Barometer The Daily
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2012 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
Weather announcement The Daily Barometer
All classes beginning before 10 a.m. are again cancelled today due to potentially hazardous road conditions. More information on the status of university operations can be found on the OSU website. 737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com
DAILYBAROMETER.COM
VOLUME CXV, NUMBER 61
PAGE 8
SPORTS
8 – Men’s hoops needs more ‘D’ 8 – Coaches corner: Scott Rueck
NEWS
2 – IFCS holds meditation flash mob today
COACHES CORNER: Getting to know Scott Rueck.
FORUM
4 – Polar Plunge comes to Corvallis Feb. 11
Reporting sexual violence changed As only 5 percent of incidents currently get reported, new policies under Title IX intend to increase awareness at college campuses
crimination under federal law, in order to create a more survivor-based culture on campus. Last April, university administrators sent out a “Dear Employee” email directing university employees to reexamine the way sexual harassBy Alex Hilborn ment is handled and reported on campus. After The Daily Barometer looking into the issue, the Office of Equity and The Office of Equity and Inclusion has reinter- Inclusion has implemented changes into how preted its sexual harassment policy, which follows university employees should report incidences guidelines set by Title IX dealing with sexual dis- of sexual harassment. Under the new guidelines n
university employees must report all incidents of sexual misconduct that they hear to the Office of Equity and Inclusion. Jennifer Almquist of the Office of Equity and Inclusion claims that the Penn State sexual abuse scandal had no bearing on the decision to revamp the university’s sexual harassment policy because they had started addressing the issue last spring before the story broke. See ASSAULT | page 3
Center for public policy measures poverty in state of Oregon 600,000 Oregonians live in poverty, local services offer resources, counseling
from 16.9 percent in 2007 to 21.6 percent in 2010. The Supplemental Poverty Measure released by the U.S. Census Bureau in November 2011, reported that more Americans lived in poverty in 2010 By Ana Bienvenida than was otherwise reported in the The Daily Barometer According to the Oregon Center official poverty statistics. Jason Gettel, a policy analyst for for Public Policy, if poverty were a city in Oregon, it would be the the OCPP said, “The Supplemental policy measure takes into account state’s second biggest city. With a total population of 600,000 the more realistic circumstances that Oregonians, the number is twice the families face, looks at the income side population of Eugene and Salem as well as the expense side. It looks at combined. Poverty remains to be the types of government assistance an issue that lies behind a carefully that families are getting; at the real costs that are facsmoothed surface, ing families. We have an issue that many for quite a choose to ignore it is important to note known while that the official or remain blissthat even though a poverty numbers fully ignorant of. to undercount The OCPP aimed family doesn’t meet tend poverty.” to rectify and eduthese criteria, it The definition of cate on the issue of poverty is, in itself, doesn’t mean they poverty by putting an ambiguous term. together a visual don’t have trouble Michael Harrington, guide to poverty making ends meet. in his book “The in Oregon. The Other America” guide contains five —Jason Gettel published in 1962, key poverty statisPolicy Analyst for OCPP defined poverty as tics for the state, more than lacking which includes the poverty rate, the child poverty rate, minimum standards of living. He the total number of Oregonians in wrote, “Poverty should be defined poverty, the share of Oregonians in psychologically in terms of those “deep poverty” and poverty by race whose place in society is such that they are internal exiles.” and ethnicity. The definition of the poverty line The OCPP highlights Oregon’s poverty rate increase since the also poses issues. The Poverty Line recession. In 2007, 12.9 percent of for a family of three in 2010 was Oregonians lived below the poverty $17,374. “This means that a single line and by the year 2010 the pov- parent earning $18,000 with two erty line had reached 15.8 percent. kids would not be considered to be In another graph, the OCPP states in poverty according to this meathat one in five children in Oregon sure,” Gettel said. “By this definilive in poverty, a staggering increase tion, this family would not be con-
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Caitlin McKinley
sidered in poverty. It is important to keep that in perspective. It is important to note that even though a family doesn’t meet these criteria, it doesn’t mean they don’t have trouble [making] ends meet.” Community Outreach Inc., located in Corvallis, is a human service organization that provides basic human needs to the mid-Willamette Valley’s homeless and poor. The organization provides a wide variety of services including medical clinics, therapeutic child care for families, operating in-house food banks, and even mental health treatment services with drug and alcohol counselling. “We are seeing, with the recession, more families that are entering
shelters for the first time ever. They have the most difficult time adjusting to the idea of not being able to provide for their families. They are more in crisis since they are unfamiliar with the new situations,” said Kenny Lowe, social services director. “A lot of what we do is done on campus by the Human Service Resource Center on campus,” Lowe said. “It’s really unique for Corvallis to recognize social services and recognize a need to solve the issue of poverty. We have students who are living in the shelters and are undergoing mental health counselling; we also have students who volunteer.” Poverty is an ongoing struggle, both physically and psychologically
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
for many Americans. It harbours prejudice when it is addressed and is readily pushed beneath the surface when it is brought into the light. Jessica Chanay, deputy director for Partners for a Hunger-Free Oregon, stressed the importance of public policy. “We think public policy is the best way to address these poverty issues in terms of prevention.” Chanay has also seen a continued participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. “Parents will shield their kids from hunger and go hungry themselves. So you know it’s really bad when See POVERTY | page 3
Experiment links mutant flies’ neurodegeneration to biological clocks n
Research on two mutant fly types finds lack of gene increases brain damage By Michael Mendes The Daily Barometer
Contributed photo
| Courtesy of Kuntol Rakshit
A visual of the head section of a young sniffer and double-mutant fly shows an increased number of holes inside the brain, indicating neural damage.
Experiments with mutant fruit flies have uncovered a possible link between disruption of the body’s biological clock and increased neurodegeneration in flies that are genetically vulnerable to brain damage. A collaborative effort between Oregon State University’s Department of Zoology and the Oregon Health & Science University’s Center for Research on Environmental Toxicology found that the period gene, one of the genes responsible for maintaining the body’s “biological clock” or circadian rhythms, may help protect fruit flies against brain damage resulting from harmful mutations.
“The clock genes are highly conserved between mammals and flies,” said Kuntol Rakshit, a Ph.D. candidate in OSU’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training in Aging Sciences program. That is, the human and fly genetic sequences of the genes in question differ very little. Fruit flies also live only about 70 days, allowing researchers to conduct trials on the model’s entire life cycle in a matter of months. Researchers used several different models to verify that the results were associated with neurodegeneration in general as opposed to one specific pathway of brain damage. In the course of the experiment, they used two different mutant fly types that were missing different protector genes. Both mutant lines typically displayed brain damage, but with a nonfunctional period gene, the degree of brain damage was greatly increased. One mutant type’s lifes-
pan was decreased by 32 percent; the other’s lifespan decreased by a full 50 percent. In addition to knocking out the period gene to disrupt the flies’ body clocks, they also experimented with keeping the flies in constant light, which rendered the flies unable to keep track of time. This produced similar results. “Whether [the disruption] is by physiology or genetics, it accelerated aging,” Rakshit said. OSU researchers studied the biochemical and physiological effects on the flies, including measuring their relative activity. The collaborating researchers at OHSU, specifically the Kretzschmar lab, produced the double-mutant flies and sliced the fly brains for study. These labs have had a history of collaboration and worked together on a previous study that See BIO CLOCKS | page 3