun Devils put up a good showing against Arizona by sweep-ing both games in exciting fashion. ASU could be on
the upswing heading into the tournament.
T9. Oregon State (10-20, 4-14 Pac-12)
OSU has struggled to get wins in Pac-12 play, but in the last few games the Beavers have looked like a new team, after hanging tough with Cal
and Colorado.
11. Arizona (12-17, 4-13 Pac-12)
Arizona is at the bottom of the Pac-12 due to its defense. The Wildcats are last
in the Pac-12 in field goal percentage defense. The best thing Arizona has going at this point in the season is its abil-ity to make free throws. The
best strategy for the Wildcats to advance past the first round will be to get to the free throw line.
12. Oregon (4-26, 2-16 Pac-12)The Ducks are at the bottom of the
Pac-12, as they have been all season. It is true that Oregon’s season has been riddled with injuries, but that is no excuse
for going 2-16 in conference play.
sarah Kerrigan, sports reporteron Twitter @skerrigan123
MiTch LEa | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Nielsen goes for a block on oregon’s Kiko alonso on Nov. 24, 2012. Nielsen started at right guard for oregon State against Cal on Nov. 17 and in the Civil War.
Q&A: Mollee with Schwegler
Women’s Basketball
Mollee Schwegler
walk-ons who were granted a scholarship in their senior years.
Once Nielsen knew the scholarship wouldn’t be an option, he was granted a release by Riley to look at other schools.
First, he contacted Montana, Montana State and Eastern Washington.
A week before National Signing Day on Feb. 6, he received a call from Sacramento State, a team OSU fans are familiar with after the Hornets upset the Beavers in overtime in the first game of the 2011 season.
“They said, ‘We really like you here. We think you’d have a fit. Seeing some film, we think we could use you at a center or guard position,’” Nielsen said.
In what he called the “hardest decision of his life so far,” Nielsen signed with the Hornets on Feb. 7, and will receive a full-ride scholarship to play for them.
His parents and brother — who is a senior at Sheldon and will play baseball at Oregon next
year — all live in Eugene. “I have roots here,” Nielsen said. “Now I’m
going to a city where I don’t really know anyone.”From a football coach’s perspective, Riley
wanted Nielsen to stay in Corvallis, but he also knows this presents a chance for Nielsen, who still has two years of eligibility left.
“When something like Derek’s deal comes up and he’s got a chance to get a scholarship at another place, you feel bad about losing him, but at the same time you feel good for his opportunity,” Riley said.
Sacramento State’s head coach, Marshall Sperbeck, was once the quarterback at Oregon State back in the late 1970s.
“He’s a lot like Coach Riley — a stand-up guy,” Nielsen said. “Their O-line coach seemed knowledgeable and knew what he was doing.”
Since Sacramento State is a Football Championship Series school, Nielsen will be able to play this fall. He hopes to win a starting spot on the offensive line with the Hornets.
Warner strausbaugh, managing editoron Twitter @WStrausbaugh
niELsEnn Continued from page 4
MEn’s BasKETBaLLn Continued from page 4
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Study links gun laws, lower mortality
Parents say bullying led to 12-year-old son’s death
(CNN) — States with the most gun laws experienced a lower overall mortality rate from firearms than did states with the few-est laws, researchers in Boston reported in a study published Wednesday.
“States that have the most laws have a 42 percent decreased rate of firearm fatalities compared to those with the least laws,” said Dr. Eric W. Fleegler, an attending physician in pediatric emergency medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital and an assistant profes-sor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
Those states with the most gun laws saw a 40 percent reduction in firearm-related homicides and a 37 percent reduction in firearm-related suicides, he said in a tele-phone interview.
Fleegler, the lead author in the study pub-lished online in JAMA Internal Medicine, reached that conclusion by analyzing data reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 through 2010 and then correlating those figures with state-level firearm legislation aggregated by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
Figuring out how many laws existed in each state was difficult. “What do you do when one law has seven parts” Fleegler asked. “Is that seven laws? Is that one law?”
So the researchers checked the state laws to determine whether they were intend-ed to curb firearm trafficking; strength-en background checks beyond what’s required under the Brady Hangun Violence Prevention Act; ensure child safety; ban military-style assault weapons; or restrict guns in public places.
