For breaking news and updates Follow us on Twitter News: @baronews, Sports: @barosports Like us on Facebook facebook.com/DailyBarometer
SPORTS, PAGE 4:
s
Barometer The Daily
THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2013 • OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
DAILYBAROMETER.COM
Softball looks to bounce back on senior day
VOLUME CXVI, NUMBER 132
Taking left turns for the worse n
Flashing yellow arrows for left turns may be dangerous to pedestrians in crosswalks By McKinley Smith The Daily Barometer
Permitted left turns as indicated by flashing yellow arrows may pose a risk to pedestrians in crosswalks under certain conditions, according to research by David Hurwitz, an associate professor in the department of civil and construction engineering. Previous research regarding the flashing yellow arrow — which signifies a permitted left turn — had been done before. However, Hurwitz took a different angle. He looked at how certain variables affected the safety of pedestrians crossing while the yellow arrow was flashing. The question of pedestrian safety, and this particular traffic signal, arose when pedestrians voiced concerns about their safety following the installation of hundreds of the signals in Washington County. “The feedback of the public in that community was very positive from the perspective of drivers,” Hurwitz said. “They really liked this new indication. However, when those same people were pedestrians, they were more uncomfortable.” Using the Oregon State University driving simulator, Hurwitz was able to test three variables: The number of pedestrians, the number of oncoming drivers and the way the arrow was presented. What he found was that 4 to 7 percent of drivers did not pay a “significant amount” of attention to pedestrians in the crosswalk. Instead, drivers spent most of their time looking for gaps in oncoming traffic and checking the traffic signal so they could make their turns, Hurwitz said. “We were studying particularly wide intersections with lots of vehicu-
courtesy of andre paul
| CONTRIBUTED
Andre Paul, a sophomore in electrical and computer engineering.
Astronautical aspirations on Mars alex miller
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
A recent study by OSU engineering professor David Hurwitz suggests pedestrians are at a greater risk passing in intersections with blinking left turn arrows for cars. lar volumes and few pedestrians, and based on the glance patterns, that’s maybe the worst situation for this type of failure,” Hurwitz said. “With lots of cars, most of the attention is paid on the cars, and with very few pedestrians, they did not seek out those pedestrians in that crosswalk.” Several intersections in Corvallis use the flashing yellow arrow to indicate a permitted left turn, including one by Reser Stadium. “The cases that we studied were maybe the worst situation for this visible search task — and that’s a very different pattern of traffic than I would anticipate here on campus, where we have lots of pedestrians at
most of our intersections, and comparatively, much lower volumes [of traffic],” Hurwitz said. Most measures in determining traffic design are “vehicle-centric,” but one possible outcome of this study might be a large-scale study that takes pedestrians more into account, Hurwitz said. “Anything that we do, any decision that we make in the transportation engineering space, has implications both on safety and efficiency of the system,” Hurwitz said. Hurwitz said his goal is to balance safety — minimizing the likelihood of collisions and injuries as a result of collisions — and efficiency.
“We want people to travel between destinations as quickly and efficiently as possible, because their time is valuable,” Hurwitz said. He added that idling also adds to fossil fuel emission costs. The OSU driving simulator uses a 2009 Ford Fusion sedan surrounded by projection screens, allowing researchers to put drivers in virtual situations and study their responses to different variables. The simulator is housed in Graf Hall. Hurwitz’s report is online at otrec. us/project/484. McKinley Smith, news reporter news@dailybarometer.com
n
OSU sophomore Andre Paul hopes to one day take part in Mars One mission By Courtney Gehring The Daily Barometer
Most Oregon State University students’ primary dreams are of finding jobs after graduation and moving out of their parents’ home. Not Andre Paul. The sophomore electrical and computer engineering student hopes to move to Mars. As a child, Paul grew fascinated by space and space travel, but he never thought his dreams could come true. Then he discovered Mars One. His curiosity fueled further investigation into the non-profit organization that aspires to establish a human settlement See PAUL | page 2
Flat Tail renovates, readies seasonal specialties n
Flat Tail Brewery boasts revolving menu, serves the Oregon State community By Kyle Reed
The Daily Barometer
Iain Duncan sees a lot of Oregon State University within his pub. Duncan, one of three owners of Flat Tail Brewing , a local business, has recently renovated his establishment. Beaver memorabilia adorns the walls, many sports recruitment events are hosted there and, for the third year running, Flat Tail will be pouring drinks at the upcoming Flat Tail Music Festival. “So many people, whether they are alumni or students, utilize the pub; whether it’s game days or just a normal Thursday,” Duncan said. “Most of our people who work for us and two of our owners did go to the school, so it’s a neat way for us to give back.” The bar offers a revolving menu, which fluctuates depending on what is in season. Apple spinach salads are replaced by strawberries, and a salmon reuben is served when the Chinook make their way inland. Much of what is offered is bought and grown locally. “It’s almost become cliche now, but we search out the most local, closest
to proximity, best grown food for any product that we have,” Duncan said. Although the menu will soon make a shift, there is one dish that can always be expected on the menu — the wings. “We bring them in raw ourselves and season them, bake them and then they’re fried,” Duncan said. “They’re never battered. I hate battered. I think it’s just a way to hide a bad product, just cover it up with batter and deep fry it, so we’ll never batter our wings.” Since opening its doors in 2010, Flat Tail has seen many partners come and go. Currently, Duncan owns the business alongside Jason Duranteau and Dave Marliave. Marliave runs the brewing side of the operation, which Duncan says is the real center of Flat Tail. “The general plan of the business was to let the pub start, and start generating money on this side, with a small brew house,” Duncan said. “That was enough to supply the pub, but our long-term goal was always to have the beer out in the market. We knew we were wanting to bottle, we knew that we wanted to keg. And to do that, we knew we would need a bigger brew house eventually.” Duncan plans to continue focusing on the brewing side of the pub for the next two years. The floor has been recently renovated, and they are adding a 15-barrel system in July,
which will allow them to can 12 ounce “We’ll be concentrating on Oregon lived in Maui, Hawaii, although he packages. first and foremost, but then also was raised in Northern California. Recently, the business switched dis- Washington, Idaho and Alaska,” “California is its own world,” tributors, permitting them to expand Duncan said. Duncan said. “When you go into their horizons out of state. Before moving to Corvallis, Duncan See FLAT TAIL | page 2
hannah gustin
| THE DAILY BAROMETER
Sean Martin, 27, cleans out a barrel at Flat Tail Brewery requiring extremely hot water. Martin has been a brewer for Flat Tail for about two years.