The Daily Barometer OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY • CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
TUESDAY, JANUARY 14, 2014 • VOLUME CXVI, NUMBER 62
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Center renamed in honor of first lady University community comes together Monday evening to celebrate Beth Ray, renaming of Student Success Center By Kaitlyn Kohlenberg THE DAILY BAROMETER
Administrators, faculty, staff, family and friends gathered Monday to celebrate the formal renaming of the Student Success Center, which was renamed the Beth Ray Center for Academic Support. Oregon State University’s first lady, Beth Ray, wife of President Ed Ray, was diagnosed with advanced small cell carcinoma, an incurable cancer, in spring 2013. The decision to rename the building originated from a group of studentathletes. The center has been a keystone support for student athletes, working as a convenient location for them to study and receive academic support. Lauren Fischer, a third-year public health student and member of the women’s golf team, told the audience of her time as a student-athlete before the center was built. According to Fischer, student-athletes spent study hall sessions in a room on the third
floor of Reser Stadium with outdated technology and makeshift seating arrangements. “The new building has been an extremely beneficial change not only to the athletic community but to the This means more university as a whole,” Fischer said. than you can Fischer said the first lady attends all sporting events and is a “staunch imagine. I never supporter” of the student-athletes and thought this would the athletics program. have been possible. “Because of her tremendous support, we are truly inspired and pleased to rededicate and rename this buildBeth Ray ing the Beth Ray Academic Center for Oregon State University first lady Student Support,” Fischer said. Though the request to rename the building was rooted with studentathletes, support was undisputed and strong throughout all areas of the university. “We had folks come to us and share personal stories of how Beth Ray has aided them quietly without anyone knowing and they offered their support,” said Steve Clark, vice president for university relations and marketing. With “universal and unanimous support” to rename the building, the university’s building naming commitJUSTIN QUINN | THE DAILY BAROMETER tee approved the request and brought it to the rest of the university for con- OSU first lady Beth Ray gave a brief speech, thanking the university and community for the honor of having the building formerly known as the Student Success Center named after her. See BETH RAY | page 4
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Aukerman, Mullins excited for new sports medicine center n
Project to cost approximately $4M, Samaritan hopeful for completion by end of 2014 By Warner Strausbaugh THE DAILY BAROMETER
COURTESY OF OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
The Eurasian lynx is a large predator that plays an important role in keeping its ecosystem in check.
Researchers urge people to save large carnivores THE DAILY BAROMETER
Of the 31 large carnivore species, more than 75 percent of the populations are declining, according to an Oregon State University press release. Based off an analysis of the large carnivore species, lead author and OSU professor William Ripple said the decline of species such as lions, wolves and bears are affecting ecosystems globally. Large carnivores, with some exception, have disappeared from much of the developed world. And many more
are endangered. “Many of these animals are at risk of extinction, either locally or globally,” Ripple said in the press release. “And, ironically, they are vanishing just as we are learning about their important ecological effects.” Calling for an international initiative to conserve these large animals, Ripple and colleagues from around the globe are suggesting the initiative be molded after the Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe. See CARNIVORES | page 4
Oregon State University and Samaritan Health Services have not worked together in as close a capacity as the two institutions will at the end of this year. That’s when Larry Mullins, president and CEO of Samaritan Health Services, is hopeful that the new state-of-the-art Samaritan Sports Medicine Center will open. “We’ve had a lot of programs over the years, but I think by far this is the most substantive we’ve had on campus,” Mullins said. Samaritan and OSU announced Wednesday that plans had been finalized for the facility, and construction is scheduled to begin in the coming months. The 17,000-square-foot building will be available to the general public, and will be located on SW 30th Street across from the Truax Indoor Practice Facility. “It was important in our minds that we are able to offer the same level of services for people with athletic injuries, to the community at large, as well as athletes,” Mullins said. “That was an important principle we had in conversations with the university, and they agreed.”
The cost of the center is approximately $4 million, which Samaritan will fund. It will be built on land leased from OSU. The conversation to build this facility began more than two years ago. Dr. Doug Aukerman, OSU senior associate athletic director for sports medicine and Samaritan director of sports medicine, will lead clinical operations. He has been involved with this project since OSU hired him in January 2012. “Doug Aukerman is one of the most exceptional sports medicine physicians I’ve had the privilege of working with over the years,” Mullins said. “He’s got a real good perspective from both the university and the health system, but maybe more important, he has the athlete’s and patient’s perspective.”
Aukerman’s work with OSU has been with athletes, but he’s eager to work in a capacity that citizens can also access. While OSU’s student-athletes get a more convenient and central location for treatment, this building allows anyone to access the same care. “For the general public … it opens those same resources,” Aukerman said. “The general population can also utilize the same facility and the same physicians and resources, which are providing the elite level of care for the student-athletes.” Primary care sports medicine physicians, orthopedic surgery and physical therapy will be available. The influx of opportunities — internSee CENTER | page 4
COURTESY OF SAMARITAN HEALTH SERVICES
Architectural drawings show the northwest side of the Samaritan Sports Medicine Center, which is scheduled for completion by the end of 2014.