The Daily Barometer 02/21/12

Barometer The Daily

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2012 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331

DAILYBAROMETER.COM

VOLUME CXV, NUMBER 85

PAGE 8

SPORTS

8 – The offseason through Mike Riley’s eyes

NEWS

6 – Cease fire needed in Syria

CLAYTON JACK: The senior is hoping for a national title.

FORUM

4 – Executive Branch response 4 – On the “right to lie”

ASOSU Executive overpaid since June n

Lack of knowledge of statutes appear to be cause of over payment, wages being reset

By Don Iler

The Daily Barometer

Since taking office June 1, 2011, members of the Associated Students of Oregon State University executive cabinet and task force directors have been overpaid. The amounts have been above the guidelines for pay in ASOSU statutes, amounting to a gross overpayment of $4,960.80.

The pay raises came as a result of cabinet meetings held in the weeks after the Hopoi administration came into office, and were not known to the other branches of government.

The increases resulted in an almost across the board pay increase for executive cabinet Do I think members task force directhe pay was tors. However, low? Yes. many paid employees, Was it done including legcorrectly? I islative positions, such don’t think as speaker of so. the house and graphic design employees, Drew Hatlen did not receive ASOSU Speaker of the pay raises and House continued to be underpaid according to ASOSU statutes.

“One thing Sokho (Eath, ASOSU Vice President) and I noticed from last year was that everyone was being underpaid,” said ASOSU President M. Tonga Hopoi.

ASOSU statutes peg employee pay based on the State of Oregon minimum wage, to account for increases in the cost of living and changes in minimum wage without having to vote for new pay.

“The statutes should have gotten read, either the president or the executive director of finance should have found … what the pay

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Alexandra Taylor

rates for the various pay grades are, and they are all indexed based off the minimum wage of the State of Oregon. They could have seen then that everyone was not being paid according to the rules and if the pay rates had been adjusted to what it should been according to the statutes, there would have been no problem,” said Chris Van Drimmelen, administrative and logistics advocate.

It appears that statutes were not followed and the way to change the amount paid to officials would have been to change the statutes, which would have required the approval of

The House of Representatives Senior Reporter Kristin Pugmire explains the ins and outs of the House of Representatives

paid people were,” Hopoi said.

“What we had stepped into was already wrong.”

There have been questions raised about the ethics and legality of the pay increase.

“Do I think the pay was low? Yes,” said Drew Hatlen, ASOSU Speaker of the House. “Was it done correctly? I don’t think so. When you are elected to a position, you take on the responsibility to make sure student fees are being spent wisely.”

While it is not clear whether there was a violation of ethics, what is clear is that the statutes were not followed.

“It states pretty clearly in the statutes what the pay rates are,” Van Drimmelen said. “Everyone who works for ASOSU takes an oath to uphold the constitution and statutes, however that would mean reading and understanding the constitution and statutes.”

Pay discrepancies seemingly came as a result of lack of understanding of ASOSU statutes. This may have been because executive cabinet members receive little formal training over the summer.

“The executive this summer See ASOSU | page 6

Women’s Center exhibits feminist art n

Women-identified pieces hang in Memorial Union exhibit windows, displaying abstract illustrations of Healthy Mind, Body and Soul

By Annecy Beauchemin The Daily Barometer

By Kristin Pugmire

Congress in order to be passed, as stated in the ASOSU Constitution.

While House representatives serve one-year terms, senators

From Feb. 3 to March 15, the Oregon State University Women’s Center Annual Art Exhibit is being displayed in the Memorial Union Concourse Gallery.

The mixed media exhibit opens yearly to It’s open to the community, and the large gallery space on anyone affiliated the first floor of the MU with OSU accommodates a great number and variety of whose art is artists responding to female-identified. female themes.

One of the exhibit’s Susan Bourque curators, special assisExhibit Coordinator tant to the president Ann McLaughlin, who also is on the Women’s Center Advisory Committee, describes the exhibit as “a call to artists across campus.” Male artists are welcome to contribute pieces along with female-identified artists from OSU, as long as all pieces somehow interpret the year’s theme.

While this year’s theme for the exhibit is “Healthy Mind,

See HOUSE | page3

See ART | page 3

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The Daily Barometer

Part II Q: How is the House of Representatives different from the Senate?

A: According to Speaker of the House Drew Hatlen, while the Senate deals more with ASOSU statutes and internal functions, the House of Representatives handles judiciary and fiscal matters, and deals directly with the ASOSU budget. “A lot of what our committees do is budget-focused,” Hatlen said.

Bills originate in the branch of Congress that handles the issue addressed in the legislation; for example, a bill regarding ASOSU pay increases would originate in the House of Representatives.

Regardless of where a bill or resolution starts out, it must also be approved by the other branch of

both houses of the legislature.

“Our focus on giving the pay raises was not on us, it was on our lowest paid employees like Saferide and our task force directors,” Hopoi said. “Afterward, the compression rate applied to the rest of the executive staff.”

However under the pay increases given by Hopoi in June, executive cabinet members, including the president and vice president, each received a $1 per hour raise while task force directors received an increase of 50 cents. Saferide employees received no raise at all.

“I had to figure out how under-

Alexandra taylor

| THE DAILY BAROMETER

Speaker of the House Drew Hatlen at a meeting fall term.

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Knowing your ASOSU: n

| THE DAILY BAROMETER

ASOSU President Hopoi (left) and Hatlen seated in front of the Senate and Judicial Council during the impeachment trial last term.

Alexandra Taylor

| THE DAILY BAROMETER

Jennifer Moss’ “I’ve Taken a Notion” is a collage made of sewing and paper materials.

2• Tuesday, February 21, 2012

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In a whispering campaign not ready to go public, some senior Republicans are so anxious about the state of the GOP race they are actually considering the unheard of: a scenario that would lead to another candidate entering the Republican primary race, and potentially an open convention.

