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COVID-19 website: To facilitate the ongoing sharing of information about the virus, Oregon State University has added a link on the OSU homepage to a page that provides detailed and up-to-date COVID-19 information; links to OSU, local, state and federal resources; and updates on the latest federal travel restrictions.
TRACE OSU testing: For the first week of winter term starting Jan. 4, testing will be offered to all OSU faculty, staff and students in the Corvallis, Bend and Newport areas who are enrolled in TRACE OSU. Here is a link to enroll. All students living in university residence halls will be required to participate in testing through TRACE OSU within three days of the start of the term.
NEW! Timely Teaching Tips: Send your Winter students a supportive message prior to the term. The Keep Teaching Team thanks Oregon State faculty for your extraordinary efforts to support students and sustain teaching excellence across all modalities while coping with the unprecedented challenges of 2020. We’re here to support you in 2021 as well! For now, have a restorative break.
Today in the News Media is a synopsis of some of the most prominent coverage of OSU people and programs. Inclusion of any item constitutes neither an endorsement nor a critique, but rather is intended only to make the OSU community aware of significant items in the media. Content appearing includes timely news and feature stories from broadcast, print and online sources. Occasionally, opinion pieces and first-person columns appearing in mainstream media outlets that are written by faculty members and pertain to their academic or professional expertise may be included based on their unique, informative value, timeliness and space constraints. It is not the policy of OSU Today to include Letters to the Editor.
As the Christmas holiday approaches, more people are in need of help this year as the coronavirus pandemic has taken a major toll on the economy. A study conducted by Oregon State University discovered an estimated 1 million Oregonians, close to 1 in 4 people, experienced food insecurity this year. (see also KVAL)
An Oregon State University professor and former head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is calling on President-elect Joe Biden to restore the role of science in the U.S. government.
Oregon State University has chosen a veteran of the Seattle Police Department to lead its new campus police force, which the university says will begin operating in January. (see also OPB, Gazette-Times, Bend Bulletin)
Oregon State University has been awarded $7.1 million from the National Science Foundation for another six years of long-term ecological research on the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest on the western slope of the Cascade Range southeast of Corvallis. (see also Gazette-Times)
Recently, the paleontology journal Historical Biology had a paper titled “The antiquity of floral secretory tissues that provide today’s fragrances,” authored by George Poinar and Greg Poinar, two Oregon State University experts on amber.
We could see a dramatic rise in leisure activities and collective gatherings post-pandemic, including live music concerts and sports events. That’s what happened in the 1920s as societies emerged from the 1918 [influenza] pandemic and World War I. In the United States, the rise [in popularity and national prominence] of professional baseball and college football occurred. In Europe, professional soccer expanded. We’re not having fun together right now. (Christopher McKnight Nichols, OSU)
The new year will bring Oregon more than double its current COVID-19 testing capacity, as new or expanded labs come online over the next few weeks at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. (see also Oregonian)
Insecticides have been linked to affecting the human nervous system, so does this mean the Christmas trees are a threat to a person's health inside the home, or your pet's health? We asked Chal Landgren, Oregon State University's Christmas tree specialist, who also has a seven-acre Christmas tree farm, to find out.
Earlier this year, the book saw an influx of sales in Europe. And this winter, Courtney Campbell, a professor in the School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, is teaching a class called “Pandemics, Plagues, and Philosophies: Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Decides?” Among other things, the class looks at Camus’s 1947 novel to explore meaning and morals during a pandemic.
Add a splash of color with sweet potatoes or carrots. A Hatch Multi-State Research Project to contain invasive guava root knot nematode in vegetables helps farmers keep sweet potatoes on your holiday table. Oregon State University researchers are developing better ways to manage bacterial blight, and the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Wisconsin is using NIFA funds to identify markers and genes in carrot germplasm to deliver improved carrots to growers and consumers.
A piece by David Hill, professor at Oregon State University and a National Geographic Explorer.
The innovative thinking of a handful of Oregon State University-Cascades students helped the county cull through stacks of applications for grants designed to help stem financial losses from the COVID-19 related shutdowns.
“We heard from farmers that they weren’t making money on winter squash as so much of it rotted in storage in early fall,” explained Dr. Alex Stone, the extension vegetable crop specialist at Oregon State University. “We investigated and found that in western Oregon we have some particularly aggressive fungi that rot squash.”
For a sea creature that can grow to the size of a trash can lid with 20 arms covered in suction cups and slime, it seems like the sunflower sea star would be pretty easy to find. But following a population study involving Oregon State University and The Nature Conservancy, it’s been discovered that these beautiful invertebrates are critically endangered, according to a report by OSU Newsroom.
