Back to the Basics | January Issue

‘Arnold Dining Hall’ remains unchanged despite being named after racist figure

By KATIE LIVERMORE News Reporter

Six years ago, community members raised a question: “What does it mean for Oregon State University to value equity and inclusion if individuals after whom its buildings are named did not?”

The question unearthed so much of OSU’s past. It sparked an entire building reconsideration project.

Although the names of some buildings in question were changed, one in particular still remains that shares a similar history to the others: Arnold Dining Hall.

Former OSU president, Edward J. Ray, made the ultimate decision to change the names of three out of the five buildings brought into question:

• Avery Lodge to Champenifu Lodge

• Benton Hall to Community Hall

• Benton Annex to Hattie Redmond Women and Gender Center

Gill Coliseum was the other building alongside Arnold Dining Hall to see no changes to its name.

As Arnold Dining Hall’s name remains unchanged, so too does the history behind the man the hall was named after.

According to the Historical Reports on OSU Building Names: Arnold Dining Hall, Benjamin Lee Arnold was born around the year 1837. During his childhood, his father Jonathan J. Arnold, owned a total of seven

slaves between the ages of one and thirty.

“Although he may not have held slaves himself due to his age, he directly experienced and benefitted from the institution of slavery,” the report said.

According to the report, in his college years, Arnold attended Virginia’s Randolph Macon College where he studied slavery. Arnold took classes such as “Political Economy” and “Domestic Slavery” in which he earned proficient grades.

The textbook used in this class, written by William A. Smith, was pro-slavery.

“We do not know that Arnold shared all, or any, of his professor’s opinions, but they must have shaped his thinking on issues of slavery and race,” the report said.

According to the report, Arnold enlisted in the Confederate army after college, starting as a private and most likely promoted to captain later. However, Arnold’s service remains unclear due to incomplete military records.

In 1872, he became the second president of what now is OSU, elected by the Methodist Episocal Church, South, known for its split from the Methodist Episocal Church for its pro-slavery and pro-segregation ideals.

With his history of pro-slavery and prosegregation ideals, the question can still be raised about whether or not Arnold is worthy of representing an OSU building.

“I’m not shocked,” said Josh McCormick,

a second-year student at OSU when he discovered the true history.

According to McCormick, there are many pushes for certain movements that help certain groups, but when it comes to changing the name of a building because of its racist background, it becomes a bigger dilemma.

“If we’re investing time and energy into other progressive movements, we should be investing time and energy into all movements to make everyone feel included,” McCormick said.

“Just the fact that he was in the [Confederate] army, it clearly states which side he was on, personally. So I also think that it justifies he was in fact fighting on the Confederate side during the Civil War,” said Brandon Hamilton, a third-year student at OSU.

According to Hamilton, he believes there are more individuals in OSU’s past that could be honored through renaming the building.

“We should be willing to recognize the honor and dignity of those who spent their lives simply in pursuit of bettering the world around them: the teacher, who lived their whole life enriching students’ lives, is just as worthy of honor and respect as the influential principal, mayor, or even president,” said Ryan Dukelow, a third-year student at OSU.

When asked, each interviewee said Arnold Dining Hall’s name should be changed.

“I definitely think (the name) should be changed. Now, I think a lot of people aren’t aware of the fact that our dining hall was named after something like that. I feel like if more students or people in general just knew about that, the more petitions there would be to change it,” Hamilton said.

Dukelow often calls the dining hall the “Southside dining hall” because the name infers its location for individuals unfamiliar with campus.

According to Dukelow, Arnold Dining Hall was built by many hard workers who were not remembered by the building’s name, and the workers who currently serve in the building and students who eat there every day did not have a say in the naming.

“This just goes to show that in the state, or just this country, that there’s a lot of racist or non-inclusive endeavors that go on that we aren’t necessarily aware about. And the only way to become aware of that is just to be further educated on the matter,” Hamilton said. “This is another example of how this country is somewhat built upon racism.”

In the end, after discovering the history behind the name, OSU students say Arnold Dining Hall should no longer represent the pro-slavery and pro-segregationalist ideals it stands for today.

Letter from the editor: The Barometer’s new look

The Barometer has taken a different shape as you all have noticed in this month’s print edition. We have shifted our printing format to a more traditional broadsheet paper and away from the look the Barometer has had for the past eight years or so. This change may be unfamiliar to some, but it comes about as the Barometer works to adapt and evolve to the news of today.

As the newspaper printing industry as a whole faces changes in an ever changing news culture, we at the Barometer are following suit.

In this new print format we will be able to deliver a more designed printed product in more creative ways while continuing to do what we have always done, delivering you truthful and independent news.

Since September we have been exploring new ways to uplift voices, share stories and create relevant

content to the students and community of Corvallis. Such as our first article published in Spanish in print, featuring student made puzzles and increased content delivery through social media.

We are excited to continue these endeavors in the new year beginning with this January issue and keep evolving to serve you all best.

I invite you to share your thoughts of what you would want to see more of in the Barometers’ coverage this year through the “submit a news tip” tab under “about” on our website.

Thank you for your continued support.

RILEY LECOCQ Editor-in-Chief

Men’s Coalition teaches community healthy masculinity

Within the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, Corvallis’s Mens Coalition aims to end cycles of violence.

Three OSU alumni find success online, create NIL path for Beaver athletes

SPORTS OSU alumni give back to athletic community with Belligerent Beavs website to aid in athletes promotion deals. 4

Oregon State student founds Alzheimer’s Buddies chapter

CAMPUS Students hope to improve the lives of the families and those affected by Alzheimers or dementia through founding the Alzheimers buddies chapter. 3

ALAN NGUYEN, ASHTON BISNER, JIRATANA TUNGKAWACHARA | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK & OREGON DIGITAL

A photo illustration depicting Arnold Dining Hall, Benjamin Lee Arnold and past Barometer articles on the building. Photo illustration by Alan Nguyen. Photos courtesy of Oregon Digital.