They are not unhappy enough, however, to go on the record calling for another candidate to enter the fray.

In fact, when pressed, many Republicans say the chatter about another candidate is inevitable in this long and inconclusive primary process.

They also say it’s just not likely to happen.

Why? “If you bring somebody new into the race, that person will lose,” said a senior GOP strategist who admits a bias towards Romney. “The party — especially conservatives — will not respond to somebody who has not gone through the process.”

That being said, it’s clear Rick Santorum’s recent rise in the polls — and what some see as his electability problems — have struck a nerve with Republicans.

“There is something called agenda control,” said one unaffiliated GOP strategist.

“Santorum does not have it.

Instead of talking about the economy, he’s been going

down rabbit holes for the last four or five days.”

Santorum’s emphasis on cultural issues may intensify his conservative and evangelical support and help him win the nomination or at least differentiate himself from Newt Gingrich. The fear is he may also be narrowing his support in a general election population.

And Santorum’s surging candidacy is not the only concern for senior Republicans.

Mitt Romney’s inability to close the deal has also raised eyebrows — and angst. And the anxiety will only intensify should Romney lose his home state of Michigan in the primary on Feb. 28, several senior Republicans told CNN. “Michigan is the whole shooting match,” said one senior GOP strategist not aligned with a campaign.

Says another: “If Romney loses Michigan, all hell breaks loose.”

Given that real possibility, one knowledgeable GOP source confirms that some Republicans are circulating the deadlines and the basic math that would allow another candidate to get into the nomination fight and take it all the way to the convention.

More than a half dozen states’ filing deadlines have yet to pass. A majority of the delegates to the national convention are still up for grabs. One

more factor to be considered: many states are choosing their delegates proportionally, which makes it easier for a candidate pick up delegates without outright winning a state.

Politico first reported the existence of a document circulating among Republicans.

Santorum’s highlighting of cultural issues could play well for him in the shortterm. But the worry among Republicans is that his views will raise the question of his electability. “After a while, Republican voters will start asking whether this is the guy to take on Obama,” says one GOP strategist. In addition to the fear of a potential loss to Obama, some Republicans worry about losing the House of Representatives if Santorum were at the top of the ticket.

“Santorum would so alienate voters, especially women... he would be lucky to carry a dozen states,” one senior Republican told CNN, referring to Santorum’s disapproval of pre-natal screening.

Santorum’s campaign disagrees. It considers him a strong social conservative who is the best equipped to take on President Obama on the economic issues — particularly in the rustbelt states. “He won in Pennsylvania, which has both democrats and women the last time I checked,” says a

senior Santorum adviser, who calls his boss a “full spectrum conservative.”

One of the Republicans who has seen the memo said “no one is hoping that this will come to play,” regarding a new candidate entering the fray.

Yet some Republican partisans feel they need to make some contingency plans depending on the outcome in coming primaries. Other veteran Republicans contacted

by CNN dismissed any possibility of another candidate entering the contest at this date.

There are no names of possible candidates mentioned in the memo. Who would the Republicans possibly turn to? The usual suspects include Sarah Palin, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie or Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

They could still enter the race although they all have repeatedly said they will not mount a campaign despite new inquiries by some in the party.

“I really would not be interested,” Daniels told CNN affiliate WISH Monday. “If we get to that point, I would be interested in finding someone who can present a really credible and winning alternative to where the nation is going right now. I still think it’s very unlikely. These things have a way of resolving themselves.”

— CNN

Santorum: Obama leads with a ‘different theology’ Rick Santorum drew applause from Ohio tea party voters — but perhaps raised some eyebrows, too — when he suggested Saturday that President Barack Obama leads based on a theology different from that in the Bible.

It left some wondering whether he was implying that Obama subscribes to a religion other than Christianity.

The comments came at an event in Columbus shortly after the former senator from Pennsylvania said efficacy and safety improvements in oil drilling technology are considered by the president to be “a dangerous technology.”

“It doesn’t fit his pattern of trying to drive down consumption, trying to drive up your cost of transportation to accomplish his political science goal of reducing carbon dioxide,” he said.

Obama, he continued, is not motivated by “your quality of life.”

“It’s not about your job. It’s about some phony ideal, some phony theology,” Santorum said. “Oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology. But no less a theology.”

The White House hopeful held a press conference later in the day, where a half dozen questions centered on the topic.

Santorum told reporters that the mes-

sage he was trying to convey was that the president merely holds “different moral values.”

“You may want to call it a theology, you may want to call it secular values,” he said. “Whatever you want to call it. . . it is a different set of moral values that they are imposing on people who have a constitutional right to have their own values within the church.”

He said Obama has reached a “low in this country’s history of oppressing religious freedom that we have never seen before.”

Asked if he believes the president is less of a Christian than someone such as himself, Santorum said that “no one is suggesting that.”

“In the Christian church there are a lot of different stripes of Christianity. . . . I’m just saying he’s imposing his values on the church and I think that’s wrong,” he said.

Responding to a separate question on whether he disagrees with Obama when the president calls himself a Christian, Santorum said, “If the president says he’s a Christian, he’s a Christian.”

He added that liberals on “the left” have been imposing their own moral code on Americans for quite some time.

“You can call it a theology, you can call it

a moral code, you can call it a world view,” he said. “They want to impose [that] on everybody else while they insist and complain that somehow or another people of Judeo Christian faith are intolerant of their new moral code.”

Santorum’s comments may strike certain chords with some Republican voters who have questioned Obama’s faith before, or others who saw the administration’s recent contraception mandate as an overreach.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt issued a response to the comments, but did not directly address whether the campaign saw this as a direct attack on his Christian credentials.

“This is just the latest low in a Republican primary campaign that has been fueled by distortions, ugliness, and searing pessimism and negativity — a stark contrast with the president who is focused everyday on creating jobs and restoring economic security for the middle class.”

