Today OSU is holding a Repair Fair from 6-8pm on 644 SW 13th Street in Corvallis.  This event is organized by the student group Waste Watchers. Don’t worry if you cannot catch today’s repair fair, they occur twice per term.   This is a great opportunity to help get something that is broken around your house fixed or insight on how to work to repair it yourself.  Additional benefits are participants will save money, reducing waste, and saving natural resources.   There will also be demonstrations going on for people to learn more about Home water conservation, common sewing fixes, and bike maintenance.  This event is Free and open to all

Repair Skills Offered:

• Appliances (small items only, please)
• Bicycles
• Clothing (hand and machine sewing)
• Computers (hardware and software)
• Electronics (small items only, please)
• Housewares (furniture, ceramics, lamps, etc.)
• And more!

Repair Demonstration:

6:10-6:40 pm – DIY: Home Water Conservation (Mark Taratoot): Overview of Corvallis’s water system, water treatment and quality, conservation measures, DIY water audit and irrigation issues

6:50-7:20 pm – 3 Common Sewing Fixes (Annie Kersting): Demonstrations for buttons, patches, and zippers

7:30-8:00 pm – ABC’s of Bike Maintenance (Kevin Grant): Air: Proper inflation and tube-patching/replacing; Brakes: Safe and efficient stopping; Chain: Keep things oiled and running smoothly and quietly; Recommendations for basic/minimal tools.

For more information contact Andrea Norris at andrea.norris@oregonstate.edu or 541-737-5398-GG

Greenest Colleges in America

The Princeton Review just came out with its annual list of the greenest colleges in America, and OSU was among the top 16 green universities in the country! OSU received the highest ranking possible from the Princeton Review. This recognition is due to the high recycling efforts on campus, student involvement in sustainability, and the large amount of green energy purchased.

 ”Student involvement on sustainability issues is high on campus and that is one of the things the makers of the ranking probably looked at,” said Brandon Trelstad, OSU’s sustainability coordinator. “We are doing a lot here in terms of buying green energy,” said Trelstad. “Also, 35 percent of the food budget is spent on purchasing local and organic food in the dining halls.”

This ranking is among many that OSU continues to receive for its sustainability efforts. For OSU being ‘green’ is no passing fad. The dedication to sustainability is seen throughout campus, and we continue to be on the cutting edge of sustainability efforts. Come visit OSU and check it out for yourself!

Go Beavs!
- KT

April 7th has been dedicated to nature’s engineer, the amazing BEAVER!  Today is a very special day here on campus because the beaver is OSU’s official fierce mascot.

April 7th was chosen as International Beaver Day because it is the birthday of the late Dorothy Richards of Little Falls, New York who studied beavers for 50 years.

Have you ever wondered about Benny the Beaver, OSU’s mascot?  Click here and here to learn more about Benny!

Please celebrate this super day and HAPPY INTERNATIONAL BEAVER DAY!

Thanks for reading…
cyn

DRC Main Entrance

What draws students and community members to Dixon Recreation Center (DRC) are the broad activities that are available.  Specifically getting into shape, places like the lower and upper courts are a host to pick up games such as; basketball, volleyball, badminton, table tennis, pickle ball and anything else imaginable. If racquetball, squash or wallyball is more your style, there’s about nine courts dedicated to such sports!

DRC Weight Room 1

If bulking up is on the list of things to do this 2011, Dixon has not one but two weight rooms to achieve strength goals.  Weight Room 1 is a larger space that has selectorized weight equipment, plate-loaded weight equipment, a variety of free weights and benches. Equipment choices include Cybex, Magnum, Ivanko and Irongrip.  For a space that is a little more private, Weight Room 2 can also be an excellent spot to hit the free motion weight equipment.  Students looking for a little guidance on a weights routine have access to a personal partner training.  This program allows two students to go through a personal training session together. With partner training, the trainer can design a program that is both catered to the students’ goals while flexible enough to be continued in the future.

DRC Cardio Room 1

Similar to the weight rooms, Dixon has two cardio rooms and a running track to enjoy getting back in shape.  The cardio rooms are very unique and first of its kind.  Why you ask?  Here is an article from the Oregonian describing OSU’s cardio exercise equipment:

Oregon State University is harnessing the energy the machines can generate and converting it to electricity to feed back into the power grid.
It is among the first universities in the United States to do so.
With new technology developed by a Florida firm, Oregon State has retrofitted 22 elliptical exercise machines in its student fee-funded Dixon Recreation Center and already is collecting the power produced by students.

DRC Lap Pool in Steven’s Natatorium

For students looking to hit the pool, can swim or find sanctuary in Steven’s Natatorium (Dixon Pool).  Water in the lap swim pool, dive well and hot tub are all heated to perfection; 81.5 degrees, 83 degrees and 104 in the 16 person hot tub.  The lap pool is available during the duration of the day with lanes divided by, slow, medium all the way to fast.  Also, the Natatorium is home to the amazing Division I; Pac 10 Women’s Swimming team.