ASHTON BISNER | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

Editor-in-Chief Riley LeCocq (left; she/her) and OMN Creative Lead Alan Nguyen (he/him) work together to design the new January print edition of the Barometer on Jan 12.

HISTORY & SOCIAL JUSTICE

decision to all parties concerned.

CALENDAR

CORVALLIS INDOOR WINTER MARKET

Saturday January 14th, 9 a.m. - 1 0 a.m. every Saturday until April 8

Benton County Fairgrounds, Guerber Hall

The indoor farmers market will offer visitors produce and goods from various venders as well as availability to pay with SNAP.

STUDIO CAMERA TRAINING

Thursday January 19, 4 p.m.

Student Experience Center 421

KBVR-TV will be teaching students how to operate TV studio cameras like those used on live TV shows.

CLOSET CASE, PRESENTED BY THE RAINBOW CONTINUUM

Saturday January 21, 7:30 p.m.

Memorial Union Ballroom

New and experienced drag performers will be paired up to perform and see who will take home the win. Guests may also enter prize drawings free of charge.

WOMEN, GENDER AND SEXUALITY STUDIES ANNIVERSARY REUNION

Events happening Monday January 23 - 28

OSU Campus

Keynote by Loretta J. Ross will kickoff to a week of events, on Jan. 23 while the events conclude with an alumni reunion weekend and dinner.

From markets to half-marathon, Corvallis residents can look forward to plenty of events planned for 2023

By WES FLOW News Contributor

With a new year comes new opportunities, and there will be plenty of events both on campus and around town for Oregon State University students and Corvallis residents in 2023.

The 2023 season of the Corvallis Indoor Winter Market began on Jan. 14 at the Benton County Fairgrounds. According to the Winter Market website, the market will be held every Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., until April 8.

The Arts Center, located on Madison Ave., is turning 60 in 2023, with a celebration planned for Jan. 21. The event, which runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., is open to the public, according to The Arts Center website.

The Corvallis Community Center is going to host C3 GameCon, a gaming convention, on Feb. 17 from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., and Feb. 18

from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets are available on the City of Corvallis website, with advance one day admission costing $12 and two day passes $18 when purchased in advance. The LaSells Stewart Center will be presenting a pair of pianists during the winter and spring. Russian-born pianist Sofya Gulyak will be performing at the center on Feb. 26 at 4 p.m., and Spanish pianist Martín García García will be there on May 7 at 4 p.m. Ticket prices for both shows are $25 in advance, or $28 at the door, according to Corvallis-OSU Piano International.

Runners may be interested in a pair of races taking place on April 15: The Corvallis Half Marathon and 5k. Organized by the Rotary Club of Corvallis After Five, both events will start and finish on Ralph Miller Lane, with the half marathon starting at 8:30 a.m. and the 5k at 9 a.m., according to the event’s website.

There is a registration fee for both, with the 5k being $35 for those who register by Feb. 28, and the half marathon $75 for entrants who register by Feb. 28.

Over the summer, the Corvallis Knights, an amateur baseball team in the West Coast League, will be playing games in June, July and early August, according to the team website. The team plays home games at Goss Stadium, on the Oregon State University campus.

The 50th annual Corvallis Fall Festival will be taking place on Sept. 23 and 24, taking place in Central Park. The event is an outdoor, free to attend art festival, with vendors selling a variety of handcrafted items. According to the Corvallis Fall Festival website, the event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sept 23, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 24.

OSU librarians suspend negotiations with worldwide scholarly information provider

By NINO PAOLI News Contributor

Oregon State University librarians have launched new services in lieu of suspended negotiations with Elsevier, one of the largest publishers of scholarly information in the world.

The Valley Library’s contract with Elsevier did not renew on Jan. 1, 2023, as librarians could not reach an agreement with Elsevier, adding OSU to the long list of universities and companies who have boycotted the scholarly information giant in recent years.

Elsevier is an academic publishing company that provides scholarly resources to many universities in the U.S. According to Elsevier’s website, its research platforms are regularly used by more than 16 million scientists and physicians.

However, many universities in the past couple years have ended their contracts with Elsevier. And now, OSU has decided to do the same.

Edward Feser, OSU provost and executive vice president, wrote in a statement on Nov. 17, 2022, that although subscription access to Elsevier journals is terminated, OSU researchers will still be able to publish and review scholarly information in Elsevier journals.

The University of Oregon and Portland State University also decided against renewing their contracts with Elsevier, as problems with transparency in price hikes and authors’ rights for their published work plague negotiations, Feser wrote.

Anne-Marie Deitering, the dean of libraries, said that though negotiations for a future contract with Elsevier will continue later this year, The Valley Library is launching new services to ensure campus-wide access to scholarly information.

“We will be providing some services and adding some content that we have not had before,” Deitering said. “We are also taking steps to ensure that we will continue to have access to some of the same resources we had while our Elsevier contract was active.”

Deitering and Kerri Goergen-Doll, interim associate dean and director of the Resource Acquisitions and Sharing department at OSU, pride themselves on The Valley Library’s Interlibrary Loan service, which delivers scholarly resources from other libraries to students and researchers at OSU.

A new Article Delivery service launched in response to the Jan. 1 contract termination speeds up the Interlibrary Loan service, and gives OSU usage data that provides librarians a clear picture of journal titles, allowing them to assess which scholarly information subscriptions are used most. According to Deitering and Goergen-Doll, while funding for other article sources is still needed, the Interlibrary Loan services and Article Delivery service will continue through the foreseeable future.

“We are also investing some of the savings

Scott Vignos selected as new Chief Diversity Officer

By ADRIANA GUTIERREZ News Reporter

from our Elsevier contract into other resources,” Deitering and Goergen-Doll said. “We recently upgraded our Academic Search Premier database to Academic Search Complete, adding about 1,000 additional journals… [which] is designed to support undergraduate research needs.”