Based on how many of those categories a state’s laws covered, the researchers calculated a “legislative strength score,” which they compared with firearm-related mortality rates in all 50 states. The legisla-tive strength scores ranged from 0 in Utah to 24 out of a possible 28 in Massachusetts.
Over the four years scrutinized, 121,084 firearm fatalities occurred, with rates rang-ing from a high of 17.9 per 100,000 in Louisiana to a low of 2.9 per 100,000 in Hawaii.
When compared with the quartile of
states with the fewest laws, the quartile of states that had the most laws had a lower firearm suicide rate and a lower firearm homicide rate, Fleegler said. The difference in the suicide rates was 6.25 deaths per 100,000; in the homicide rates it was 0.40 deaths per 100,000.
“When you’re talking about 300 million people, you’re talking about thousands of deaths that would not otherwise have occurred,” Fleegler said.
Even on a state level, some figures were striking. For example, there was a three-fold difference in firearm-related suicide between Massachusetts and Louisiana, which has few laws limiting the use of firearms.
“We anticipated that there was going to be a relationship between state laws and firearm mortality,” he said. “The magnitude of the effect, a 42 percent reduction, that was a big number to look at.”
The authors acknowledged that they showed only an association; they did not prove that more laws on firearms translate into fewer deaths.
Fleegler said his study “speaks to the importance of having legislation. One of the things that we’ve learned over time is that there are laws that have been passed that have large loopholes, and those loopholes make the enforcement and efficacy of the laws diminished. There are ways to make these laws better and stronger.”
But Dr. Garen Wintemute, an emergency medicine physician and director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, urged caution in interpreting the study in an accompanying editorial published in the journal.
“Correlation does not imply causation,” he wrote. “This fundamental limitation is beyond the power of the authors to redress.”
He added that the list of laws takes no account of differences between states in the specifics of laws and takes no account of how hard states worked to enforce those laws.
The biggest difficulty, Wintemute con-tinued, is that almost all of the associations between more laws and fewer deaths dis-appeared when the investigators took into account the prevalence of gun ownership in each state.
“This is a problem because there are two completely opposite explanations for why that might be the case,” Wintemute said in a video issued by his university. “One is that these laws work, and that they work by decreasing the rate of gun ownership in a state, because we know that the rate of gun ownership is associated with the rate of violent death in a state.
“But the other possibility, that’s at least as plausible, is that it’s easier to enact these laws in states that have a low rate of gun ownership to begin with. Gun ownership is not as important in those states, there’s less opposition.”
He added, “We really don’t know what to do with the results. We cannot say that these laws — individually or in aggregate — drive firearm death rates up or down.”
He predicted that policy makers would not be able to draw useful conclusions from the work. “The conclusion that I draw is we need to get this question answered right.”
Wintemute said the researchers did a good job with the limited data they had available but said the larger problem dates back to the 1990s, when the National Rifle Association inserted language into the CDC’s appropriation that limited its work on how to reduce firearm injuries.
Now, as lawmakers are looking for evi-dence on what works, “investigators like this group are reduced to doing the best they can with what’s available,” he said.
For his part, Fleegler bemoaned the dearth of data from individual cities about firearms-related injuries and noted that data on enforcement of those laws were also spotty. “We agree that there is a lot more research that needs to be done, that funding to allow robust research and robust collection of data is what’s really going to move the science forward for understand-ing how we can reduce deaths,” he said.
PHILADELPHIA (CNN) — Playing catch in the yard. Walking in the park. Watching a Phillies or Flyers game. Laughing.
It’s the simple things Rob O’Neill said he misses most about his only child, Bailey.
Cupping his chin, O’Neill slowly scans his living room and sighs.
“Honestly, I just miss sitting with him on the couch,” said O’Neill, 39. “I won’t hear ‘Daddy’ anymore. That’s tough.”
O’Neill said his son was punched during a bullying incident at recess at Darby Township School on January 10. He said Bailey, a 6th grader, suffered a fractured nose, a concussion and seizures from the attack. Two weeks after the incident, he was placed in a medically induced coma.
Bailey’s parents wanted him to see his 12th birthday. The next day, on Sunday, they took him off life support.
O’Neill said his son told him that one boy pushed him into another boy who allegedly bul-lied him and punched him. His son didn’t want to fight, he said.