Last month, Santorum was criticized by some for not correcting a voter who called the president a Muslim when she stood up to ask a question at one of his campaign town halls.

— CNN

Calendar Tuesday, Feb. 21 Meetings

ASOSU Senate, 7pm, MU 109A. Convenes to discuss student issues.

Students and student organization delegates are welcome to attend.

Speakers Women’s Center, 3-5pm, Women’s Center. Budgets, Credit & Savings...

OH MY! SisterScholars is hosting a budgeting and money management workshop to help women prepare to be financially independent and savvy!

Events Black Cultural Center, Noon-2pm, BCC. Jeopardy and wings. Jeopardy about black history, in collaboration with SOL. The Pride Center, 10am-7pm, The Pride Center. Come contribute to a collage that celebrates and supports those that have struggled with the AIDS Virus.

There will be supplies to make pieces in the center all week, which will then be assembled and displayed.

College Republicans, Noon-4pm, MU Quad. First Amendment Week. Come and support your freedom of speech.

Wednesday, Feb. 22 Meetings

ASOSU House of Representatives, 7pm, MU 211. Convenes to discuss student issues and concerns. Students and student organization delegates are welcome to attend.

Baha’i Campus Association, 12:301pm, MU Talisman Room. Tranquility Zone – Interfaith meditation, devotions and prayers – share your favorite inspirational reading or story.

Events Career Services, 11am-4pm, CH2M Hill Alumni Center. University-wide Career Fair. Connect with more than 100 employers from various industries and graduate schools there to network with students and alumni, offer jobs and internships, and provide other future career opportunities.

History Students’ Association, 5-6:30pm, Kearney 212. History Beyond the Classroom Career Fair. A history degree is only the beginning to endless possibilities. Representatives from various occupations including education, archives, library sciences, journalism, law and politics. Additionally there will be opportunities for networking with graduate and law admission programs and career services.

The Pride Center, 10am-7pm, The Pride Center. Come contribute to a collage that celebrates and supports those that have struggled with the AIDS Virus.

There will be supplies to make pieces in the center all week, which will then be assembled and displayed.

College Republicans, Noon-4pm, MU Quad. First Amendment Week. Come and support your freedom of speech.

Thursday, Feb. 23 Meetings

OSU Pre-Law Society, 6pm, StAg 111.

Regular meeting.

College Republicans, 7pm, StAg 132.

All are welcome no matter what beliefs or political party.

Events Black Cultural Center, 5:30-7pm, BCC. Evolution of Hip-Hop. How hip-hop has changed over the years, in collaboratin with NSBE. Career Services, 11am-4pm, CH2M Hill Alumni Center. Engineering Career Fair. Connect with employers from various industries there to network with engineering students and alumni, offer jobs and internships, and provide other future career opportunities.

The Pride Center, 10am-7pm, The Pride Center. Come contribute to a collage that celebrates and supports those that have struggled with the AIDS Virus.

There will be supplies to make pieces in the center all week, which will then be assembled and displayed.

College Republicans, Noon-4pm, MU Quad. First Amendment Week. Come and support your freedom of speech.

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ART n Continued from page 3 Body and Soul,” interpretations vary widely from abstract to photorealistic, and geometric to sweeping. To know the full spectrum of this year’s theme, says McLaughlin, “You’d have to ask each of the artists.”

Several images, such as Emily Swope’s and Stephanie Bondarowicz’s, depict the female body with great diversity. While Swope’s “Why” traces forms in shadow and solid colors, Bondarowicz creates an

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 • 3

impressionistic rainbow.

Melissa Broussard’s watercolor, “Rhododendron Girl,” depicts the detailed face of a girl with rhododendron leaves and flowers for hair, perhaps suggesting that a healthy body is close to nature.

More abstract pieces include Jennifer Moss’ “I’ve Taken A Notion,” a collage made of sewing materials and related papers that may collect over the course of an adventurous project, and Alana Springer Kenagy’s enigmatic mixed media piece “Spectrum.” A healthy soul

looks different to every artist.

Sculpture, textiles and other 3-D art is allowed in the show.

Melissa Broussard’s handwoven “Wedding Tartan” drapes in front of “Rhododendron Girl.”

Artists do not have to be art students to submit work. “It’s open to anyone affiliated [with] OSU whose art is female-identified,” said Susan Bourque, exhibit coordinator.

Those interested in submitting pieces next year need to be sure that their pieces can be hung on a wall if two-dimensional, or are stable or can hang

HOUSE n Continued from page 3

from a ceiling if 3-D. Maximum sizes and weights can be found on the Women’s Center website at http://oregonstate.edu/ womenscenter/annual-events.

Students interested in being art curators also have an opportunity to participate in this annual exhibit, says Bourque, which welcomes art students each year into its organization.

According to Bourque, for many of these students, “it’s the first time they would have that learning experience.”

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Joint Committee of Congressional Correspondence

the budgetary issues, root out the true nature of the problems and fix them in a fiscally responsible manner that proserve for two. The reason for this, tects the student fee dollars that the stuThis committee contains members Hatlen said, is to give those who are dents of Oregon State University have from both the House of Representatives entrusted to ASOSU,” Van Bossuyt said. interested in student government a and the Senate. Its role is to maintain a chance to serve in a more “introductory” line of communication between both role that requires only a one-year comhouses of Congress. A committee memmitment. If students continue to want to The Appropriations and Budgets be involved in ASOSU, they might go on committee plays more of an advisory ber is always present at each meeting of to run for a seat in the Senate. role, Hatlen said. The committee works Congress to report the happenings of Q: How do the committees within the directly with the SIFC, hearing and the respective houses.

House of Representatives work? reviewing all of the different budget Q: Why should students care about A: The House of Representatives proposals being presented. the House of Representatives? contains three committees: Ways and Once the budget proposals have been A: The House works directly with Means, Appropriations and Budgets reviewed, the committee presents its ASOSU’s budget of approximately $1.2 and Educational Activities. In addition, recommendations at the joint session of the Joint Committee of Congressional Congress, where the budget proposals million, and is tasked with making sure Correspondence contains members will be approved or denied, according to the money is being spent appropriately. from both the House and the Senate.