Strictly speaking, all student publications used to be “underground,” since there was originally no such thing as an “official” student publication, with its expenses paid out of the University budget. Even the Daily Barometer began as the College Barometer, a monthly publication a few students knocked off in their spare time – in fact, Oregon State University still does not have a School of Journalism, so the awards the Baro regularly receives are all the more impressive.
We’re rushing toward winter, but there are still gardening issues you’re wondering about. If you’ve got questions, turn to Ask an Expert, an online question-and-answer tool from Oregon State University’s Extension Service.
Today's workspace: Working from home during the holidays can add some sparkle to your day. Heidi Melton from Risk and Insurance Management has nine Christmas trees displayed in her house, and this picture shows four of those, two of which are decorated with her collection of Elvis Presley ornaments and rotate on mechanical stands.Now it's time to show us what you're doing to help cope with daily life and work in 2020. Take a photo and send it to osutoday@oregonstate.edu. Follow OSU Today on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/osutoday1/ and catch up on any photos you might have missed so far.
NEW! Do you prefer to make a Charitable Fund Drive donation by personal check? No problem! Click here for the pledge form. For the complete list of all the Charitable Fund Drive organizations, click here. Once you’ve completed the pledge form, mail it and your personal check to the Portland address located at the top of the form. Your donation, in whatever form works best for you, is much needed and appreciated! For online pledges: https://www.ipledgeonline.org/_cfduniversities/.
PERS - All about OPSRP Webinar: Monday, Dec. 21, from 1-4:45 p.m. PERS online webinar geared toward faculty and staff who are PERS OPSRP members at any point in their career. Topics covered: OPSRP membership details and benefits, retirement eligibility, OPSRP benefit estimate, retirement processes, the Individual Account Program and member resources. To register, visit the PERS website here. Questions? Contact Retirement@oregonstate.edu.
NEW! Farewell Gathering: After 5.5 years at OSU, Jesse Nelson will be moving on to new adventures. For the majority of his time at OSU, Nelson served as assistant vice provost for the Office of Academic Achievement and over the past six months, he has served as acting director of Student Affairs Assessment. He has been a wonderful colleague, and a determined champion of student success, inclusion, and higher education innovation during his time at OSU. Show your appreciation for Nelson at his farewell gathering on Tuesday, Dec. 22 from 10-11 a.m. through Zoom (password embedded) at: https://oregonstate.zoom.us/j/97609849131?pwd=ZkdnZUlFaHQ4V0M3VHE4REt5cWxNQT09. For more information, please contact Maureen Cochran or Gabs James.
NEW! Join the Association of Faculty and Staff for the Advancement of People of Color (AFAPC) for a book club reading of “Freedom is a Constant Struggle” by Angela Y. Davis. Register by Jan. 12. The book club will meet twice on Jan. 13 and Jan. 20 from noon to 1 p.m. Davis is keynote speaker for the 39th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration on Jan. 18. AFAPC encourages you to purchase books at a 40% discount through her publisher, a Black-owned business or through a local business like Grass Roots & Music or the Book Bin. The e-book is also available through the OSU Libraries for a 3-day loan period. For questions, contact mealoha.mcfadden@oregonstate.edu.
ADA30 Celebratory Symposium — Deadline Extended: The OSU Americans with Disabilities Act 30th (ADA30) Anniversary Committee is presently accepting proposals for the ADA30 Celebratory Symposium to be held remotely in May 2021. Campus and community members are encouraged to submit proposals for workshops, posters, artist talks and other session types on a wide array of disability-related topics by Jan. 15, 2021. For more information about ADA30 and the Symposium, including proposal submission details, please visit https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/ada30/.
NEW! Crossroads Conversation School for Women invites international women to join them for winter term English conversation classes beginning on Tuesday, Jan. 5. Classes meet via Zoom on Tuesdays and Thursdays (morning and afternoon options are available). For more details and information on how to register go to www.facebook.com/Crossroads-Conversation-School-for-Women-111562023572850 or contact Kara Hanson at crossroadsconversationschool@gmail.com.
“Taking it to the streets: Wildfire in the 21st Century" with John Bailey, Professor in Forest Engineering, Resources & Management. Prof. John Bailey will be talking to members of the OSU Retirement Association about what he has learned about how Oregonians can manage their environments to reduce the risk of fires as our habitats and environment change. The art and science of forest management have not fundamentally changed in the last decade, but the objectives have broadened and become more controversial. Thursday, Jan. 14 at 4 p.m. via Zoom. Register today.