“He wanted to walk away and couldn’t,” he said. “If someone wants to walk away, let them walk away.”
O’Neill said the fight occurred in the late morning, and Bailey
was sent back to class. However, the boy’s mother, Jina Risoldi, wasn’t notified until several hours after the incident, he said.
In the days after the alter-cation, Bailey — who usual-ly enjoyed skateboarding or playing video games — started becoming sluggish, experi-enced mood swings and was otherwise “not himself,” O’Neill said.
The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office said the case remains an active criminal investigation, and it is work-ing to determine whether the incident — captured on video surveillance — was, in fact, bullying or an altercation on the playground.
The district attorney’s office is also awaiting autopsy results to determine whether the injuries Bailey received during the inci-dent caused his seizures.
“There was an incident between two 11-year-olds in the schoolyard and certainly there appears an assault that occurred. We will act on that assault at the appropriate time,” Jack Whelan, Delaware County District Attorney, told CNN affiliate WPVI.
“But the question really is, did more occur in that schoolyard, did those injuries sustained, were they attributed to the incident in the schoolyard?”
Whelan said. “We need that question answered.”
O’Neill said he stands by his claim that his son was bullied.
“He told me the story himself. And there’s no reason for him to lie about it,” he said. “It’s in my heart, I know what happened and I would like to see justice.”
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, who is working on anti-bullying legislation, told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien that he believes bullying today is far more damaging than in years past.
“This is an epidemic, and unless we deal with it, we’re going to have all kinds of prob-lems down the road for these people who can’t function, can’t study, can’t do the work they have to do to succeed,” Casey said.
The family has received an outpouring of support, includ-ing from Baltimore Ravens Ray Rice, who spoke to the family and later took to Facebook to speak out against bullying on behalf of the O’Neill family.
The Super Bowl champion running back wrote in part: “Bailey - my little buddy, I will not let you become just another bully statistic...you are my inspi-ration and one more angel that will help me continue the fight for kids everywhere. You are going to help me save lives.”
The Southeast Delco School District issued a statement Monday offering its condo-lences to Bailey’s family and friends.
“Our school community is deeply saddened by this loss,” Superintendent Stephen D. Butz wrote.
“Additional counselors have been made available to assist our students and staff with the emotions around the death of Bailey. The school district continues to work with local authorities in their investigation into the cause of Bailey’s death.”
A public visitation is sched-uled for Friday, a day before his funeral.
O’Neill said he doesn’t want Bailey’s death to be in vain and started the Battle for Bailey campaign to help raise bullying awareness and connect with others going through similar situations.
“I wasn’t Super Dad, but he looked up to me, and I have to be strong for him,” he said. “I don’t want to see anyone else end up like Bailey.”
Although nothing can bring his son back, O’Neill said he is at peace.
“I’m at peace at the fact that he doesn’t have the pain any-more, and I feel that he’s safe now,” he said. “He doesn’t have to suffer anymore.”
Oregon man charged on count conspiracy in terrorist attack(CNN) — A naturalized citizen living in
Portland, Ore., has been charged with one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.
The charge is related to the May 2009 bombing that killed 30 people at Pakistan’s intelligence headquarters in Lahore, said Amanda Marshall, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
Reaz Qadir Khan, 48, faces life in prison
if convicted.According to the indictment, Khan pro-
vided money and advice to Ali Jaleel, who was one of the suicide bombers in the attack.
The Justice Department said in a state-ment that he was arrested Tuesday at his home in Portland. He is due in court Wednesday for a detention hearing.
The indictment alleges that from December 2005 through June 2009, Khan
conspired with others including Jaleel, a citizen of the Maldives. Jaleel was killed during a suicide bomb attack on the head-quarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence in Lahore, Pakistan on May 27, 2009.
Prosecutors said Khan gave Jaleel approximately $2,500 to attend a terror training camp to get ready for the ISI bombing and promised to help take care of his family afterward.
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Ever since he called former President George W. Bush “the devil” in a speech to the United Nations, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez had been America’s boogeyman to the South. Will his death brings the promise of a diplomatic thaw between United States and Venezuela?
Not likely.In announcing Chavez’s death
on Tuesday, his anointed heir, Vice President Nicolas Maduro, accused the United States of a conspiracy to kill Chavez and expelled two American military members working in the U.S. Embassy in Caracas.
