July 2010, Volume 1, Number 5

Sonny's Observations
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The Year That's Been

It has been a year since I moved from Purdue University to Oregon State University.  What a year it’s been.  From a budget perspective, I couldn’t have said it better than Will Rogers, who is quoted as saying: “Last year we said, 'Things can't go on like this', and they didn't, they got worse.

I arrived on the scene in July 2009, and was told that we needed to deal with a nearly $10 million shortfall.  We came up with a plan to deal with the same, which resulted in eliminating nearly 60 faculty and staff positions.  Paraphrasing my colleague, Bill Boggess, we slammed the brakes on everything – from filling key positions to eliminating operating funds to putting on hold a number of key initiatives. (Read more...)

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Local funding for experiment station branches in keeping with ‘shared sacrifice’ tradition (East Oregonian)

An editorial piece by Sonny Ramaswamy. In our efforts to maintain critical services while meeting extraordinarily challenging budget demands, state of Oregon agency leaders, myself included, face tough choices. (Read more...)

The Legacy of the Land Grant
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Fundamental to Economic Development

The idea of education for all people was revolutionary.  There was nothing else like it in the world.  At the beginning of the industrial revolution and the massive migration into the western United States, the land-grant universities represented a radical idea:  public education is fundamental to the nation's economic development. (Read more...)

Oregon Wine Research Institute
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Neil Shay named Director of Oregon Wine Research Institute

Oregon State University (OSU) has named a professor and chair of the food science and human nutrition department at the University of Florida to head the Oregon Wine Research Institute. As the institute’s first director, Neil F. Shay will help further the partnership of one of the nation’s leading agricultural and natural resources research institutions, OSU, and Oregon’s world-class wine industry, estimated to contribute more than $1 billion annually to the state’s economy. (Read more in the OSU Press Release, Capital Press, Oregon Wine Research Institute)

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Growing Grapes for Wine

The owner of Adelsheim Winery talks about Oregon State University research work that led to the process of estimating grape harvest. This process has been adopted by vineyards around the world. (Watch Video)
Responding to Emerging Problems
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OSU videos teach gardeners to detect, manage fruit-damaging fly

Oregon State University has created a series of short videos to teach gardeners how to detect and manage a fruit-damaging fly that might be in their yards. (Read more in the Mail Tribune or at the OSU News web sites. Watch videos on the Spotted Wing Drosophila gardeners web site.)

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Wet Weather Brings Disease Pressure (The Capital Press)

Oregon State University plant pathologist Jay Pscheidt is seeing plant diseases this spring that he's never seen in his 22 years at the university. (Read more...)

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Grow Tunnels Ripen Crops Early (The Capital Press)

Grow tunnels might not be suitable for everyone, but according to Oregon State University horticulturist Anita Azarenko, they can provide the right grower a valuable niche.  (Read more...)

Connections

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Clark Meat Center

Fire up the barbecue!  Did you know you can buy meat on campus?

The Clark Meat Center is Oregon State University's direct link to both the producer and consumer markets of livestock production. Through research and development, the Meat Center is working on new applications of old techniques used in the meat processing industry. With the assistance of student employees and interns, the Meat Center processes food animals into consumer ready meat products which are sold under the brand name Singletree Meat Products, that deals directly to the students, staff and local community. The raw materials are provided by the extensive teaching, research and extension activities of the animal science department as well as other departments in the College of Agricultural Sciences and the University. The Meat Center sells traditional items to the public like steaks, ribs, ground beef, pork chops, roasts and many other cuts, but offers specialty items too, such as Beef Jerky, Pepperoni, salami, and our popular sausages: Bratwurst, German, Italian, Polish and Chorizos.

Dr. Lea Ann Kinman is Instructor of Meat Science and Manager of the Clark Meat Center.

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Burger Queen (Portland Business Journal)

Osmunson formed Chez Gourmet after Barbara Durrett, a Lake Oswego real estate agent and veggie burger skeptic, sampled one of her homemade vegetarian patties at a family birthday party. Osmunson worked with the Food Innovation Center in Portland to refine her recipes. (Read more...)
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OSU Summer of Science (Terra Magazine)

Looking for something interesting to do this summer?  Check out this Google map and listing of OSU research in action and recharge your mind! (Google maps or Terra magazine)

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BeaverTracks GPS Walking Tour of Campus

BeaverTracks is an interactive mobile guide and walking tour of Oregon State University's historical locations. History comes to life on the Oregon State campus, using the latest technology to open a window into the past. (Read more...)