Representative Andrew Struthers.

“The House of Representatives is where financial decisions affecting ASOSU are made,” Van Bossuyt said.

According to Ways and Means “Traditionally, Educational Activities “In years past, the House has helped to Chairperson Douglas Van Bossuyt, the was a committee in Congress that fund special workshops for various stucommittee is “the fiduciary watch-guard helped manage all the student organiza- dent groups, pushed to have important of ASOSU.” It reviews and approves the tions and student activities on campus,” speakers brought to campus and worked annual ASOSU budget, which is then Hatlen said. hard to rein in wasteful spending.” submitted to the Student and Incidental While the committee still exists, a In addition, according to Hatlen, the Fees Committee. In addition, the com- separate Educational Activities entity House is a great starting point for those mittee reviews and approves any mid- has since been established outside of budget-cycle changes or requests.

Congress and the two work in coopera- who are new to ASOSU. “If people are advocates for students The committee occasionally discov- tion with one another. ers financial or budgetary irregularities, According to Hatlen, the original com- and want to get involved, it’s a great according to Van Bossuyt, and has dis- mittee will likely be phased out by the place to start,” Hatlen said. covered several since the beginning of end of the academic year and replaced Kristin Pugmire, senior reporter the school year. with a new committee that has yet to be “Our job in this situation is to find decided upon.

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Appropriations and Budgets

Ways and Means

Educational Activities

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The Daily Barometer 4 •Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Forum

Editorial

L

Right to lie

ater this week, the Supreme Court will hear United States v. Alvarez, an appeal case centered on the Stolen Valor Act, which makes any false claims of having been awarded a military medal a federal offense.

In 2007, Xavier Alvarez claimed to be a retired Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor. The media and public alike ridiculed him shortly after the incident. The federal government also prosecuted him under the Stolen Valor Act. Initially, he was convicted, but appealed the case and the court found that the Act violated the First Amendment. As with any legal discrepancy, the Supreme Court then took the case.

While the case is focused on the Act, it essentially comes down to whether or not our constitution holds a “right to lie.” And even though punishing individuals who falsely claim to have such medals — an issue more on substance than actual significance — seems like a necessary step in preserving the integrity and credibility of our military heroes, the debate on the constitutionality of lying is a very troubling issue. It’s a ruling that cannot leave any room for interpretation.

Harmless lying — as the (initial) defendants will argue — shouldn’t be condemned, as no one person or organization is put in immediate threat or publicly denounced, as with libel — already a federal offense. Furthermore, our federal government should not be in the business of judging what a person can and cannot say — no matter if it’s true or not.

The government has every right to monitor and observe fallacy — particularly against the country — but they do not need to act on it in a criminal manner. Rather, we should hope employers and associates take every potential employee, co-worker, presenter or any other citizen’s word with a grain of salt. In reality, honesty is not a virtue.

We see lies and exaggeration every day, but there’s no reason to criminally punish someone for introducing themselves as “President of the United States.” And should someone dare to falsify their accomplishments and build an authority upon lies — as Alvarez did — the media and public are quick to cast criticism. We don’t need the government to take extra steps.

Then considering their unnecessary intrusion, the Stolen Valor Act does not serve any compelling government interest. Preserving the integrity of the military medals program doesn’t directly affect the workings of our federal government, nor does it defend those with military medals — in the sense that it does not threaten their safety or credibility.

Furthermore, the Act is quite broad, in that a mere impersonation of a military veteran, possibly adorning a medal or mentioning accomplishments, could be considered a criminal act. Whether or not other people believe the lies does not matter when prosecuting, making the charge seem even more intrusive.

Alone, the Stolen Valor Act should be abolished.

Before its short six-year existence, the Medal of Honor and the other prestigious military awards never faced a diminishing threat of credibility. And the establishment of the Act hasn’t thwarted any legitimate threats to the medal program.

But in general, the Stolen Valor Act ruling will either open or close a lot of doors for future legislation in prosecuting false claims. For instance, the glaring example would be in politics; could a new act criminalize false claims against candidates in paid-for advertisements?

In every lie, there’s a basic and fundamental reason to punish it: reality isn’t fiction, and it cannot properly operate on fabrication. But in our society, where we enjoy the liberty to do and say what we wish, to act in whatever manner we see fit, as long as we do not intrude or make another individual suffer, all speech must be safe.

We, as the public, can weigh words on our own, and judge an individual’s character and merit by our own gavel. We all hate liars, but unless the government can create a legitimate and compelling reason to criminalize the act, we all need to accept the fact that we live in a society of deception — and not many other countries have that privilege. t

Editorials serve as a 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.

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Hopoi should stay; let’s focus on the real issues A

SOSU, like most organizations, does need substantial improvement.

We need to see change, but we do not need President M. “Tonga” Hopoi to leave office to achieve the results.

It would be foolish to pin all of ASOSU’s problems on one person. Change will not come through resignation or removal of office. Change will come through identifying and tending to the roots of the problem. The resignation or removal of President Hopoi will not solve any of the organization’s problems.

Let me first say that I agree with a couple oppositional arguments.

There has been a complete failure

Luke Márquez

The Daily Barometer in training and advising. ASOSU (all branches) needs increased oversight and accountability. And ASOSU’s money, which is the student body’s money, needs to be handled with more insight.

Just a few things that do need to change…

First, we must implement sufficient training and advising for ASOSU. Both the OSA issue and this recent one would have been properly handled from the start if proper training were in place.

The president and vice president

should have all the information they need available to them before taking office. Furthermore, we at Oregon State University are students first. To expect the president to know every statute and protocol without viable training or sufficient advising is to expect her to neglect her academic duties for work.