Angela Davis at OSU: Angela Davis, American political activist, philosopher, academic and author is the 2021 Keynote Speaker for the 39th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Virtual Keynote and Awards Celebration. The event is on Monday, Jan. 18 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. via Zoom. Registration is free and required. For a schedule of all celebration events, visit the celebration website. For more info, contact events@oregonstate.edu or Mealoha McFadden at 541-231-2585.
NEW! OSU Today: There will be no OSU Today during the week of Dec. 28 through Jan. 1. OSU Today will return to daily publication on Monday, Jan. 4, 2021.
NEW! NEW2OSU program: CTL has announced a fully remote and gamified New2OSU program. New2OSU impacts student success by accelerating the effectiveness of those newer to teaching and/or OSU. With customizable learning pathways, New2OSU can support you regardless of your location and the modality in which you teach. Participants are asked to commit 3 hours per week for three terms. CTL accepts 20 applicants per term on a first-come basis and launches again in Winter Term. Spots fill quickly. Register now.
NEW! Our Little Village (OLV) Child Care: Registration for winter term ’21 is open until Wednesday, Dec. 30 at noon. For children ages 5 months to 12 years, OLV high quality short-term campus child care is offered for 3.5 hours/day and is available two, three or five weekday sessions for winter term. For winter term there will be new hours, days of the weeks and cohorts to choose from. To learn more about the Our Little Village program and/or register for winter term, visit the OLV|Milne or OLV|Dixon page. Have questions? Email the Family Resource Center at familyresources@oregonstate.edu.
NEW! Charitable Fund Drive donation--It’s not too late! Make your pledge now through Dec. 31: https://www.ipledgeonline.org/_cfduniversities/. Note: Last year’s donations do not automatically roll over to this year; however, it is easy to replicate last year’s donations once you log in to donate. These organizations need your help now more than ever. Your pledge is appreciated
NEW! Read the latest issue of Synergies, the magazine for the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, for profiles on TRACE co-director/co-PI Jeff Bethel, pandemic expert and media source Chunhuei Chi, new Moore Family Center Director Siew Sun Wong and LPI Director Emily Ho, kinesiology graduate student and roller derby star Kathy McCarty, and more.
NEW! Now accepting FYI Friday presentation proposals for Winter and Spring 2021: FYI Friday is a weekly remote program where campus partners are invited to present brief, one-off, awareness- or skill- building topics intended for a wide audience of professional faculty, academic faculty, and classified staff. Does your group have a service, process, or system you want to share with the campus community? Consider FYI Friday as your venue! Find information about the requirements and application process here: https://hr.oregonstate.edu/training/training-days/fyi-friday-proposals
Order Wrapping Paper from Printing & Mailing Services: Choose from our selection of OSU-themed designs, add your department's logo, or upload your own design! For questions or help creating your design, contact us at digital.printing@oregonstate.edu. For more information, visit: https://printmail.oregonstate.edu/wrapping-paper
Mid-Month Emergency Preparedness Topic: Preparedness Planning — Make a plan today. Your family may not be together if a disaster strikes, so it is important to know which types of disasters could affect your area. Consider specific needs in your household, know how you will contact one another and practice your plan. https://www.ready.gov/plan. This month’s poster can be downloaded at https://emergency.oregonstate.edu/emergency-preparedness/preparedness-topics/preparedness-planning
Momentum: Among the goals of research performed by the faculty, staff and students at the College of Engineering is improving the lives and livelihoods of Oregonians. In the Winter 2021 issue of Momentum, we’re shining a spotlight on what a handful of our research teams are doing to make Oregon’s population safer, its environment cleaner, its children better educated and its economy more prosperous.
Winter safety: Leave the fire in the fireplace. Burn only dry, seasoned wood in your wood stove or fireplace. Speaking of fireplaces, have chimneys cleaned and inspected by a qualified professional at least once a year. Water your tree daily. Make sure your tree is three feet away from any heat source. Unplug for the night. Use decorative lights that are UL/ETL Listed, and don’t forget to unplug them when you’re not around. For more information: https://www.oregon.gov/osp/programs/sfm/Pages/default.aspx
In Memoriam, a new event for OSU, will annually honor those from our community that passed away in the previous academic year. The Inaugural event is planned for Thursday, Jan. 28 at 5:30 p.m. and will honor those members of our OSU community (students, staff, faculty, alumni and others who made an impact at OSU) that died during the 2019-20 academic year. This year the event will take place as a livestream broadcast via live.oregonstate.edu and will feature poetry, live music and activities for reflection and healing along with guest speakers and representatives from each community to read the names of the deceased. Additional information will be shared as details are finalized. Please visit https://oregonstate.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_beAI0KM3JbZ0iep to share information about an OSU community member that passed away last year that you would like honored at the event or to sign up for more information. You may also email jon.dorbolo@oregonstate.edu for more information or to learn how to get involved with planning the event.