After categorically denying the charges, the White House issued a curt, three-line statement about Chavez’s death, stripped of any condolences for the lead-er many Venezuelans revered but with whom Washington’s relations were icy at best.
While President Barack Obama signaled support for the Venezuelan people and called for a “constructive relationship” with the government, the state-
ment said the United States “remains committed to poli-cies that promote democratic principles, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.”
Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, the State Department’s top official for the region, later offered con-dolences and said the United States “stands ready to support Venezuela” during this difficult moment in its history.
Republican lawmakers were far more confrontation-al. U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said he hoped Chavez’s death “provides an opportunity for a new chapter in U.S.-Venezuelan relations,” while Rep. Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called Chavez “a tyrant who forced the people of Venezuela to live in fear.”
“His death dents the alliance of anti-U.S. leftist leaders in South America,” Royce said in a statement. “Good riddance to this dictator.”
The United States viewed Chavez’s leftist revolution as a destabilizing force and an obstacle to progress in the region, accusing him of eroding democracy in the country and denouncing his alliance with some of Washington’s main ene-mies, including Cuba and Iran.
For his part, Chavez accused Washington of pursuing imperi-alist policies. The two countries have been operating without ambassadors in each country since a diplomatic spat in 2010, and the tit-for-tat expelling of ambassadors over charges of spying has continued ever since.
Washington had been plan-ning for Chavez’s death. In late November, when it was already known that Chavez was gravely ill, Jacobson called Maduro, and U.S. officials say Washington has proposed a roadmap on how the two nations could improve ties.
There is no shortage of issues of mutual interest for the U.S. and Venezuela on which the countries could cooperate.
The Obama administration wants to renew cooperation on
counternarcotics and combat-ing terrorism, both of which were once-productive efforts that no longer exist. Washington would also like to restart coop-eration on economic issues, particularly on energy, given that Venezuela is a major oil-producing nation that remains a major supplier to the United States.
But in the words of one senior official, the outreach to Caracas has been a “rocky road.” Talks have been short on substance and never left U.S. officials with the feeling Venezuela was inter-ested in mending fences.
Maduro’s first news confer-ence, a good portion of which was devoted to railing against the United States, was not very encouraging. As he prepares to stand in upcoming elections to replace Chavez, Maduro’s anti-American rhetoric is dismissed in the United States as political jockeying to shore up his politi-cal base.
This tried-and-true method of using America as straw man worked for Chavez, which is why U.S. officials acknowledge that the campaign season not be the best time to break new ground or expect tangible prog-ress. Officials say they will con-tinue to speak out in favor of a more productive relationship between the two countries, but the ball, officials say, is firmly in Venezuela’s court.
“The opportunities are not there yet for the U.S. to engage” says Carl Meacham of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “For the next month or so, Maduro has to show he is even more Chavez than Chavez was. That means he is going to be more anti-American, more anti-capitalist, more anti-systemic. As far as a rapprochement, I don’t see it coming anytime soon.”
How Venezuela conducts those elections will be a major test. For years Washington had accused Chavez and his sup-porters of abusing the electoral system by intimidating opposi-tion and controlling the media during his 14-year rule. Now, the United States has made clear it expects a free and fair election in accordance with Venezuela’s Constitution and charters.
While Venezuela’s relationship with the United States revolved around Chavez, it is unlike-ly his death will dramatically affect ties in the near term. If, as expected, Maduro wins the presidency, the new boss will likely be the same as the old one.
“Chavez’s supporters and their Chavismo ideological movement were dealt a blow with the death of their charis-matic leader, but his ministers have been preparing for this transition, and the challenge to all sides will be measured in weeks and months, not days” said Dan Restrepo, who served as an adviser to Obama at the National Security Council dur-ing his first term.
With crime at an all-time high, continued drug-trafficking and a faltering oil sector, Meacham says the new Venezuelan gov-ernment will be looking inward for the foreseeable future.
“The U.S. doesn’t want to be in a situation where it is viewed at all as getting involved in domestic affairs of Venezuela,” he says. “If Maduro wins, he will be trying to keep the focus on domestic issues, and that could put the resolve of Chavismo to the test. And that could mean
the hardest days between the U.S. and Venezuela is not behind us, but ahead of us.”