Second, the Legislative Branch needs to work toward fixing an issue before calling for the impeachment or removal of the president. The farce of an impeachment trial in fall 2011 was an embarrassment for the student population in front of the entire state. Is this the image we wish to broadcast on their behalf?

Mishandling issues and disagreements like this negatively affects internal operations as well. The presidency is more than one person and when one attacks the presidency, he or she attacks the entire chain of individuals who work for it. The issue over the pay raise needs to be handled with the utmost care and foresight, and without automatic hostility, or else it will lead to an even bigger embarrassment for us all.

Third, the Legislative Branch needs to be reworked. ASOSU senators are unpaid. This creates a system where those in charge See mÁrquez | page 5

EU shouldn’t turn its back on Greece, not yet T

he situation for Greece is not improving, especially in the eyes of the other European countries. The Finance Minister of Greece Evangelios Venizelos informed the BBC that several countries in the Eurozone wish to remove Greece from the “bloc” in hopes to salvage this crisis. For Europe to remove one of its own just to try and save itself seems pretty extreme.

Greece is facing 21 percent unemployment and 48 percent of their younger generation is out of work. There has been a 25 percent increase in homelessness in Greece, one out of five people in poverty can’t afford to buy food for their family and in the past year, calls to suicide hotlines in Athens alone have doubled.

The situation in Greece is still declining, and with the European Union boycotting Iranian oil on July 1, Greece has to find another country to go to for crude oil, or suffer more economic problems.

There isn’t much Greece has been able to do in order to recover from its debt problems. Greece is seeking help from outside creditors to try to clean its debt, even asking the EU to consider dipping into the International Monetary Fund to the tune of 130 billion euros, or $170 billion, for bailout purposes.

Robert

Fix

Rebel without a pulse The EU told Greece that there needs to be an austerity plan in order to prove that Greece will recover over time and pay back all debts it has incurred.

Greece is struggling to prove its worth; it managed to create 325 million euros worth of savings through budget cuts on health care and defense. Many countries like Germany, Austria and the Netherlands feel very skeptical about Greece being able to recover or even pay back its debts. The German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble hopes Germany will help Greece out, but they are not going to pour money into a bottomless pit.” A tragic sentiment shared by many in the EU as their patience for Greece runs thin.

Last week, in “Profit Over People: Inhumanity of Capitalism,” fellow columnist Sean Tipton pointed out that the economic system we are using not only allows for us to choose profits over humans, but ultimately encourages the act.

Proving Stalin right shows how far we have fallen, especially when he said that “one death is a tragedy, one million is a statistic.” This appears to be happening to Greece; the country is just another statistic in the economic downturn affecting the world, not the tragedy of millions of people being abandoned at the time when the need the most help.

The sheer fact that many European leaders are considering abandoning a fallen nation because they are hurting the bottom line is sickening. Abandoning a country of 12 million people for dragging you down a little shows how far we have fallen as humans.

There was a time when we used to have ethics and morals, a time when we weren’t so desensitized to the human suffering around us that we tried, for the most part, to help. We didn’t always abandon our neighbors when they fell on hard times. We instead tried to give them a boost or try to help ease the burden on their shoulders.

At times, I have been called a psychopath for not showing enough compassion, but I’ve never considered someone expendable or thought of throwing someone under the bus to

allow me to get further ahead in life. However, that seems to be the way many of the European leaders are acting, as if their more psychopathic nature has taken hold.

When the 27 European countries got together to form their magical European Union, they essentially created a European version of the United States. All the countries involved in the Union are mostly autonomous, but there is a “national government” responsible for many economic decisions and even some policy issues in a country.

Entering into this arrangement to benefit all the involved parties merely to turn around and ditch one member for falling on hard times is shameful. This would be like the United States removing Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, or annexing Michigan because Detroit was no longer as useful for making cars as it had been.

I don’t believe the EU is lacking the heart to truly remove Greece from the union, but we should definitely keep an eye out in the event that Greece will need support. t

Robert Fix is a senior in business. The opinions expressed in his columns do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Barometer staff. Fix can be reached at forum@dailybarometer. com.

Benefits and growing popularity of internships I

n the recent column, “Internships must provide compensation, along with experience for students,” Charles Leineweber shared his views on the lack of available paid internships for students and the peril of relying on unpaid internships for experience. While much of what he wrote was true, some of his claims may have added to the confusion and negativity surrounding the internship process.

Here, I hope to provide students some accurate information and a way to navigate this difficult process.

There is no denying that the recent recession impacted the availability of internships for students. A little-known fact, however, is that companies have invested in internships more than any other sector of the job market over the last couple of years. This year, intern hiring is expected to increase 8.5 percent from last year, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ 2012 Internship

Adry Clark

The Daily Barometer & Co-op Survey.

In addition, a greater percentage of internships will be paid.

Overall, respondents reported that an average of 99.6 percent of their internships are paid, an increase from an average of 97.1 percent of internships that were paid last year.

This year, only 4.2 percent of respondents reported that unpaid internships account for at least a portion of their hires. Students who complete internships earn roughly 20 percent more than those who did not in their first job out of college. Also, employers see internships as an effective recruiting strategy. Nearly 80 percent of employers surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) hire nearly all their new college employees from internship or co-op trained candidates (NACE, 2011).

Legally, for-profit organizations

are mandated to pay interns at least a minimum wage, unless the internship is solely for the benefit of the student. The Obama Administration has undertaken a crackdown on for-profit companies, who take advantage of students by having them work for free. Public agencies and nonprofit organizations, however, can legally hire unpaid interns.

Because of the common refrain that there are no paid internships for non-engineers, many students have gotten the impression that there is no point in looking and have stopped trying. Meanwhile, employers looking for students in all disciplines lament lack of applications from students – especially at OSU. For many internship opportunities listed in Beaver JobNet deadlines pass and no one has applied.