START is recruiting new START Leaders for the 2021 summer. Please visit this link to nominate a student to apply before Friday, Jan. 8; visit this site to learn more about the job; or refer students to our posting on OSU jobs here. The posting opened today and the first consideration deadline is Jan. 15. Any questions or inquiries can be directed to newstudents@oregonstate.edu.
Essential tips for better videos: Everything you want to know about creating video but were afraid to ask. Have you ever shot a video with your phone or hosted a virtual meeting and wondered if there was anything you could do to make it look better? Or perhaps even more importantly – have you ever felt intimidated to start? If yes, then this essential guide on video is for you. Short summary blog post: https://blogs.oregonstate.edu/extensionweb/2020/11/12/essential-tips-for-better-videos/ Full in-depth guide: https://employee.extension.oregonstate.edu/ve/essential-tips-better-video-recordings-virtual-meetings
Printing and Mailing: In conjunction with the University’s request for reduced operations, Printing and Mailing Services will be closed the week of Dec. 28 through Jan. 1 to accommodate for our staff to take some time to relax with family over the holidays. While some essential staff and operations will continue during this reduction period, we will not be open to clients for mail distribution, shipping or printing services. If you have questions and/or concerns please email digital.printing@oregonstate.edu.
Faculty Senate Elections: Following are candidates for Faculty Senate elected positions: President-Elect – John Bailey and Erika McCalpine; Interinstitutional Faculty Senate – John Edwards; Executive Committee – Peter Betjemann, Nicholas Dahl, Vicki Ebbeck, Justin Fleming, Anne Gillies and Dorian Smith. Candidate materials are online at https://senate.oregonstate.edu/2020-elections.
Women’s Giving Circle: The OSU Women’s Giving Circle is inviting you to submit a grant proposal to be awarded in May 2021. Proposals must enhance the OSU undergraduate student experience and improve student retention and directly impact as many OSU students as possible. The average grant amount awarded is $5,000-$10,000. Deadline for submitting proposals is Monday, Jan. 11, 2021 at 9 a.m. Please see our website for further information and email womensgivingcircle@osufoundation.org or call 541-223-3389 with any questions
Carbon Neutral OSU: What you can do? Did you know that OSU made a commitment in 2009 to be carbon neutral by 2025? Want to help achieve that goal? Please save the date of Jan. 12 from 10-11 a.m. You’ll learn about OSU’s efforts toward carbon neutrality, how progress is tracked and what you can do. Register for this webinar today.
Next Great Startup 2021 Competition Application is open now: NGSU is a campus-wide, virtual competition beginning in January where student-led teams compete to win cash prizes, in-kind services and the chance to turn a startup idea into a real company. Open to all teams lead by a currently enrolled OSU student. More information and application available here: http://nextgreatstartup.oregonstate.edu/
Faculty Staff Fitness: OSU’s Faculty Staff Fitness is offering a variety of options for you over winter break and winter term. Winter break options are open for registration. Winter term registrations open Dec. 1. Remote, asynchronous Online FSF classes will be available Jan. 4-March 29 for $35, https://health.oregonstate.edu/fsf/online. Classes in person, on campus will be back in action with distancing and safety measures starting Jan. 4 and can be accessed at https://health.oregonstate.edu/fsf/schedule/winter. You will also find on our winter schedule some synchronous Zoom options this winter. Do you need additional guidance to stay on track for the new year? Join our 6-week RECHARGE wellness challenge. Details can be found at https://health.oregonstate.edu/fsf/recharge.
This email only lists new or recently updated job postings. For a full list of current job postings for OSU Today, go to: http://today.oregonstate.edu/email/jobs To apply for the below positions, visit http://oregonstate.edu/jobs unless otherwise specified.
University Human Resources invites applications for a Graduate Student Employment Specialist. This is a full-time (1.0 FTE), 12-month, academic wage salaried appointment. Full consideration Jan. 3; closes Jan. 17. Posting #P00891AW.
"My old grandmother always used to say, 'Summer friends will melt away like like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.'" ~ George R.R. Martin
Corvallis: Rainy to start out the week, followed by sunshine, with a chance of rain returning on Christmas Day. Highs in the 40s, lows in the upper 20s to low 30s.
Central Oregon: Slight chance of rain Monday, then sunny, with the possibility of snow on Christmas. Highs in the 40s, lows in the teens and 20s.
Newport: Rainy to start out the week, followed by sunshine, with a chance of rain returning on Christmas Day. Highs in the 40s, lows in the 30s.
Statewide: For OSU employees around the state, find your local forecast here: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/pqr/