While the ability for the United States to shape a post-Chavez Venezuela may be lim-ited, U.S. officials hope Chavez’s death presents some political space for the political opposi-tion, which until now has had problems uniting. The challenge for Washington is to try and seize the opening to engage with Venezuela’s current lead-ers while trying to develop the opposition and help usher in new era of Venezuelan politics that doesn’t revolve around one man.
Roger Noriega, a former assistant secretary for Western Hemisphere affairs under for-mer President George W. Bush, says the United States should not engage Venezuela until its leaders demonstrate they will respect the constitution and implement democratic reforms.
“We should defend the right of Venezuelans to struggle dem-ocratically to reclaim control of their country and its future,” Noriega wrote in a blog for the American Enterprise Institute.
A key indicator of how the U.S. will proceed will be who is sent to Chavez’s funeral, which is likely to be full of left-leaning, anti-American leaders. In the absence of an ambassador, sending a low-level embassy official suggests the United States is still looking to the past, while sending a senior delega-tion from Washington could signal an opening for Venezuela to seize.
[email protected] • 737-2231 Thursday, March 7, 2013 • 7
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U.S.-Venezuela relations likely to remain tense after Chavez
Lion kills worker at sanctuary in California(CNN) — A 26-year-old
female intern was killed Wednesday afternoon by an African lion inside a cage at an exotic cat sanctuary in California, authorities said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this critical time,” said Dale Anderson, founder of Project Survival Cat Haven in Dunlap.
The lion, a 5-year-old, 350-pound cat named Cous Cous, was shot and killed, officials said.
“Another employee had made several attempts to distract the lion away from the victim and into another enclosure prior to the deputy’s arrival, but all attempts failed,” the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
A sheriff’s deputy shot and killed the lion and then gave medical assistance to the work-er, it said. “The victim died at the scene.”
The head of The Jungle Jenny Foundation, which focuses on
conservation of endangered species, said she had been in Cous Cous’ cage before, accompanied by a park worker.
She said there was no indica-tion from the lion that he was dangerous.
“I didn’t see any type of aggressive behavior,” Jenny Michaels told CNN’s Piers Morgan.
She said the workers at the park were top-notch.
“It was really well run, very professional,” she said. “I don’t know the circumstances (of the attack) but I can tell you that in my interaction over at Project Survival they have been pro-fessional and ... they have run their protocol strictly.”
Noted animal expert Jack Hanna said that even if the woman had known the lion, a big cat can be unpredictable in the way it reacts to what it sees or hears.
“They are wild animals, end of story,” he said. “No matter what anyone says, they are wild
animals.”Hanna said it would be
unusual for someone to enter an adult lion’s cage without another person or with some-one close by.
Project Survival said it would investigate whether safety pro-tocol was followed.
Cat Haven is a 100-acre wooded sanctuary that is home to “some of the rarest cats in the world,” including lions, tigers, jaguars and leopards, according to its website.
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Understanding
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MEDIAPOSITIONSANNOUNCEMENT• Daily Barometer Editor-in-Chief
Mid-June 2013 – June 2014
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The above positions are open to any bonafide student at Oregon State University.To be considered, an applicant must: (1) have earned a g.p.a. of at least 2.0 from Oregon State University, (2) be enrolled for at least 6 academic credits, (3) not be on disciplinary probation, and (4) be making normal degree progress.To apply, applicant must: (1) complete an application form obtained from the Student Media Office, MU East, room 118, (2) submit a transcript, (3) submit a letter of application, (4) submit a resume, and (5) submit a letter of recommendation. Deadline to apply is Monday, April 1 at 5 p.m. Positions open until filled.Applicants will be interviewed by the University Student Media Committee on April 5 or 12. Candidates will be notified of interview date and time.Selected editors and managers must attendtraining April 19 & 20.
‘Snowquester’ doesn’t pan out in DC; situation nastier in Virginia
Trial of NY cop charged in alleged cannibalism plot nears juryNEW YORK (CNN) — With
just one day of direct testimony and three witnesses, the defense has rested in the trial of a New York police officer accused of conspiring to abduct women in a cannibalism plot.
Jurors are expected to hear final arguments in the trial of Gilberto Valle on Thursday, with Wednesday devoted to law-yers from both sides and the judge working without the jury present.