A bigger issue than supply of opportunity is lack of knowledge and confidence in applying for internship opportunities. There are effective search strategies beyond online listings that are

essential for success and that everyone can learn. Most importantly, the preparation for a good internship needs to start as early as freshman year. Below is a list of free resources available to OSU students.

It is important to exercise sound judgment when accepting any internship. Often, students have not quite determined what they would like to get out of an internship and how the experience might fit in with their career development. Also, students may lack knowledge of what a good internship looks like and may accept any opportunity that comes along. Ideally, an internship offers mentoring, training and keystone projects that are relevant to the interests and goals of the student.

For help with navigating this confusing process, students have access to Career Services and internship coordinators in their majors. There are great many See CLARK | page 5

forum@dailybarometer.com • 737-6376

MÁRQUEZ n Continued from page 4 of our student government’s by-laws are more likely to succumb to apathy or to invest in personal interests rather than representing the students at large.

The system of implementation is also broken: There are almost always more seats available than students running, and there is no minimum amount of votes required to become elected.

Therefore, students running with personal agendas can become Senators and make huge impacts in ASOSU without actually representing the student body.

Fourth – and this is key – all branches of ASOSU need to be held accountable systematically. If ASOSU does this, decisions can be discussed before they become a potent issue for the entire student body. I recommend this be done through a third-party board of appointed officials who receive sufficient training and advising. That way, we wouldn’t see as much backand-forth unproductive bickering in the coming years.

As the executive-ordered pay raise moves into the spotlight, we must remain level-

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 • 5

headed and perceptive. Many great accomplishments have come since President Hopoi and Vice President Sokho Eath took office.

ASOSU is working to bring the Student Experience Center to fruition. OSU is the only Oregon University System school with projects in the Capitol Construction bill secured.

ASOSU is working to increase hours of operation for SafeRide even further for student safety. ASOSU is bridging the gap with the Cultural Centers — OSU may host the Oregon Students of Color Coalition 2012 conference.

ASOSU is developing the Human Services Resource Center for independence and growth for next year.

Relationships with university administrators and the Faculty Senate have strengthened due to this ASOSU Administration’s work.

ASOSU is saving students’ money by submitting its most efficient budget in years with a decrease in per-student fees.

ASOSU is working to keep tuition low in the first Tuition Setting process mandated

by OUS, where students and administration work together in the decision-making process.

ASOSU is partnering with

CLARK n Continued from page 4 organizations looking to add more Beavers to their staff and hundreds of listings are currently on Beaver JobNet. Students don’t always realize how marketable they are and they might have a hard time putting into words their strengths and skills. The good news is that there is free help available to students.

Internships offer students unlimited opportunities to grow as individuals. This is often a student’s first professional level experience, but

administration for the first ever OSU-City of Corvallis Collaboration Project Task Forces for better livability, transit and parking, and neighborhood planning.

These are just a few of the successes ASOSU has achieved since June 2011.

The pay raise was ordered because staff members were being underpaid by the previous administration. The current administration focused to provide a living wage for the lowest paid employee. It would be a grave injustice for ASOSU’s procedural failings (i.e., lack of training and advising) to result in the removal of an individual who was elected by the students. By far, more students vote for the ASOSU president-vice president than any other seat on the ASOSU student elections ballot.

Changes are needed. In this age of 24-hour news cycles and constant punditry, it is easier to focus on the problems and not the solutions.

We need to act in a way that shows we are thinking about the future, not meddling in the past or playing favorites. Use the past to steer the future.

Changes are needed – change of office is not.

Luke Márquez ASOSU Executive Branch

since it is temporary and under some guidance from a university faculty member, it’s a relatively low-risk educational experience that allows the student to test out interests and aptitudes.

Take advantage of the great resources here at OSU. For more information: http://oregonstate.edu/career/internships. Also, schedule an appointment with a job/internship coach or career counselor to help with strategies or to identify the best fit for you. Many majors also have very effective internship coordinators available to students.

Adry Clark

Assistant Director, Career Services

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6• Tuesday, February 21, 2012

news@dailybarometer.com • 737-2231

Red Cross: Syrian cease-fire needed to deliver aid so we want to reach some of the hardest-hit areas,� he said. “We have been to some places like Homs and so on from time to time, but it is very crucial to have a cessation of fire to provide humanitarian services.�

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama’s top military adviser said it is premature to aid in arming the Syrian opposition, reinforcing the belief of a rebel commander that the uprising is an “orphan revolution� without the international support prevalent in other Arab Spring revolts.

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The claim follows opposition reports Monday that Syrian forces began a 17th day of shelling of opposition strongholds in Homs.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria said at least 18 people had been killed across the country Monday, including 13 in Homs — among them a whole family made up of three women and a young man. The group also said security forces fired tear gas at demonstrators around the university in the city of Aleppo.

The opposition network estimates almost 9,000 people have been killed since the start of the uprising.

Elsewhere in the country, hundreds of protesters marched through the heart of Damascus on Monday, just steps from security buildings in a bold show of strength, the LCC said. Thirty people were detained in the central Damascus neighborhood of Kafarsouseh, it said.

ASOSU n Continued from page 6

INSPIRED BY THE PULITZER PRIZE STORY AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER

did cancel a lot of training which may have contributed,â€? Van Drimmelen said. “There was a clear lack of understanding of ASOSU constitution and statutes and there wasn’t really a concerted effort at the time by the executive.â€? “Professional development got cancelled after a few sessions‌ by the president shortly into the summer.â€? Hatlen said. “It would be a farce to claim ignorance as an excuse.â€?

Since the overpayments have been discovered, steps have been taken to rectify the situation. The Hopoi administration has agreed to begin paying staff according to statutes and is currently working

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There was a clear lack of understanding of ASOSU constitution and statutes and there wasn’t really a concerted effort at the time by the executive.

