OSU President on Ohio State, Fiesta Bowl scandals (Oregonian) With college football scandals popping up seemingly every week — alleged secret payments to players, coaches concealing violations, recruiting consultants scrutinized — it seemed an appropriate time to check in with the state’s resident NCAA authority: Oregon State president Ed Ray. Talking football at the Final [...]

Japan weighs entombing nuclear plant in bid to halt radiation (Bloomberg) Tokyo Electric mixed boron, an element that absorbs neutrons and hinders nuclear fission, with emergency cooling water to prevent accidental chain reactions, Kathryn Higley, head of nuclear engineering and radiation health physics at Oregon State University in Corvallis, said in an e-mail. (See also [...]

Information, radiation leak slowly from Japan (NPR) OSU’s Kathryn Higley speaks to “Talk of the Nation” host Neal Conan. Oregon Senate passes bill to lower tuition for undocumented students (Oregonian) Without the break on tuition, Jessica Garcia said she will be limited to going to community college or possibly Eastern Oregon University, which does not [...]

Tsunami threat could catch Northwest off guard (Associated Press) Among the critics of such work is Patrick Corcoran, an Oregon State University extension worker who specializes in marine hazards and argues that the regional emphasis on geology and engineering misses the mark. (See also Long Beach Press-Telegram) No threat from Japanese radiation spread across US [...]

‘Passive safety’ reactor designs would improve response to Japan’s nuclear events (Science Blog) The type of “passively safe” nuclear reactor designs that Oregon State University researchers have been testing over the last 15 years – and which are now being built overseas – have an increased ability to respond to the type of nuclear crisis [...]