Valle, who was suspended without pay after his arrest last fall, is charged with con-spiracy to kidnap and access-ing a law enforcement data-base illegally. The government concluded its case Monday, with prosecutors contending that Valle was “deadly serious” about online plans allegedly to kidnap, rape, torture, cook and eat women.
Defense attorneys have argued that their client’s con-
duct was “pure fiction,” “make believe” and fantasy role-play-ing. None of Valle’s alleged tar-gets was ever victimized.
Valle did not take the stand during the trial.
Testimony Tuesday under-scored the fantasy argument by the defense.
The Russian creator of a web-site and an online fetish network allegedly frequented by Valle said in a taped deposition that the site he created was for “legal” fetishes and is intended for “fan-tasy only.”
Earlier prosecution testimony centered on Valle’s involvement with the site and its network. He carried out extensive e-mail and electronic conversations with users of the site discussing kidnapping and cannibalizing women, according to prosecu-tion witnesses.
Speaking from Moscow on tape and in Russian, with his remarks translated into English
for the courtroom, Sergay Merenkov said he created his site of “dark fetishes” because “we saw a niche in the market and we created this website for these people that have this kind of interest — (for) all fetishes that exist, that are legal.”
But on cross-examination, Merenkov admitted he saw dis-cussions of rape and murder on members’ pages.
“We wrote the rule so people could distinguish between real-ity and fantasy,” said Merenkov, defending the site and a message he posted on safety.
In the taped deposition, which was recorded last month, Merenkov admitted he has had to kick users off because of con-versations they were having through the website, explaining in those cases, “It could have led to something bad.”
Merenkov said that photos on the site are supposed to feature models playing out fantasies
and not real victims, but he conceded that in some instances there were real photos on the site that users had posted, specifi-cally crime-scene photos.
Alexandra Katz, a paralegal for the defense, testified that she looked up Valle’s profile under the screen name “girl meat hunt-er.” On his account she testified she read comments he wrote about himself such as, “I like to push the envelope but no matter what I say it’s all fantasy.”
Micheal McDermott, who has worked for the NYPD for 24 years, was the defense’s final witness. During McDermott’s last eight years, he was the union delegate for the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association. McDermott testi-fied that it was a very common thing among police officers to give out PBA cards, something the prosecution previously argued Valle did as a ruse to obtain home addresses from his alleged victims.
(CNN) — They’d hoped to trade political potshots for wet snowballs.
Instead, the storm billed as “Snowquester” is turning out to be nothing more than a big wet blanket for members of the Washington D.C. Snowball Fight Association. The group had planned a big showdown in DuPont Circle, where a few years ago 3,000 people turned out for a humdinger of a fight.
But where 5 to 10 inches of wet snow was supposed to fall on DuPont Circle, not even slush was accumulating Wednesday after-noon, said organizer Michael Lipin.
“Quite a letdown,” he said.While the storm was dumping plenty of
snow in other places, Washington was getting just fractions of an inch, said CNN meteorolo-gist Sean Morris.
In fact, the National Weather Service dropped its winter storm warning for the Washington area Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s just not panning out to be the storm we’d thought it would be,” Morris said.
In nearby Virginia, however, things were quite different.
Gov. Bob McDonnell declared a state of emergency, state police extended shifts and the National Guard called up 100 troops for snow duty as inches of wet, heavy snow fell across parts of the state.
Authorities opened shelters for the 215,000 Virginians without power, according to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.
Transportation officials reported particu-larly nasty conditions on many secondary and some primary routes in 15 central and northern counties, with deep snow or ice cov-ering the pavement. State and many county offices closed early.
About 4,200 utility workers were in the field trying to deal with outages, Rodney Blevins of Dominion Power said during a news conference.
Airlines canceled more than 1,600 flights, leaving passengers such as Alex Thompson, who had hoped to take a flight to San Francisco, with plenty of time on their hands.
Thompson traveled all the way from Kenya only to find that his next flight was one of
hundreds called off until Thursday because of the storm.
With no hotel reservations and nowhere else to go, he said he’d find a place to sack out at Dulles International Airport and “waste my time until I can get on my flight.”
Capital closingsThe dire forecast issued Tuesday prompted
the federal government to close offices in the nation’s capital, but emergency workers and telecommuters were expected to be on duty, according to the Office of Personnel Management.