Chris Van Drimmelen

Administrative and Logistics Advocate on what to do about the overpaid wages of the House Ways and Means Committee. with the Auxiliaries and Activities Business “I think the actions of the executive branch Center and the ASOSU Senate Ethics and are good intentioned and good at heart but have significantly violated the statutes of Oversight Committee. “Immediately docked pay for the next ASOSU. It appears that no one has bothfew months would be the normal way it ered to read the statutes.� would be done in the real world. Obviously the situation is a little more nuanced than that,� said Douglas Van Bossuyt, chairman

Don Iler, managing editor 737-2231 news@dailybarometer.com On Twitter: @doniler

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has placed strict restrictions on international journalists and refused many of them entry.

Watson said the men of village of Binnish describe themselves as members of the rebel Free Syria Army, “but it would be much more accurate to call them an impromptu village guard. Many of them are defending the olive groves that surround their community, with little more than hunting shotguns.�

The rebel commander in Binnish — who defected from the Syrian army six months ago — said the men don’t have enough guns or ammunition.

He called the Syrian uprising an “orphan revolution� because unlike the revolt in Libya, the Syrian rebels have not received foreign support.

Like many members of the opposition, the commander covered his face during the interview to hide his identity out of fear of reprisals by Syrian forces. — CNN

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‘‘

Diplomatic efforts have all but failed to end the brutal crackdown, with two powerful nations — China and Russia — vetoing a U.N. Security Council resolution calling on President Bashar al-Assad’s to relinquish power, and the Arab League suspending an observer mission amid escalating violence.

Representatives from various countries are expected to meet in Tunisia this week to discuss the conflict. “The goal of this conference is to increase pressure on the Syrian regime. There are indications coming especially from China, and to some extent from Russia that there may be a change in position,� Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby told reporters Monday.

In one rural village in the north, farmers, carpenters and university students are among the face of the opposition, according to CNN’s Ivan Watson, one of the few reporters in Syria, whose government

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Demonstrators in the capital blocked a main road with burning ties, said Ahmed, a protester, who characterized the action as “a big thing.� “This is part of our resentment against the regime,� he said.

In Hama, government forces stormed various neighborhoods and erected checkpoints, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, another opposition group.

Snipers took up positions inside a building under construction to monitor movements in the neighborhood of Hamidiya, it said.

Meanwhile, state media reported two soldiers were killed and one was wounded in a clash with “armed terrorists� near Hama. Funeral services were held Monday for 12 security workers killed throughout the country, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.

CNN cannot independently verify opposition or government reports of casualties.

‘‘

The International Committee of the Red Cross is trying to negotiate a cease-fire between Syrian authorities and the opposition so the humanitarian agency can deliver food and medical supplies to the besieged city of Homs and other locations, a spokesman said Monday.

Negotiations are “happening now,� said Bijan Farnoudi, a spokesman for the ICRC in Geneva, Switzerland. “We have been in Syria for a while now, based in Damascus,

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sports@dailybarometer.com • 737-6378

JACK n Continued from page 7 title.

“He just has to wrestle within himself,” said head coach Jim Zalesky. “In the past he’s gotten too worked up or too nervous and hasn’t wrestled his best at nationals. This year, he’s been wrestling his best, and if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he can win it.”

If Jack were able to win a national championship, he would undoubtedly go down as one of the all-time greats in OSU history. Regardless of the outcome of the national tournament, Jack hopes to have left an impression on his school.

“I just want to be remembered as the guy who had fun and who made his mark here at Oregon State,” Jack said. “I just want to be one of the greats.

I want my picture up on the wall in Gill so that I can be remembered.”

Jack is following in the footsteps of his father, who was a heavyweight wrestler for Cal Poly. Jack credits his dad for getting him started and helping him fall in love with a sport that isn’t as popular with young kids as other team sports.

Listed at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds, Jack is big even for heavyweights standards. He excelled at both wrestling and football at Vacaville High School in California before enrolling at Oregon State.

“I first started wrestling in kindergarten when my dad got me into it,” Jack said. “My dad wrestled at Cal Poly and he loved it. He was a heavyweight too, and he wanted me to start young. I probably could have played football in college, but wrestling’s always been my first love.”

Jack is one of three seniors and is a member of Zalesky’s first recruiting class. Lucky for Oregon State, Jack chose wres-

tling over football and chose Corvallis as his home.

He credits his early relationship with Zalesky as his reason for joining the Beavers.

“Jim did a really good job of recruiting me,” Jack said. “He was the only personable coach that I met with. He’d ask me how sports and school were going. He’d always ask me about football and just how I was doing. It was a much more personal level with Jim that I liked right off the bat.”

The duo of Jack and Zalesky has brought excitement surrounding the wrestling program back to Corvallis. On paper, the No. 16 ranked Beavers look like a lock to win this weekend’s Pac-12 Tournament. OSU also hopes to make noise in St. Louis at the NCAA Championships, which take place March 15-17.

While Jack has contributed greatly to the Beavers’ success on the mat this year, his contributions off the mat are arguably just as important.

“Clayton’s a great teammate,” said redshirt freshman 184-pound Taylor Meeks. “He’s always motivating you in a positive way, never negative.

He’s kind of the funny guy on the team, and you can always go to him and he’ll cheer you up.”

“He brings that loose feeling where he gets guys laughing,” added Zalesky. “He’s kind of the clown of the team. He’s one of those guys that you hope will stay around next year and help these other guys train.”

If Oregon State is able to finish high at nationals, Jack will certainly be a key contributor, and OSU hopes when Jack finally walks off the mat for the last time, he walks off as a national champion.

Andrew Kilstrom, sports writer Twitter: @andrewkilstrom sports@dailybarometer.com

Tuesday, February 21, 2012 • 7

RILEY n Continued from page 7 seasons, including a 3-9 record in 2011. But the head coach stayed even-keeled with his approach, and actually ended up getting, by all accounts, one of the team’s best recruiting classes in a while.

