Barometer The Daily
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2012 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
DAILYBAROMETER.COM
VOLUME CXV, NUMBER 72
PAGE 4&5
SPORTS
8 – Women’s hoops at Gill 8 – Looking for 2nd road win
SIGNING DAY: Full coverage of football signing day..
FORUM
3 –Overseas labor abuse
Local well water may be dangerous after floods n
OSU Extension offers suggestions for testing water, how to counteract bacteria, nitrates By Amanda Antell The Daily Barometer
Hannah Gustin
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
Though the floods that overcame Corvallis a couple weeks ago have since died down, residents are still experiencing its effects in their well water.
Recent flooding has caused property damage, unsafe well water and slight overflow in southern and rural Corvallis. Students who live in Albany, rural areas outside of Corvallis and southern Corvallis have suffered flooded basements, yards, and contaminated water in privately owned wells. “It was crazy, it took me six hours to get home that day,” said William Rendich, Oregon State University junior in philosophy. Well-owners have the benefit of pure, non-chlorinated water, as well as not having to pay for a water bill. Though having a water bill is an extra expense, it guarantees filtered, safe drinking and bathing water. Well water doesn’t go through extensive treatment, and it requires renters or landowners to self-manage it through lab testing, pH testing, and treatment procedures should it become infected. This is what OSU’s extension service is worried about. Due to the recent flooding, private well water will not only be infected with nitrates, but also with a coliform bacteria: Escherichia coli, or E. coli. Confirmed tests show some wells have been infected with the bacteria, and many have been infected with a small amount of nitrates that could be dangerous to children.
Students who OSU a destination to explore receive aid late economics, poverty for struggle to purchase books n
Professor Jennifer Sykes thrives within OSU’s new school of public policy By Tony Santilli
The Daily Barometer
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Since Beaver Store is separate from the university, it is not tied to dispersal of individual funds By Ana Bienvenida The Daily Barometer
The availability of used books at the OSU Beaver Store decreases as financial aid students wait for disbursement. Approximately 65 percent of students at Oregon State University are on financial aid. With the increasing prices of textbooks, a significant amount of pressure is placed on students to find and purchase textbooks at lower prices. Financial aid is typically disbursed to students before the term begins with an estimated 90 percent of financial aid disbursed by the middle of the week. However, some students receive their aid later in the term, forcing some who rely on the dis See AID | page 2
Jennifer Sykes, a new professor at Oregon State University, has a wide range of interests and research. With her experience in social policy, sociology, political sciences and economics, Sykes is proving to be a significant addition to OSU’s teaching faculty. Q: What was it like receiving your graduate degree in sociology and social policy at Harvard? A: I went to graduate school to study poverty and inequality and Harvard presented an exciting opportunity to study these subjects in a multidisciplinary setting in a program that allowed a joint degree quite similar to the multi-disciplinary team that comprises OSU’s public policy school. So it was a fantastic and invaluable opportunity because Harvard offered incredible scholars who are excited about public policy; who were dedicated to studying poverty and really cared about the well-being of vulnerable families in America. Q: How has your first year at OSU been?
Greek chapters experience significant rise in membership n
OSU Greek life has expanded past 2,800 student members, parallels growth of university
E. coli is a deadly bacteria normally found in feces and can have deadly results within days. While nitrates aren’t nearly as dangerous, they can cause hemoglobin deficiency in young children, and have been found to cause ‘Blue Baby Syndrome,’ which leads to infants losing the ability to intake air and take on a blue coloring of the skin, and ultimately, suffocation. Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen transport in red blood cells. Nitrates consume the enzymes necessary to assist hemoglobin. “Human adults can naturally consume a certain amount of nitrates, and not be affected by it; it won’t hurt us. You wouldn’t want to, but it wouldn’t hurt us. Small children are more susceptible to sickness because their immune systems aren’t as strong,” said Chrissy Lucas, program assistant of Small Farms and Groundwater Education. Lucas is an experienced crop and soil scientist with a bachelor’s degree in animal science; she has been working at OSU since 2003. After moving to Groundwater Education from her original reception job, she does unique work for the treatment and public safety of groundwater. “Water is very easily contaminated. After a flood like this, soil, dirt, debris and some kind of feces will end up washing into a well, in which case you have to treat the water,” Lucas said. Residents who use a private well are encouraged to test their water at least once a year, which is especially recommended for households with
Greek Life has been a significant fixture in the lives of college students across the nation. Recently, Greek life at Oregon State University has reached a significant peak, with 2,806 total students representing Greek chapters within the Unified Greek Council, Inter-fraternity Council and the Panhellenic Council. This represents approximately 13.6 percent of the total population at OSU. Bob Kerr, coordinator of Greek life at OSU, attributes this recent growth to several factors. “Students are looking for academic support and a place to make a big university feel smaller and more inviting,” said Kerr. “As more students experience the benefits of Greek life, they naturally attract other students as well.” Another noteworthy change the Greek community has undergone is the way it markets itself towards incoming students, said Will Later, IFC President. Many students recall the memorable “G” campaign during Connect week, where members of the Greek community wore t-shirts with a large “G” on the front. They allowed the meaning of this letter to spread by word of mouth throughout the student body, which according to Later, led to “so much more awareness about Greek life [causing a] 30 percent increase from last year’s
See WELLS | page 2
See GREEKS | page 2
By Martin Forde
The Daily Barometer
A: It’s been a fantastic first year. My masters in public policy students have been incredibly impressive in their talents, but also in the scopes of what they’re interested in in terms of their policies. My colleagues at this school in public policy have been extraordinarily welcoming and it’s been fun coming to a university that has so many new hires at the same time because I have some colleagues who are going through the same process that I am: relocating to Corvallis and joining the Beaver family. I am relocating from the Boston area so the lack of snow has been a huge bonus this year. Q: Can you describe the research you have published? A: My published work has focused on the well-being of vulnerable families. One small study that I did when I was a graduate student at Harvard was I looked at mothers who neglect their children and their experiences of clients navigating the child protective system. My research often focuses on those who have little political power to see how they experience government. My present research takes on an entirely new cliental. I’m focusing on [how] economically vulnerable famiJohn zhang | THE DAILY BAROMETER lies specifically earn income tax New to OSU, professor Jennifer Sykes agrees with the structure of the school See SYKES | page 2 of public policy because it allows her to ‘move around’ within her research.