In addition, for many of the high-use journals, OSU will still have access to the volumes and issues of those journals that were received before the contract termination, Deitering said.

As the 2020 pandemic shifted more classes online, digital scholarly information continues to complement, or even substitute, physical textbooks and other printed materials found in libraries and on-campus bookstores.

Ariah Tesema, a fourth-year Biohealth science undergraduate, added that she uses open source material and other online scholarly information out of convenience.

“I definitely use [online] scholarly information more than going to the library, because usually I’ll be doing my homework at night,” Tesema said. “I’ll find it quicker (online) than if I call the library.”

As important as access to scholarly information may be to students and researchers at OSU, Deitering and GoergenDoll said Elsevier failed to satisfy a set of principles that OSU librarians developed with faculty from all colleges, which were endorsed by the OSU Faculty Senate in May 2022, during negotiations.

Deitering said that Elsevier has had problems with the principle of fair and sustainable pricing, based on transparent and cost-effective pricing models, in the past.

“Elsevier’s prices are notoriously opaque,” Deitering said. “How prices for individual titles are set is not transparent, and some of these costs are based on the print market of several years ago; they also include several

“This is not work that you can stop, or pause, or take your foot off the gas. It’s too important,” said Scott Vignos, Oregon State University’s new Chief Diversity Officer as of November 2022.

Vignos first moved to the university in 2015 and worked in what was previously named the Office of Equity and Inclusion working on civil rights compliance, issues surrounding title IX and Americans with Disabilities Act.

different types of fees and extra charges, and it is not transparent what value these fees are paying for.”

However, Deitering and Goergen-Doll said their pause in negotiations was not a “simple attempt to save money,” but rather, a decision to not compromise what they believe in.

“Scholarly information costs money, to produce and to preserve,” Deitering and Goergen-Doll said. “We need to think of this as a change in how we are investing our scholarly communication dollars — do we give it all to for-profit publishers who do not share OSU’s mission and goals, or do we shift some of that money to projects that are more open, equitable and community-based?”

Deitering and Goergen-Doll said that they also take issue with how authors are treated within the scholarly information market.

“More and more content in Elsevier’s subscription-based, paywalled journals is available open access because the article authors have paid expensive fees to make it so,” Deitering said. “Researchers are paying these fees, which are supposed to cover the costs of production, but the price of the journals have not changed.”

Though OSU librarians have suspended negotiations with Elsevier, Deitering said that problems with scholarly information providers remain system-wide.

“The ways we access and share scholarly research today reflect a business model that restricts the public’s access to highquality, expert research and reinforces existing inequities and hierarchies in scholarly publishing,” Deitering said.

“This only demonstrates that allowing a small group of publishers to control huge amounts of research, and use it in ways that prioritize their profits above all other values, does harm.”

Eldevier was unable to be reached by the Barometer for comment.

The office was later renamed to the Office of Institutional Diversity after a large-scale oncampus protest in November of 2015, only one month after Vignos’s arrival.

“What we heard as a community was testimonies from students about their experiences of racism, sexism and other forms of repression while at OSU,” Vignos said.

ALEX KOETJE | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

An illustration depicting a student having trouble accessing a website. Recently, librarians suspended negotiations with Elsevier due to the inability for the two entities to reach an agreement.

Oregon State student founds Alzheimer’s Buddies chapter

Program assists in improving lives of those affected by Alzheimer’s

By ALEXANDER BANKS News Contributor

Oregon State University student Grace Scuderi hopes to improve the lives of families and those affected with Alzheimer’s, or other forms of dementia, through the founding of an Alzheimer’s Buddies chapter.

Scuderi, a fifth-year student and Sigma Delta Omega sorority member, has maintained her curiosity for the scientific world since a young age.

With an ecologist father and an audiologist mother, she had always been surrounded by science and possibility.

Scuderi’s love for science eventually brought her under the mentorship of Tory Hagen, a research doctor and professor at OSU.

Through her own experiences — having a grandmother with dementia and a need to understand the human body — she forged a scientific journey into the world of molecular biology and Alzheimer’s research.

“I know that [for] people with Alzheimer’s, if they’re socially isolated, cognitive impairment can decline,” Scuderi said. “If they are not around people, someone needs to do something to strengthen the social network.”

In 2020, as a sophomore honor student, Scuderi founded the Alzheimer’s Buddies program at OSU.

“(At first) I kept getting ghosted, essentially, by facilities,” Scuderi said.

She spent months searching for the perfect care center to partner with. Some facilities wouldn’t respond, and others would feign interest but never follow up.

After a few months, she was welcomed into open arms from the Grace Center, a specialized health and social adult day center.

“I just gave them a phone call,” Scuderi said. “We said, we have volunteers, and they’re

willing and ready to go.”

OSU student-volunteers would fill out applications and match with their “buddy” based on common shared interests and prior consent from the family. The volunteers then act as a companion for their buddy: playing games, listening to music or making arts-andcrafts.

Scuderi admitted that she’s never played dominoes until her buddy suggested it to her.

At the center there are plenty of activities for students to do with their buddies, but sometimes they just might want to sit and talk.

“The club is really about bringing joy to their life,” Scuderi said. “Understanding that they are still a person and not their disease.”

Co-director Kaitlyn Kim, a second year honors student at OSU studying biochemistry and molecular biology, likes to keep extra copies of her journal entries, and she recommends that the others do the same for themselves.

Student-volunteers are mandated to submit journal entries to the national Alzheimer’s Buddies organization: documenting their activities, time spent and any personal experiences for research purposes.

“It’s heartwarming and touching to see that you are making a tangible impact on the lives of others,” Kim said. “I’ve always wanted to find ways to connect (with people).”

Kim has been meeting with her buddy for over a year, and in her words, she loves to see the trust and relationship with her buddy grow overtime.

Since Alzheimer’s affects memory, it means a lot to Kim and the other volunteers when their buddies remember, and even ask about their whereabouts.