“We always try to do a good job in both areas that we really focus on, which is football and then recruiting,” Riley said. “Obviously we failed at football last year and didn’t have the kind of year that anybody wanted, and so we’ve got to work on that. And in the meantime, we always work hard on our recruiting. I was real proud on our process of our recruiting and then I was really excited about the kids that signed with us.”

The Beavers were ranked 39th for their 2012 recruiting class by Rivals. They were on the fringe of the top 25 before three likely recruits pulled out toward the end and sent their letters of intent to different schools on National Signing Day. Still, the ranking was a step up from last year when they didn’t crack the top 50.

Having an on-the-fence recruit going down to the last minute is one of the most stressful things going into Signing Day for a coach. Most of the commitments are locked down, but the occasional guy on the fence is always nerve-racking.

“It’s very hard,” Riley said. “The one area that we didn’t like in recruiting is that we had four corners committed, and we ended up signing one of them. What we had in hand, and then what we ended up with on Signing Day, was less than we anticipated. It’s very disappointing. We had one kid (cornerback Cleveland Wallace) committed for eight months and then at the very, very last minute he signed with Washington.”

For Riley, and probably every other college football coach, nothing rivals the Saturdays in the fall. The long Oregon winters are spent looking at tons of film, evaluating players and deciding who to start looking at offering scholarships to. It is still another seven months until Riley and Oregon State will take the field at Reser (Sept. 1 vs. Nicholls State). The entire process in the offseason is just one long build-up until the games are played.

“We spend like 99 percent of our time not being in the games, but those Saturday afternoons are very, very special to everything you do.”

The grueling, long hours spent day in and day out by the coaches of a football team often go overlooked. Building the team that fans see out there 12 times a year is a tedious process that requires a lot of diligence.

It isn’t just the on-field performance that coaches earn their keep from, it’s the grind of getting through winter, spring and summer that will make or break the team who fans are yelling for on Saturday.

Warner Strausbaugh, sports writer Twitter: @WStrausbaugh sports@dailybarometer.com

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‘‘

The Daily Barometer

Sports

‘‘

I want a regular girl

— @smoothdev44 (Devon Collier) Beaver Tweet of the Day

sports@dailybarometer.com • 737-6378

Clayton Jack wants a national title n

The senior has accomplished a lot in his OSU career, but he wants to go out on top

By Andrew Kilstrom The Daily Barometer

vinay bikkina

| THE DAILY BAROMETER

Clayton Jack wrestles Evan Knutson of North Dakota State earlier this year. Jack defeated Knutson, 8-4 — one of 32 wins the fifth-ranked heavyweight has racked up as a senior.

The offseason … n

When it’s not football season, Riley and his staff stay busy, primarily with recruiting

By Warner Strausbaugh The Daily Barometer

For the casual Oregon State football fan, the football season lasts from September to November. For Mike Riley and the rest of the Oregon State coaching staff, the season lasts 365 days a year.

Riley knows what happens from January through August gets highly unnoticed by the 40,000-plus who flock to Reser Stadium for six or seven Saturdays in the fall.

“A lot of people always say, ‘what do you do in the offseason?’” Riley said. “They either think we’re on vacation or something. It’s … really an all year-round deal.”

As soon as the Civil War ended back on Nov. 26, a different season started for the coaches. Recruiting and player evaluation picks up in full once the games end.

“It’s a whirlwind right until Signing Day,” Riley said. “You get through that and then immediately you’re on to two things: you’re getting ready for spring ball and you’re starting to look at prospects for the 2013 class.”

Recruiting is a year-long process. After the season, the months of December and January are the times when the coaching staff travels a lot and makes home visits for their recruiting targets, and also closing in on what that year’s class will look like.

“We divide our day up,” Riley said.

“We use the morning kind of for research and development and football. Looking at the Beavers … evalu-

What else does Riley do in the offseason?

Monday he announced that cornerback Sean Martin has been “suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules.”

According to media reports, Martin was arrested for DUII over the weekend.

Riley announced last week that cornerback Mishawn Cummings has been suspended from the team as well, for unspecified reasons.

Riley also announced last week that senior safety Josh LaGrone and junior offensive lineman Geoff Garner are transferring.

He’s 12th in Oregon State school history in wins, eighth in pins, and if he has anything to say about it, Clayton Jack will be the ninth wrestler in school history to win an individual national championship.

Despite the senior’s remarkable career, in which he started all four years at heavyweight and accumulated 115 wins and 39 pins, Jack hopes his greatest achievement is yet to come.

“Winning a national championship is all I care about; it’s all I want,” Jack said. “It would mean everything.

It would complete my career to go out as number one.”

When Jack arrived at Oregon State University, it was clear the Beavers had recruited someone special.

Jack has been consistent throughout his career, earning a 23-12 record as a true freshman, 35-11 as a sophomore, and 25-11 as a junior until exploding this year with a record of 32-1.

Jack, ranked fifth in the nation for his weight class, is currently having his best season as a Beaver, recording 13 pins in addition to his massive win total. His improvement is especially impressive considering he’s coming off a year where he finished first in the Pac-10 Tournament.

His consistency has been more than enough to earn his coaches and teammates’ confidence that he can get over the hump and win a national See JACK | page 7

through Riley’s eyes

ating our own team as to what we need to work on. We’re always working on personnel within our own team. So we spend our mornings doing that, and then we spend the afternoons basically evaluating and recruiting.”

In May, assistant coaches have an evaluation period of four weeks to look at their targeted group, scout them, and offer scholarships to the players on their eventual narroweddown list.

“By the time the summer rolls around, we’ve got it narrowed down to probably... 25 guys (to sign), we’re probably still recruiting 75 to 100 at that time,” Riley said.

This year, Riley could have felt neil abrew | THE DAILY BAROMETER some added pressure to up the ante with recruiting, following two losing All the long hours that Mike Riley and his staff put in over the course of the year makes those Saturdays in the fall are “very, very special,” according to Riley.

See RILEY | page 7