VOL. CXVIII, NO. 100
DAILYBAROMETER.COM
MONDAY, MARCH 7, 2016 OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Oregon State Police officer provides tips to avoid bike theft
Disappearing act
LUKE FRANCIS | THE DAILY BAROMETER
Bikes from the Oregon State University campus are stolen from residence halls and the edges of campus, Oregon State Police sergeant Huff Meyr said. Meyr recommends using U-locks over chain locks when locking bikes.
By Tia Collins News Contributor
It’s a situation many students have encounterd while at Oregon State University—one leaves a bike left locked somewhere on campus only to return to find it missing. According to Oregon State Police sergeant Huff Meyr, colleges are a common place for bike theft to occur due to the large quantity of bikes left on campus, the long period of time bikes are left unsupervised and the fact that student’s are not as careful with their bikes because they do not think that they will become a victim of bike theft. “We probably average three to five bikes a week that are reported, it is possible that as many as that are not reported,” Meyr said. “I encourage students to always report as it helps us determine where (thieves) are stealing from and what valuables were taken.” According to Meyr, some of the most common places for bike theft are around the residence halls and edges of campus. However, Meyr warned that there really is no safe place for bikes. “The interior areas in dorms are a good idea, but it is certainly not fool proof,” Meyr said. Even in areas that are intended to be safe for bikes can have multiple bike thefts. Colby Stadelman, a sophomore in earth sciences has had his bike stolen twice from the OSU campus. “The first time it happened, my bike was outside of Cauthorn and someone broke through the chain,” Stadelman said. “The second time, someone found my bike in the basement of Cauthorn and broke through the chain again. Stadelman suggested investing in a good u-lock or heavier chain lock. “If people choose to bring a bike to campus, they should make sure their lock is more expensive than the bike. Learn from my mistakes,” Stableman said. Meyr said that U-locks are a big deterrent and he suggests that the community be vigilant in order to help curb the amount of bikes being stolen. Meyr recommended that anyone who witnesses suspicious activity report it to the authorities. “The most common way bikes are stolen is by cutting the cable lock, especially if it is a small cable lock. If anyone ever observes that type of behavior call us immediately and keep person in sight if safe,” Meyr said. According to Meyr, another way that thieves like to steal bikes is by separating the bike from the front tire and leaving the tire behind, as they do not need the entire bike to make a profit. “They do it in parts, lots of mixing and matching. One particular person that we investigated in the Corvallis area had a whole room in his house completely dedicated to that (mixing and matching stolen bikes to sale),” said Meyr, “Usually, the stealing of the bike is done at night where the bike can be placed in some one’s pick-up.” To help prevent this type of theft, Meyr once
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Faculty led trips abroad increase Students pair in-class learning, international travel
and they are typically intensive programs two to four weeks in length.” Mark Hoffman, Vice Provost for International Programs at OSU, explained the main points of faculty-led study abroad programs By Elliot Nelson at OSU. News Contributor “The first point is to provide Faculty-led study abroad pro- opportunities for students to go to grams at Oregon State University locations abroad,” Hoffman said. provide students with exceptional “The second point is to provide experiences; however, the swift courses directly related to each increase in the available programs student’s curriculum. The third is to for students creates some growing provide a cohort for students. The pains for faculty. fourth is to build a close relationJulie Walkin, the International ship with faculty.” Program Manager of Faculty-led According to Walkin, faculty-led Programs for OSU Global Opportu- study abroad programs at OSU nities, has a specific definition for a allow students to test leaving the faculty-led study abroad program. country. “We’d love to see students study “These, by definition, are taught and led by OSU faculty cut and abroad for a semester or even a made to serve OSU students,” year, but we know in a short time Walkin explained. “They offer too, students can have a good opportunities for specific majors, learning experience,” Walkin said.
“Faculty-led programs are great opportunities to test one’s international legs, and find out it’s an extremely worthwhile experience that opens doors such as a desire to travel more—or even participate in an international internship.” Dwaine Plaza, a sociology professor at OSU, has created two facultyled programs—one to Cuba, the other to Canada, which he is leading starting this upcoming spring term. Plaza said that faculty-led study abroad programs at OSU provide students with convenience timing-wise. “During a longer study abroad program, students usually have to quit part-time jobs and figure out what to do with the leases on their apartments,” Dwaine Plaza said. The number of faculty-led study abroad programs offered at OSU is growing quickly as more students and OSU faculty hear about these
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programs, Walkin said. “Last year, we had less than 10 (programs). This year, we have close to 30,” Walkin said. Dwaine Plaza has an issue with the rising numbers of faculty-led study abroad programs. “The biggest issue with the increase in the number of faculty-led study abroad programs is that there is no diversity of timing—most run at the same time,” Dwaine Plaza said. “Some programs receive subsidizing with scholarships, which makes them more accessible—the problem is that there are not subsidies for all programs. So, the programs without subsidizes have a harder time attracting students to be part of those programs.” Dwaine Plaza has proposed a solution to his concerns. “I am for subsidizing all programs with scholarships, not just a few,”
Dwaine Plaza said. “If we made the cost low for all programs, it’s the key to getting more students to participate in them.” Hoffman explained the opportunities available for the London INTO study abroad partnership program at OSU, which receives scholarship subsidies. Hoffman noted that scholarship level for each college was set at the discretion of each dean. Dwaine Plaza pointed to the scholarships as to why many faculty-led programs do not receive as much student participation as they could. “We cannot compete with the limited total number of students who potentially go on study abroad each year with 80 to 100 students in London this summer based on these college-subsidized programs,” Dwaine Plaza said. He
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Starks and Schaftenaar after OSU SPORTS, PAGE 5 Hillary’s inconsistency, Forum, PAGE 7 Last Javacoustics of the term, A&E, PAGE 8