A favorite activity Kim likes to do with her buddy is play chess.

When she’s not with her buddy, you might find her at the Magnusson Lab, in the Linus

Pauling Institute, which studies the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.

“I came to OSU with the intention of fulfilling two different sides of myself…the side that values scientific uncertainty and the thrill discovery…and also the empathetic side of me. I don’t want to do it just for the science,” Kim said.

To her, it’s not just about the empirical data, but using her research to help patients and future researchers.

Kim feels that seeing her buddy is a way to unwind and re-motivate herself in her research. She is hopeful in expanding the program to more facilities, after already doubling membership with, other, co-director Max Fry. They both express excitement to do more.

Grace Center outreach coordinator, Denise Rattanapaibloncharoen, has been working for them for over two years and is always looking for programs to serve the residents of the community.

“We’re always looking for intergenerational programs and activities, and being able to collaborate with other organizations,” Rattanapaibloncharoen said.

Even though their center always had volunteers, some even being university students, Alzheimer’s Buddies was a program that was completely new to her when presented by Scuderi.

Initially, there was skepticism because their residents only attended the center for a certain amount of time each day, as opposed to living there. However, the program was something that the caregivers and families were both interested in.

“One of the good things is seeing our more isolated individuals engaging in our activities and socializing more,” Rattanapaibloncharoen said.

According to Rattanapaibloncharoen, sometimes she’ll also see the volunteers stay after their mandated hour-long meeting, meet with their buddy multiple times throughout the week, and even keep in touch with their buddy post-graduation.

Vignos was the first of two staff members to transfer into the new office. He has remained in the office since, working as the Director of Strategic Diversity, then the Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives before finally taking over as the interim chief diversity officer in September 2021.

In his position he has begun plans to continue strides in retention of students with minoritized identities on campus. When he took the role during fall term of 2022, 30% of registered students reported identifying as a student of color.

“That’s a huge, huge increase even from even just ten years ago,” Vignos said.

“What that says to me is while OSU is a (Predominantly White Institution), we are a PWI that is in a period of change and flux.”

Vignos also hopes to expand the support for students and community members outside of the expected Corvallis, Newport and Bend areas, including the Portlandmetro area and rural areas in between.

Most importantly, Vignos says he knows that it will take persistent and extensive efforts to hear from BIPOC students about their experiences on campus.

“As an institution that I think has really strong ambitions to be a leader in a lot of different fields — things like sustainability and climate change and countering polarization — those require lots of different voices and lots of different ideas,” Vignos said. “We can’t keep doing the things that we’ve always been doing.”

Vignos’s past experience within the Office of Institutional Diversity was key for those who supported his application for the role. Despite serving as the interim Vice President and CDO, an offer for the position was between Vignos and one other candidate.

“I quickly understood his ability to think strategically and advance the Diversity Strategic Plan we created in 2017,” Alexander said. “He has the dispositions necessary to work closely with multiple stakeholders, to bring various communities together to address policies and practices that impact the success of all members of the university.”

Alexander and Vignos worked together for just over four years, creating the Diversity Strategic Plan, which is a five-year plan that “recognizes that creating inclusive excellence and advancing the university’s mission and values go hand in hand,” according to the university website.

“He understands the impact of oppression in all its forms and the right to freedom of expression as a core institutional value,” Alexander said.

Vignos, who grew up in the twin cities of Minnesota — the Minneapolis and St. Paul area — to two parents: one who immigrated into the U.S. from India and the other a working-class first-generation college graduate. He describes himself having grown up in “the inbetween,” being of mixed-faith as well as mixed race.

“It really allowed me to see some of the issues that I worked on a lot now from these multiple vantage points, because I was sort of living it in those multiple vantage points,” Vignos said.

He says another moment that continued to push him forward was coming out as gay when he was in college. He moved to OSU in 2015 when his husband got a job teaching within the College of Public Health.

“My background in that area — and just my own family history — helped me inform my perspective,” Vignos said. “It also engendered a lot of humility. I now have all of the lived experiences of folks who experience discrimination. That means that I really have to build and be in strong relationships with individuals so that I can best understand how to be a good advocate and ally.”

KAITLYN KIM | CONTRIBUTED

Photo of program co-director Kaitlyn Kim posing for a photo with her buddy.

ELLEYCE PAHAN | CONTRIBUTED Headshot of Grace Scuderi who found the OSU Alzheimer’s Buddies program.

JULIAN MCFADDEN | CONTRIBUTED Contributed portrait of Scott Vignos taken by photographer, Julian McFadden.

NAME, IMAGE AND LIKENESS

Three OSU alumni find success online, create NIL path for Beaver athletes

By BENJAMIN RABBINO Sports Chief

Former women’s studies graduate, JP Bertram, would have never guessed his professional career would take the route that it did.

Yet, over 2,000 Twitter followers later and with a platform that spreads love to every corner of the Beaver family, Bertram is content with his journey.

He wasn’t alone on his ride to a social media following, fellow class of 2012 graduates Terry Horstman, a former basketball beat reporter for the Daily Barometer, and Benny Wehage, an avid fan, were just as eager to be a team.

The Belligerent Beavs, both a creative and honest representation of a name, now has 77 podcasts uploaded on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Hosting a warm and inviting environment for all Beaver fans to listen to the conversation on recent Beaver topics, Horstman and Bertram remember what it was like to just start their podcast.

“It was early in the pandemic when Damir Collins committed to Oregon State, and one of us hit our group chats with other Oregon State alumnus. They were all excited, and the Jonathan Smith era had been going a little ahead of schedule, and this is coming off of five years of having to try to care for Oregon State football, and that’s where the first exchange was had between JP and I where it was like, let’s start a podcast,” Horstman said.