DRC Climbing Center

Another alluring amenity in Dixon is the breath taking climbing center.  It is the tallest college climbing facility in the Pacific Northwest, 42.5 ft tall and is highly used by our OSU community.  The multi pitched climbing surface caters to a broad spectrum of climbing abilities and variety of  functions; bouldering cave, hang boards, universally accessible rappel station, cracks, arêtes and overhangs.  Click here to take you to pictures from the 2009 Vertical Festival held in the lovely climbing center.

Lastly, Dixon Recreation (including Rec Sports) is the second largest student employer on OSU’s campus.  In fact, my first job at OSU was working at Dixon Café for two glorious years.  Click here to explore student employment at Dixon.

There is so much more Dixon Recreation Center provides anyone seeking to recharge, rejuvenate, revamp, get buff, or similarly to feel physically better!  Click here to check out Dixon for yourself or here to join there facebook page.

Thanks for reading,
CYN

In 2010, OSU’s greenhouse gas emissions were 113,342 tons of CO2 equivalent, down from a high point in 2007 of 150,053 tons and close to what they were in 1991 (113,005 tons). The reasons why: student-approved purchases of green power and OSU’s work toward efficiency and conservation as put forth in the planning process by President Ray in 2007 to achieve climate neutrality.

Another way OSU has committed itself to being a more sustainable and green campus includes having registered or achieved LEED certification or its equivalent for environmental performance of 8 buildings on campus. Since 2005, the amount of recycling at OSU has increased 55% with composting now at 76%. Additionally, waste to the landfills has decreased 20%. OSU has decreased it’s annual water consumption by 16% since 2002, despite the increase in students on campus.

OSU students at the Dixon Recreation Center send power back to the grid

If sustainability interests you, not only can you contribute to it on campus through various daily activities such as recycling or using exercise equipment at the Dixon Recreation Center that is connected to the power grid; but you can also choose one of OSU’s many academic programs to major/minor in. Some academic programs related to sustainability include: Environmental Engineering, Renewable Materials, Energy Engineering Management (OSU Cascades Campus), Natural Resources, Environmental Science, and BioResource Research.

Way to go Beavers!

-AG

OSU is filled with many great researchers who are consistently making contributions to both science and society. It is always fun to recognize these unique discoveries that are being made here on campus, so please check out the full article.

“OSU researchers discover new adhesive for tape, label industry”

…and this just in! OSU is also number one in the PAC-10!

Way to go Beaver Nation!

CORVALLIS, OR

Beautiful, earnest, and very, very green

Population: 51,388 

The vibe: As small towns go, you don’t get much greener than Corvallis. This Willamette Valley town happily took up the Corvallis Energy Challenge, where residents strive to use the lowest amount of energy in their homes. With two LEED-certified buildings and more on the way, OSU is listed by the Kaplan College Guide as one of the nation’s top green universities. Every downtown block seems to have at least one eco-friendly business. According to resident Collin Dunn, blogger for pioneering green website treehugger.com, Corvallis is the perfect place for those “who want to live in tune with the seasons and natural rhythms of the planet.” –Allison Arieff

–mko

Corvallis leads nation in green power use
The Associated Press

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — A report by the Environmental Protection Agency says Corvallis buys more renewable energy than any other city in the nation. “There’s a broad range of people who are making a commitment to renewables,” said Mayor Charlie Tomlinson. “Many people making small contributions can make a big difference.” Locally, consumers and businesses are given the option of spending a bit more each month to buy power produced by wind, solar and biomass, rather than by coal-fired generators. Corvallis purchases more than 100 million kilowatt-hours of green power annually, about 13 percent of the city’s total purchased electricity.

According to the EPA, Corvallis’ green power purchase is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of more than 13,000 passenger vehicles per year, enough electricity to power more than 9,000 average American homes annually. Green power options are offered from sources such as Pacific Power’s Blue Sky, Consumers’ Power Coffin Butte Landfill Gas project and the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. Oregon cities made up half of the nation’s top 10 green power purchasers. The other four in Oregon are Beaverton, Bend, Gresham and Salem.

Oregon State University is the largest single purchaser of green power in Corvallis, buying enough to meet about 75 percent of its needs. “College towns with a university or college that are making a commitment to renewables are that much farther ahead,” Tomlinson said. Companies such as Hewlett-Packard also buy large amounts of renewable energy, which help push Corvallis’ total over the top. The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that encourages the purchase of green power to reduce the environmental impact of electricity generation and use.

It includes more than 1,000 organizations which buy billions of kilowatt-hours of green power annually. Partners include a wide variety of leading organizations such as Fortune 500 companies, small and medium-sized businesses, local, state and federal governments, and colleges and universities. Tomlinson said his next step is to find a way to keep money spent on green power within the community. That could mean local power generation or options for consumers including green power purchasing from their city utility bill.

–mko

Check out this youtube clip of Justin Fleming, manager of the university’s motor pool, discussing electric cars:

–mko