The Daily Barometer OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY • CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2014 • VOLUME CXVI, NUMBER 75
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OSA lobbies for changes to board By Tori Hittner THE DAILY BAROMETER
The Oregon Student Association will support a bill asking for several administrative changes to university governing boards and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, according to Taylor Sarman, the Associated Students of Oregon State University executive director of government relations. The current draft of the bill would require the governor to appoint one student representative to HECC from each of the following institutional groups: community colleges, the three universities with governing boards and the remaining technical and regional academic institutions.
In addition, the bill asks that a graduate student be added to all governing boards at institutions that support graduate programs. Currently, the law as determined by Senate Bill 270 calls for an undergraduate representative alone. The proposal was drafted from the collaborative efforts of students from Southern Oregon University and the University of Oregon, who hoped for increased representation on higher education governing boards and committees. The draft states that the governor would also be required to “conduct formal review on whether to remove a member of the governing board whose ability is questioned by two-thirds vote of the university’s student senate and faculty senate.” “I think it’s kind of an interesting approach
because the governor (currently) has the sole authority to remove and appoint people to the board,” Sarman said. Sarman also serves as the current student undergraduate representative on the Oregon State board of trustees, a position which he will hold for a two-year term. OSA supports this legislation and will lobby for it during the current, short state congressional session. Oregon State as an individual institution has yet to officially support the bill. According to Sarman, the bill would take effect immediately upon passage. Tori Hittner
Student government reporter managing@dailybarometer.com
Discovering thinner, green materials for better screens n
CSMC looks at sustainable compounds used in electronics, works toward efficient materials
By Dacotah-Victoria Splichalova THE DAILY BAROMETER
Behind every LCD screen, there are metal components that require highquality UV exposure in order for the television or iPhone displays to work more efficiently. Higher quality metals used in LCDs produce faster pixels, which results in better quality devices. “We’re looking at elements that are more commonly available and affordable like tin, zinc and aluminum,” said Shawn Decker, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of chemistry and a member of the Center for Sustainable Materials Chemistry. “Our goal is to discover ways to process these materials in more sustainable and less energy-consuming ways.” Traditionally the materials that go into making electronic devices have been processed using various types of vacuum chambers, which takes a See material | page 4
Justin Quinn
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
Sumit Saha, a synthetic chemist and research scholar in the Center for Sustainable Material Chemistry, uses a Schlenk line — a technique used for safely and successfully manipulating air-sensitive compounds.
Transition from Oregon University System continues n
New higher education budget system to work with college boards as preparations for new governance system continues By Sean Bassinger THE DAILY BAROMETER
State budget preparations for Oregon State University will now be forwarded to the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, a new organization that focuses on financial regulations for Oregon colleges. Known as HECC, the new governing body takes over for functions previously overseen by the Oregon University System. Though four Oregon colleges don’t yet have their own institutional governing boards, OUS will still submit each university’s budget to HECC. “It’s brand new for the state and a much higher level of coordination than the state’s had before,” said Sherm Bloomer, director of budget and fiscal planning at OSU. Bloomer said HECC makes budget and policy recommendations to the Oregon Education Investment Board. OEIB coordinates all of education, pre-K through the university level. “Right now, PSU, U of O and OSU will make a submission to the HECC,” Bloomer said. “The other four will make submissions through OUS to the HECC.” Stephen Scheck, vice president of academic affairs at WOU, said their institution will also seek out an institutional governing board. “We believe we could best serve the type of students that come here if we did go with an institution board that would be totally focused on what WOU enterprise really is,” Scheck said, “Rather than a board that’s still distracted by reviewing three or four schools.” Scheck said HECC will take on a tremendously robust roll of absorbing much of what the state board of higher See HECC | page 4
City Council approves university’s text amendment to allow change to street development Change for Oregon State street development code standards approved
The text amendment allows for a change in the OSU street development standards, and clarifies the differences between city- and OSUowned streets. In the OSU Planning presentation, it was stated that OSU By Emma-Kate Schaake has needs unique to other areas of THE DAILY BAROMETER Corvallis due to the high volume of The Corvallis City Council voted pedestrian and bicycle traffic. unanimously to approve the OSU “It makes sense to make these Land Development Code Text changes to accommodate the hisAmendment for the street standards torical facts of how OSU is laid out,” of OSU at Monday evening’s meeting. said councilman Mike Beilstein. “It’s The decision follows the Jan. 21 quite appropriate that we do this, I City Council public hearing for the just want the public to know the we are not letting the university get away amendment. n
with something.” The amendment is tentatively approved, but specific stipulations may still modify the code in the future. In other business, the Sustainability Coalition gave its annual report to the council, and stated their goals for growth in the next year. One of those goals is to increase recycling and sustainable actions by fostering greater collaboration with OSU. Despite the increased fervor, Corvallis still lags behind a sustainability level that the coalition would like to reach. This could be attributed
to consumption and waste contributions from OSU, despite existing on-campus recycling programs. The coalition plans to speak with University Housing and Dinning Services to reduce food waste and encourages students to get involved. The proposed parking zones is another area that Corvallis resident Tom Jensen wishes students would get involved. During the visitors’ proposition section of the meeting, Jensen voiced concerns about the upcoming changes regarding new residential parking zones. The potential zones are still
in deliberations within the Urban Services Committee and have not been formally passed to the City Council. “I’m not even guaranteed a parking space in my district with this system,” Jensen said. “Why am I being charged for this?” The Corvallis Urban Services Committee meeting will meet Tuesday at 5 p.m. to review and discuss public feedback on the proposed parking zones. Emma-Kate Schaake
City reporter managing@dailybarometer.com