Throughout their tenure at Oregon State as students and now as alumni, the three Bebe’s, as they proclaim themselves, have attended almost every Beaver sporting event you can go to. Some of their favorite memories come from Reser Stadium, Gill Coliseum and Paul Lorenz Field watching Oregon State both occasionally win, while most of the time, watching the Beavers lose.

Still, the experience that the three of them

had while attending Oregon State was enough for them to want to give back, even ten years after graduating, to create opportunities for the current generation of Beaver athletes to thrive in an ever-changing world of name, image and likeness, otherwise known as NIL.

NIL allows college athletes to profit from themselves. The nationwide leader in NIL, Opendorse, is partnered with Oregon State, and in turn, all Beaver athletes have an Opendorse profile.

By visiting the Belligerent Beavs website, any OSU athlete can apply to be accepted as one of their athletes after consideration from their team just with their name, email, choice of sport, and selection of their current level of personal branding already done.

There is no upfront cost from the athletes to join the Belligerent Beavs team.

However, the question arises if studentathletes have to only go through the website application process, or if their level of talent and marketability is enough for the Belligerent Beavs to reach out.

“It’s a little bit of both, it kind of depends. Sometimes we will hear something through the grapevine that somebody might be interested and we will reach out and engage. Sometimes it might be like, ‘Hey, so and so wants to talk to you guys,’ and we will give them our number so they can shoot us a text,” Bertram said.

There are currently six Oregon State athletes that are signed as Belligerent Beav athletes. That list includes Sarah Haendiges from the women’s softball team, Damien Martinez from the football team, Mckenna Martinez from the women’s soccer team, Tanner Smith and Ryan Brown from the baseball team and a new addition of Madi Dagen from the gymnastics team.

“For the most part, we have been pretty lucky because the athletes that we’ve signed are the ones that we’ve wanted,” Bertram added.

The Belligerent Beavs team makes an initial announcement on each signed studentathlete, and from there, the athletes only have to remain compliant with their responsibilities and tasks assigned to them.

The compliance aspect goes as far as the athletes being responsible for promoting the Belligerent Beavs brand on their social media as well as fulfilling other small tasks.

Once the athletes are compliant, they are eligible to receive profits from their merchandise sold and from any offer that comes up through Opendorse or social media.

Acknowledging their presence amongst other NIL companies, the Belligerent Beavs team is set on not doing this for the money, but for the ability to do something for the athletes that other Alumni haven’t.

“Our athletes aren’t getting rich off this partnership either, but we’re doing small things to make sure that they feel more heard and seen. It’s ridiculous that this was against the rules two years ago,” Horstman said.

Bertram said that their athletes have designs of brand logos or a merchandise line that customers shop at and come to the Belligerent Beavs seeking production and distribution.

“I mean, Danny Martinez is a great example. Before he signed with us, he had already launched his merch line with NIL Pro Shop. He had a logo and he had no interest at that time to go beyond that. He felt like it was in a good place. We just said, well, let’s just start promoting it together, you know?” Bertram explained.

That communication happened in the Fall of 2021 before the football season, Martinez’s name is known around the nation now as he ran away with the award for PAC-12 Freshman Offensive Player of the year.

With the Belligerent Beavs already having a production and distribution facility that they used for their podcasting brand that started in the Fall of 2020 before engaging in NIL,

they saw it as a step in the right direction for helping Oregon State athletes get their brands some attention.

“I think we hit a perfect storm because we were already managing our merch store, which took off in its own way. We weren’t expecting to just all of a sudden be like a merch line. We threw some logo tees up when we first started just so we could promote our podcast,” Bertram said.

Having the facilities to produce Beaver athletes’ merchandise was a key part of intriguing athletes to come to pursue opportunities with them.

“From conceptualizing it to a real product in a week without any costs involved. I mean, that unlocks a lot of doors, especially for a student,” Bertram said.

Some companies that produce merchandise for student-athletes take advantage of them and act almost like their agents, Bertram wanted to be sure that their NIL organization wouldn’t feel anything like that.

“We just want to work with athletes who are creative and have ideas and want to take advantage of this new thing,” Horstman said.

“Our approach at NIL isn’t like exclusivity, right? We don’t want to step on our athletes’ partners’ toes. We want to make sure we are honest and that we can help promote them even further so that they can find even more opportunities,” Bertram added.

Going through the process of creating these opportunities for Beaver athletes without mentorship or guidance, Horstman wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Being Belligerent is part of our brand right? And I think that kind of goes along with just flying blindly sometimes and just doing what you think is right rather than trying to make it perfect,” Horstman said.

JP BERTRAM | CONTRIBUTED

Belligerent Beavs founders and members, Benny Wehage (left), Terry Horstman (middle), and JP Bertram, pose for a photo outside of Providence Park in Portland, Oregon. On Sept. 17 where they traveled to see the Beavers beat Montana State by a score of 68-28. The three Bebe’s enjoy attending the games in person in order to get a true experience to talk over on their podcast.

By RYAN HARLAN Sports Columnist

With that, the 2022 college football season comes to an end.

I can’t believe we made it to the end, as it feels like just yesterday the season started. I know we have spring football coming up, but we might as well look back on this season with fondness as there were some great games this year for Beaver football.

The Oregon State football team was bowl eligible for the second consecutive year and headed to the Las Vegas Bowl. They had a dominant 30-3 win over the University of Florida Gators.

The win in Las Vegas gave the Beavers a 10-3 record, which is only the third time in program history that the Beavers have earned ten wins in a season.

One of those times, head coach Jonathan Smith was the quarterback for the Beavers and that season ended with an 11-1 record and a 41-9 Fiesta Bowl victory for Oregon State.

Speaking of Smith, his contract as head coach has been extended into the 2029 college football season after receiving the award for PAC-12 Co-Head Coach of the Year in 2022 and AFCA Region-Five Coach of the Year.

Smith also led the Beavers to their firstever ranking in the College Football Playoff rankings, in which the Beavers finished at the No. 14 spot.

Now with Smith under contract, there is more opportunity for the Beavers to maintain this level of success into the following seasons.