The White House canceled a planned celebration for the Alabama Crimson Tide, college football champions, and Congress called off several hearings.
More than 954,000 students who attend major school districts in Washington, Virginia, Maryland and Ohio got the day off.
Amtrak shut down some trains in Washington, Virginia, West Virginia and New York.
But tourism goes onNot all of Washington was shut down.
Although the National Zoo was closed, the Smithsonian said its museums would be open for visitors.
Washington’s Metrorail system was run-ning, although some bus service was disrupt-ed, according to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Flooding threatAlong the coast, the problem wasn’t snow,
but high winds and the threat of flooding.The National Weather Service issued coast-
al flood warnings for parts of Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia.
Officials in parts of New Jersey suggested residents evacuate from flood-prone areas along the coast, including areas still recover-ing from damage done by Hurricane Sandy in October, according to CNN affiliate WABC.
A flood warning was in effect through Friday morning for the eastern coast of Massachusetts based on a “high confidence” for high winds, storm surge, and moderate to major coastal flooding, the state’s emergency management agency said.
About 300 National Guard troops will be used along the Massachusetts coast to help with flooding and possible evacuations, agency spokesman Peter Judge said.
Fifty Delaware National Guard troops were called up as emergency management officials urged some coastal residents in that state to evacuate, saying flooding would cut off exit routes. The agency warned of almost certain flooding in areas and said “conditions dur-ing the height of the storm could make the process of leaving flooded areas dangerous or impossible.”
High winds forced the brief closure of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge in both directions, Maryland authorities said, but not before a tractor trailer overturned on one end, CNN affiliate WJZ reported.
Wind was believed to have been a major factor in the accident.
Power was out across the Delmarva Peninsula, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, Delmarva Power reported.
In coastal Sussex County, the 911 center reported numerous calls for wires down, vehicle accidents and trees down.
Water breached a sand dune in Sussex County, forcing the closure of State Route 1 in the county, according to DEMA.
Midwest recoveringThe storm is the same one that earlier
dumped about a foot of snow in parts of Illinois, Minnesota and North Dakota, pav-ing a white swath across the Upper Midwest.
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport had 6 inches of snow Tuesday, beating a 1999 record for the date by 2.2 inches. It was the first snowfall of 6 inches or more in the Windy City since February 2011, the weather service said.
Plows removed snow from roads and trucks spread salt and sand, but drivers still slipped off of roadways, leaving snow-covered cars to be retrieved by tow trucks.
Tuesday’s snow put a drag on air traf-fic in the Midwest, leading to delays and cancellations, but planes continued to fly in Columbus, Ohio, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, after plows removed the snow from runways.
Not everyone surprised at Oscar Pistrious’ fall from graceJOHANNESBURG, South Africa (CNN)
— Oscar Pistorius first gained international fame amid a raging debate over whether his prosthetic legs would give him a competitive advantage in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Today, the disabled track star finds himself in the middle of a more serious controversy: whether he intentionally shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, or whether he mistook her for an intruder.
Pistorius has been charged with premedi-tated murder and his trial is sure to provoke worldwide news coverage (no date has been set yet).
The South African athlete’s spectacular fall from grace shocked many who were inspired by his remarkable story of overcom-
ing adversity to become an Olympian and a national hero.
But not everyone.“Here, I think, you had a troubled ath-
lete,” said South African sports journalist Graeme Joffe. “Not so much this incredible role model for the rest of the world — no question about that — but deep down, this was a troubled athlete.”
Joffe is one of the few South African jour-nalists who has been critical of Pistorius. He said the PR machine behind the man they call Blade Runner has all but made him untouchable.
“So many incidents have happened and they’ve been well documented over the last five or six years with Oscar Pistorius,”
said Joffe, who worked at CNN in the 1990s. “These kinds of cases have disappeared.”
The South African media has long adored Pistorius, some would say even protected him, by minimizing his problems. Yet, some of his friends and colleagues have cast doubt on the idyllic image of Pistorius portrayed by the press.
“It’s like we were waiting for something like this to happen,” said Marc Batchelor, a South African soccer player who socialized with Pistorius in South Africa’s glamor and sports circles.
Batchelor described Pistorius as someone who “had a trip switch,” quick to get angry and fight. Pistorius caused “a lot of problems,” he said.