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Agriculture in the Classroom

Oregon State University College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Sonny Ramaswamy talks agriculture with first-grade students at Zion Lutheran School in Corvallis on May 27 as part of Agriculture in the Classroom. The program, funded by a foundation, teaches elementary students about agriculture. (Read More...)

Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation:

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Beaverstate Permaculture

Check out this resource about development of agricultural ecosystems intended to be sustainable and self-sufficient. (Read more...)

youtubeOSU has it's own YouTube channel and it's well-stocked with interesting video stories.  Take a look!  http://www.youtube.com/oregonstate
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Are you Powered by Orange?

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Facebook - OSU Beavers!

http://www.facebook.com/osubeavers

About the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center
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Pendleton Station

The Pendleton Station is headquarters for 10 OSU and USDA scientists representing 8 disciplines. The Pendleton station is located on 160 acres of land northeast of Pendleton; an additional 35 acres of rented land is used for direct-seed research.  The station is equipped with modern laboratories specializing in plant morphology, pathology, and breeding; soil chemistry, physics, and microbiology; computer modeling of plant growth; weed science; hydrology; and agricultural equipment design. Other special features include plant-growth and controlled atmosphere environmental chambers, soil and plant processing and analytical equipment, library, weather station, carpentry, welding, machine shops, and housing for visitors.

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Sherman Station

The Sherman Station is located on 230 acres of land near Moro and serves the field research needs of scientists from the OSU campus in Corvallis and the Pendleton Station.  The onsite staff has a shop, office, weather station, and a full complement of farm equipment.   Current research involves: variety development; soil fertility practices for cereal crops as well as legumes, canola, mustard and other crops; weed management; disease and nematode management; and use of soil conservation practices including direct seeding.

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Moro Sherman Station celebrates 100 years of dryland farming

MORO, Ore. – On the fields of Sherman County in the Columbia River basin, fewer than 11 inches of rain fall annually. When those few drops do come they fall in the off seasons – October to April. Rarely does it rain in summer. Yet, for more than 100 years, farmers in the area have been coaxing crops out of the dry, rolling hills.

(Read more...)

Research
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Exploring the science of artisan cheesemaking

Oregon is well-known for its unique food and drink artisans. Though the microbreweries may initially fill your thoughts, a growing demand for cheese-makers has prompted the creation of classes held on campus to help teach passionate participants how to make specialty cheeses in their homes. (Read more...)

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OSU's Superfund Research Program sampling PAH's in Gulf of Mexico Spill

As part of the Superfund Research Program's focus on PAHs, the team is sampling the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in air and water in the Gulf of Mexico related to the oil spill. The level of PAHs in crude oil varies between 0.2 and 7%, depending on location. Although this seems like a small percent, PAHs are a significant toxicological health concern.  (Read more...)
oap

Oregon's Agricultural Progress Magazine Summer 2010

Engaging stories, stunning photography...

Suzukii: A New Fly in the Ointment
The Legacy of the Land Grant
Welcome to My World
Hardworking Landscapes Tame the Storm
Pest Quest
Tribal Matters

(Read more...)

Students
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Green roof project will provide streaming data for students

Faculty and students at Oregon State are taking a simple problem of storage and turning it into a learning opportunity. On Wednesday, May 19, they built a 6’ by 10’ shed to the south of the Ag and Life Science Building to provide storage for horticulture and crop and soil science students to store their field equipment. But beyond its practical applications, the shed will also have a green roof, that is, a living vegetative roof that provides a variety of benefits, from keeping the building warm to reducing storm water runoff. (Read more or watch a video on KEZI)

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Animal Sciences Head Advisor Tom Savage retires

Dr. Tom Savage retired June 30, 2010, after 28 years as a Professor of Poultry Science in the Animal Sciences Department at Oregon State University. For the past 12 years, Dr. Savage served as the Head Advisor for the Animal Sciences major at Oregon State. During his tenure as Head Advisor, Tom oversaw an increase in Departmental enrollment of ~200 undergraduate majors. When Tom began his duties as Head Advisor, the Department had ~175 undergraduate majors and today the Department is managing over 380 majors. (Read more...)

jobs

Employment Opportunities

The agricultural, food, and renewable natural resources sectors of the U.S. economy will generate an estimated 54,400 annual openings for individuals with baccalaureate or higher degrees in food, renewable energy, and environmental specialties between 2010 and 2015. Seventy-four percent of the jobs are expected in business and science occupations; 15 percent in agriculture and forestry production; and 11 percent in education, communication, and governmental services. (Read more...)