There is no doubt that Smith deserved this contract extension and the way he coached the team through the adversity they faced.

The wins over Stanford on the road on Oct. 8 and Oregon at home on Nov. 26 showed that this team can battle back in any game and that Smith will have this team in contention for a bowl game every year with the upward trajectory of success he has taken Beaver Football.

Hardge III and Jonathan Riley, long snapper Connor Meholovitch, tight end J.T. Byrne, linebacker Jake Parella, and quarterbacks Jake Blair and Tristan Gebbia.

While both Nolan and Gebbia are gone from the program, they played a vital role in the turnaround of the Oregon State football program, and I wish them the best going forward.

However, I want to point out that the small number of outgoing Beaver transfers is a true testament to the culture of this team as you retain a roster year to year in a sport with a growing roster turnover.

I am sure there will be more for the Beavers entering the portal, but the number now is still minimal.

The culture Smith has builtin Corvallis is built on players being selfless and always doing what is best for the team. Smith and other players have said repeatedly this year that the star of the team is the team, which has shown throughout this season including the Las Vegas Bowl win.

“That’s why this group is so special, we hung onto this idea of being selfless and in this day and age, I think that’s unique and we won ten games doing it,” Smith said.

While it may have taken a while to achieve the success that Smith has had, this is the blueprint that teams can follow in this time of college football with NIL and the transfer portal.

What wins games is being selfless rather than being all for oneself, now I’m all for players’ autonomy but if we are being honest, NIL has had some negative impacts on teams being able to sustain a winning team culture.

I know I sound like an “old man yelling at a cloud,” but the benefits of creating that winning culture from the ground up instead

football season

for years to come

see with this is that Chiles will take a redshirt year to learn the offense and develop behind Uiagalelei and current starter Ben Gulbranson.

Now, the question remains whether Uiagalelei will start next year for the Beavers. I think looking at it right now, it is likely that he does start, but he will compete for the job with Gulbranson in spring practices and fall camp.

Let’s not forget that Gulbranson went 7-1 as a starter after replacing Nolan during the

This is big because Uiagalelei reached out to the Beavers rather than Smith reaching out to him and that is what ended up sealing

The big part of finishing 10-3, is that recruits

: I wrote about this during the summer and have yet to see a significant update for a long period. The article I wrote mentioned the “slow demise of the PAC-12 Conference.” At the time, I thought that was a bit of an overreaction but has yet to be proven wrong so far as that is what it has

There has been a long-awaited update on the issue of the PAC-12 departures as both the University of Southern California and the University of California Los Angeles still are set on leaving the conference. The University of California Regents approved the move on Dec. 14, 2022 after delaying the initial approval a month prior in November.

I mean, it felt inevitable, but it would have been nice to have this approved earlier. The biggest thing that came out of this approval is that UCLA will have to subsidize the University of California around $5 million with their move to the BIG-10 Conference, according to Jon Wilner.

And keep in mind that next season, the top 12 teams in the College Football Playoff rankings will be a part of the first-ever 12-team playoff, expanding from the previous fourteam playoff used currently and in years prior.

With the way that the season ended for the Beavers at No. 14 in the CFP poll under the expansion, they’d be in the first two out of the playoffs in that format.

TRANSFER NEWS: The start of bowl games also means the start of the transfer portal and players being able to move to any school they want to, free agency in a sense.

The football portal opens following the conclusion of the regular season for college football, and this year has been one of the more active transfer portal periods with over 2,000 football players entering their names into the portal.

Over the course of this season, there have been eight players from Oregon State that have entered the transfer portal, and the most notable is former starting quarterback Chance Nolan.

The other seven are defensive backs Ronald

of paying for it have paid off in the form of recruiting two big-name talents to Corvallis.

One of those is a four-star quarterback who headlines the 2023 recruiting class for Beaver football and one is a former five-star quarterback who chose to leave Clemson to come to Corvallis.

AIDAN CHILES/DJ UIAGALELEI:

Corvallis tends to be a hard place to recruit high-profile talent when it comes to football. However, that has changed under Smith’s tenure as the four-star quarterback, Aidan Chiles, committed to the Beavers as one of the marquee names in the 2023 recruiting class.

In addition to recruiting freshmen to campus, coaches recruit from the transfer portal as well. Smith landed a big name out of the transfer portal in the form of former five-star Clemson quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei.

Uiagalelei is the highest-ranked recruit ever to step foot onto the Oregon State campus and that puts the Beavers on the national map by acquiring him. The likely scenario I

With the move being official, some questions remain over who comes into the PAC-12 as well as where the annual Rose Bowl will be played with UCLA going to the BIG-10.

I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself as only time will tell, but one thing is for sure. The Beavers are on the rise and the PAC-12 as a conference is going to be fun to watch in the 2023 season.

The Beavers 2022 college

was remarkable, and it should be

JASON MAY | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

Head coach Jonathan Smith raises the SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl trophy after the Beavers won in the game at Allegiant Stadium on Dec. 17. Smith recently signed a $30.6 million contract that will last through the end of the 2028 season.

“That’s why this group is so special, we hung onto this idea of being selfless and in this day and age, I think that’s unique and we won ten games doing it.”

- Jonathan Smith, head coach of Oregon State football program

Corvallis organizations continue to need support after holiday season

By KATIE LIVERMORE News Reporter

As the holiday season comes to a close and the temperatures drop below freezing, leaving behind the spirit of giving may cause some to forget about community members in need of support.

Corvallis is home to multiple organizations, shelters and centers that assist individuals in the community facing houselessness and poverty.

The Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center is one of these organizations that offers services to individuals in the community in need.

According to Allison Hobgood, the executive director of the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center, the center is a day resource and hub for individuals in poverty.

According to Hobgood, the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center gives a space for community and togetherness and helps individuals navigate next steps in their journeys by providing resources for affordable housing, hygiene products, food and more.

Oftentimes, the center is even able to connect individuals in poverty with other agencies to support their specific needs.

“During the holiday season, people really want to be in the spirit of giving. However, there is always a need at the center yearround,” Hobgood said.

According to Hobgood, ways to support the center include financial donations, donations in-kind and for individuals to remain in the spirit of giving all year round.

“The center offers people in poverty dignity in a world where they are marginalized,” Hobgood said.

According to Hobgood, even talking to friends about houselessness and poverty helps bring attention and support to the issues in our community.

OSU students can help support the center by getting involved, calling to volunteer and take part in internships.

Hobgood invites students to get involved at the center and has had students participate in activities at the center in the past.

According to Hobgood, the center loves students and the perspectives they bring.

Other shelters, organizations and nonprofits require support all year long, and there are multiple ways to help whether it’s giving time, donations or a helping hand.

UNITY SHELTER

Unity shelter is one of these shelters that assists unhoused individuals by providing housing for those in the community who don’t have a place to live.

The shelter is an umbrella organization that also covers the Men’s Shelter, Room at the Inn and SafePlace.

According to their website, Unity shelter welcomes volunteers at each of their three programs.

“Both the Men’s Shelter and Room at the Inn depend on the generosity of their volunteers to help staff and serve our friends who need a helping hand. While serving others is personally fulfilling, Unity Shelter recognizes that its programs are stronger because of its volunteers,” Unity Shelter said.

Another way to support Unity Shelter is to make a financial contribution. Any donations are tax-deductible and go directly to operational needs of the shelter. Donations can be made online through their website, by check, stock, mutual funds or texting (844) 7030862.

Right now, two anonymous donors are matching dollar for dollar up to $150,000 when donations are written for the Men’s Shelter.

JACKSON STREET YOUTH SERVICES

Another shelter in the Corvallis area, Jackson Street Youth Services aims to offer youth in the community a safe place to live with resources to work through crises and reach a stable future.

According to their website, there are multiple ways to help the youth directly through volunteering as a mentor for oneon-one guidance, helping run peer support groups, leading youth activities, street outreach and academic coaching.

Community members may also become ambassadors for Jackson Street Youth Services by advocating for the program and spreading awareness.

Their website has other Corvallis events

and ways to support the organization like Bottle Drop, AmazonSmile or even FredMeyer rewards when you link Jackson Street Services to receive a percentage of purchases.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH INC.

Community Outreach Inc. is an organization that delivers multiple services to individuals and families to help them live healthy and productive lives, moving from crisis to selfsufficiency through direct assistance.

Like other nonprofit organizations, Community Outreach Inc. is in need of tax deductible donations that can be made through their website.

The organization also has an ongoing wishlist on their website, featuring urgent needs like hygiene products, baby and children items, food, shelter supplies, cleaning supplies and more.

Community members can also give their time by filling out a volunteer application online for the Medical and Dental Clinics, Mari’s Place Childcare Center, Social Service

Assistants and more.

SOUTH CORVALLIS FOOD BANK

Providing food for individuals on the South side of Corvallis, the South Corvallis Food Bank is another resource for community members in the Corvallis area. The bank currently distributes more than 15,000 pounds of food per month.

South Corvallis Food Bank has a list of items to be donated on their website such as condiments, soups, personal care products, fresh produce from home gardens and more. Donations can be dropped off at the food bank during their open hours.

The bank also welcomes volunteers of ages 12 and up with COVID-19 vaccinations to host clients during hours of operation.

Although the holiday season is over, Corvallis organizations can still benefit from the spirit of giving year round.

“Unhoused people are right in our backyards, and we have the chance to support them,” Hobgood said.

Support for student-parents at OSU comes to Dixon

By GINNIE SANDOVAL News Contributor

Oregon State University’s newest childcare program, Dixon Kits, is set to open at the beginning of winter term with the intention of providing student-parents with specialized childcare and lower tuition rates, according to Tania Henry, director of Dixon Kits.

The Dixon Kits program was made possible by the Child Care Access Means Parents in School Grant. The grant supports the participation of low-income parents in postsecondary education through the provision of campus-based childcare services, according to the U.S. Department of Education website.

“CCAMPIS is a federal grant that the Family Resource Center at OSU receives from the federal government to support student parents enrolling in OSU,” said Kristi King, director of the Our Little Village and Student Family Coordinator.

King directs student parents to childcare resources on campus, including Dixon Kits, which will open once winter term begins. The program hours will be Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Unlike other childcare resources on campus, which are operated by outside vendors, Dixon Kits is operated under OSU. The program’s services are offered to both OSU employees and student-parents. In addition to this, all of the teachers and staff at the Dixon Kits Center are OSU employees.

Because the program is under OSU, the Family Resource Center has a lot more say and control over how they serve the families there and who’s enrolling.

“We have to serve a number of studentparent families with the highest financial needs who have infants and toddlers,” King said. “We did some very targeted outreach to student-parents that we knew that had infants

and toddlers that we suspected of having high levels of financial need. They then would go through a process of confirming that.”

The facility has two separate spaces for infants and toddlers. Infants have their own room as well as a changing area and lactation room. Toddlers have their own larger space that caters directly to their learning and growth.

“We will have 12 children altogether, four infants and eight toddlers…We are a sweet little, small center,” Henry said.

The center is set up with various stations

Oregonians, so being able to be outside in any weather is very important,” Henry said.

The outside area of the center includes turf grass, a toddler-sized playground and a water table customized by Community Playthings. Matching customized furniture can be seen throughout the entire center.

“This provides some agency when the weather is nice,” said Amy Luhn, director of the Family Resource Center. “Toddlers will literally be able to make a decision about whether they want to be inside or outside.”

Before Dixon Kits, the Family Resource

According to Luhn, the layouts are unique in infant and toddler programs and it was how the space was already designed, and how minor the renovations would be, that drove their decision to open the center for children up to two and a half years old.