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OSU Agriculture Program at EOU

Clark Seavert is an economist. He studies agricultural finance, returns on investment, production economics. You might think that Seavert is a bit boring, a bit dry, a product of marble libraries and linoleum floors. You would be wrong.

(Read more...)

multiculture

Multicultural Scholars Program

Six minority students at Oregon State University will get closer to achieving their career dreams through OSU and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Multicultural Scholars Program.

USDA grants will provide each student with four years of tuition, a paid summer internship, and a trip to a national career conference, all part of the mission to promote multicultural diversity in agriculture, especially in high level positions where minorities are underrepresented.

(Read more...)

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Students In Service Program

Oregon Campus Compact’s Students in Service program supports and encourages higher education students to serve their communities by offering education awards (scholarships) to those who participate in community service, service-learning, or civic engagement activities. (Read more...)

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Joanna Joy Fisher - Oregon High School Home-School to Cornell PhD candidate via OSU.

Ms. Joanna Joy Fisher is well on her way to achieving her goals of becoming a top-notch research entomologist working to develop cost-effective biological alternatives to pesticides for controlling agricultural insect pests. Cheerfully Joanna adds, "I've had great opportunities here at OSU, including specialized entomology courses and access to terrific faculty mentors!" Arriving on the OSU campus fall 2008, as a transfer student from Portland Community College and prior high school home-schooling, Joanna was ready to make the most of her time here at OSU.  (Read more...)
Faculty and Staff

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For Your Health and Safety

Transporting injured people: Faculty and staff are advised that they should not transport an injured person in a personal vehicle, especially students.  Only use a state vehicle or call the EMT/ambulance service. Click here for safety documents and procedures.

Epinephrine injection kits:   The University Safety Committee has been discussing the need of Epinephrine injection kits (which require a doctor’s prescription) for first aid kits at our remote sites. If you have comments, please forward to Jim Ervin to relay to the committee.

Alumni and Friends
schudel

Harold "Hal" Schudel, founder of Oregon's Plantation-Grown Christmas Tree Industry, Presents His Life Story

In his 92 years, Hal Schudel has seen a great deal, from massive Nebraska dustbowl storms to movie stars on the vibrant Christmas tree lots of 1980s Los Angeles. In his life story, From the Great Plains to the Great Northwest – My 90 Year Journey, he tells about those experiences and how they shaped his career as a pioneering Christmas tree grower and Angus cattle rancher. (Read more...)

Awards and Honors
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Senate Confirms OSU’s Lynda Ciuffetti to State Board of Higher Education

PORTLAND, May 26, 2010 – Gov. Ted Kulongoski’s appointment of Lynda M. Ciuffetti, a professor and department head of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University, to serve on the Oregon State Board of Higher Education (the “Board”), was confirmed today by the Oregon State Senate. Ciuffetti’s term on the Board will begin on July 1, 2010 and continue through June 30, 2012, at which time she will be eligible for re-appointment. She replaces Board member Dalton Miller-Jones, a faculty member at Portland State University who has served on the Board since 2006. (Read more...)

savoryimages

EESC/Educational Outreach staff wins multiple ACE awards

Several members of the Educational Outreach/EESC group were in St. Louis recently for the annual Association for Communication Excellence (ACE) international conference.  During the conference awards for excellence in communications were presented and OSU won several awards. Congratulations on excellence among your peers! (Read more...)

CAS Calendar
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College of Agricultural Sciences Calendar

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F&W 75th Anniversary

Help celebrate! OSU's Department of Fisheries and Wildlife is 75 years old and there is a reunion party being planned! If you've had history with the department, please visit the official 75th Reunion website (Read more...)

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The College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University is Oregon's principal source of knowledge relating to agricultural and food systems, and a major source of knowledge regarding environmental quality, natural resources, life sciences, and rural economies and communities worldwide. The College provides undergraduate and graduate education leading to baccalaureate and graduate degrees, and extended education programs throughout Oregon and beyond. Its research programs create knowledge to solve problems and to build a knowledge base for the future. It is a source of information and expertise in integrating and applying knowledge with benefits that are felt in domestic and international settings.

The College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University is Oregon's principal source of knowledge relating to agricultural and food systems, and a major source of knowledge regarding environmental quality, natural resources, life sciences, and rural economies and communities worldwide. The College provides undergraduate and graduate education leading to baccalaureate and graduate degrees, and extended education programs throughout Oregon and beyond. Its research programs create knowledge to solve problems and to build a knowledge base for the future. It is a source of information and expertise in integrating and applying knowledge with benefits that are felt in domestic and international settings.

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