In light of the age limit, Henry said that they are currently working on partnering with the other childcare centers at OSU to create a pipeline for the children to transition into another center when they reach the appropriate age.

While the Dixon Kits program has a capacity of 12 children at all times, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will only accept 12 children into the program. To clarify, some families only need certain days and certain parts of the day covered. This then opens up availability to other families who do need those certain days or time slots.

According to Henry, all of the teachers have their degree, and experience in childcare education and the center will have five teachers altogether.

“We’re paying a compensation that’s akin to the profession which you don’t find out in the community,” Luhn said. “It’s another thing that’s exciting about this program is that we are rolling out a high quality early care and education program that is compensating its workforce for their degree and experience.

that include many different materials for the children to explore their interests. These interests are then observed, and more opportunities are created to nourish each child’s inclination, according to Henry.

“I think people have a misconception about (childcare),” Henry said. “They think we’re just babysitting but no, we’re really intentional. According to Henry, the program uses an emergent curriculum that provides opportunities for child-development.

Being outside is another part of the curriculum at Dixon Kits.

“We go outside twice a day. We are

Center had only one location at Dixon that provided childcare. Then, a new space opened up in the building.

“We have awesome partners in rec sports,” Luhn said. “When the pandemic happened, we had to close our little space under the stairwell… They asked us if we would be interested in possibly a larger footprint in the rec center.”

“It’s really hard to renovate space to create early care and education capacity when it wasn’t designed for early care,” Luhn said. “It’s such a specialized business.”

There is currently a waitlist for the Dixon Kits program, however, families can reach out to Dixon Kits to receive an application. The Dixon Kits co-pay for student-parents is $200 and for OSU employees $300.

Dixon Kits reserves eight spaces for studentparents and four spaces for OSU employees. If their income qualifies, lower income families will be given higher priority. Student parents are also encouraged to look into Our Little Village, which is the separate free childcare facility also inside Dixon as well as Milne.

The literary work may be fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction written for a general audience. The prize is open to undergraduate students currently enrolled at OSU Corvallis campus, OSU-Cascades, or Ecampus.

Deadline: February 25, 2023

Submission details: beav.es/5dT

Edward Feser, Provost and Executive Vice President, requests submissions to the 35th Annual Provost’s Literary Prize for undergraduates at OSU

JACOB FISCHER | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

A volunteer at the Corvallis Daytime Drop-in Center goes through foodstorage within the facility on Dec. 28, 2022. Much of what the CDDC offers is contributed through donations.

JESS HUME-PANTUSO | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

The Dixon Kits Center photographed on Dec 19, 2022 showcases the center’s variety of interactive learning experiences in Corvallis, Ore. Students are provided with indoor and outdoor learning opportunities even out in the Oregon rain.

Men’s Coalition teaches community healthy masculinity

By KATIE LIVERMORE News Reporter

In a world where male perpetrators make up the vast majority of abusers towards women, individuals in the Corvallis community are finding ways to end cycles of violence.

A group of individuals from the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence in Corvallis created an organization that aims to teach healthy masculinity to the community.

The Men’s Coalition was started to stop abusive cycles and find the causes of violence towards women and other individuals.

According to Jacob Stewart, community educator for CARDV, there are two parts to the Men’s Coalition: the first is continuing education about healthy masculinity.

“Most — if not all — men receive these sorts of messages at least in some way growing up, that it’s in some way acceptable to be abusive in certain circumstances,” Stewart said. “That’s the message that most men received from somewhere, whether it’s a friend or a family member, a peer of theirs or from things like social media, movies, TV shows and books.”

The second goal is identifying the opportunity to serve in the community whether it’s attending events like vigils, presentations by speakers or supporting other organizations around Corvallis.

According to Stewart, the Men’s Coalition was started after the realization that the majority of the individuals participating in anti-violence work, especially domestic violence, were all led by women.

“The more we get men involved, the more that we get men thinking about these sorts of things, the more effective our goals can be,” Stewart said.

When it comes to abuse, the real key is to stop it from happening in the first place, said John Marchel, a former board member of the Men’s Coalition.

“We wanted to engage with [men] in a way that made them see that violence is not conducive to any kind of healthy relationship and then kind of go from there,” Marchel said.

According to Stewart, the Men’s Coalition, like many other activities, was put on pause during COVID-19

BY LUCY NICKERSON

and just started back up again this past September.

With meetings beginning again, a normal gathering for the Men’s Coalition usually consists of two parts, the first one being analyzing content — such as a reading or documentary — followed by a discussion.

The second half of the meeting gives time for members to write topics and ideas on a whiteboard they are interested in pursuing or events in the community they could participate in.

According to Stewart, meetings normally consist of a number of board members for CARDV, students, business owners, educators and other individuals in the community interested in learning more about healthy masculinity.

“The way that the national dialogue around a lot of different subjects has gotten so intensely negative and confrontational, the work that the coalition has done and will continue to do ,I think, is really important,” Marchel said. “[We’re] trying to get the rhetoric toned down and have honest discussions and respectful discussions with each other going forward.”

Although the organization is called the Men’s Coalition, Stewart said everyone is welcome to join regardless of their gender, sexuality or relationship status.

Stewart recommends the Men’s Coalition to anyone who’s interested in analyzing the ways gender influences the concepts of power and control in relationships.

“It’s important to look at the kinds of things that we’re taught about what it means to be a man, especially in America in the 21st century so that we can see: is there anything that we learned about growing up that we can set aside?” Stewart said.

CARTOONS

BY HAILEY TOEDTLI

HUME-PANTUSO | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK

CARDV’s Community Educator, Jacob Stewart poses inside CARDV Corvallis on Jan 6. In Corvallis Stewart works with educators and students with the goal of preventing domestic violence before it happens.

HAM CREEK: ANOTHER TERM BY HELEN WHITE

MOSSY WET ROCK: MINI 2 BY MARS ROMERO

JESS