UHDS News

University Housing & Dining Services hosted the annual “Dianne’s” award ceremony on the evening of Tuesday, May 28. Here are some of the students and staff that were recognized at the event:

• Dianne Marie Finklein Memorial Scholarship: Brenda Dao ($1000), Gabriela Busto Ramos ($750), Karla Chavez ($500)
• Residential Education Staff Member of the Year: Courtney Darr – West Hall
• Dr. M. Edward Bryan CommunityDevelopment Award: Dustin Fernandes – Weatherford Hall; and Gabriel Hernandez – Bloss Hall
• Academic Excellence Award: Rachel Rosenbaum – Weatherford Hall
• The Dianne Marie Finklein Creative Spirit Award: Colton Taylor – McNary Hall
• External Black Belt of Caring Award: Dale McCauley– AEP
• Internal Black Belt of Caring Award: Jill Childress, AD Student Conduct & Community Standards
• After Dark Outstanding Participation Award: Jeffrey Tsang, Late Night & Leadership Program Assistant

The Cooperative House Awards “Coopies”

• House Member of the Year: Sarah Hewett-Dixon Lodge; and Maddy Greathouse-Oxford House
• Executive Council of the Year: Azalea House
• Executive Council Member of the Year: Michelle Scarborough- Azalea House; and John Ngo- Avery Lodge
• President of the Year: Lauren McGee – Dixon Lodge
• Cooperative House of the Year: Avery Lodge

[May 16, 2013 — The Daily Barometer] — Oregon State University found out Wednesday night which chef’s cuisine reigned supreme.

Chefs from the OSU campus competed for the title of Iron Chef:M cNary Champion in a setting similar to that of the hit TV show.

University Housing and Dining Services held the event in collaboration with the Human Services Resource Center as a fundraiser for the OSU Emergency Food Pantry, which supplies food to students and community members in need.

McNary Dining Hall, located on the east side of campus, hosted the event. Students and faculty members stopped and stared as each contestant used skill and finesse to create a masterpiece dish.

Three chefs from across campus competed in the event with only the help of a single companion. Each team received 50 minutes to cook their meal, and then 10 minutes to plate their creations.

Participating chefs had a box of secret ingredients commonly found in the OSU Emergency Food Pantry at their disposal. The chefs then used the ingredients to create a meal worthy of the title Iron Chef champion.

Despite tough competition from the other chefs, Jason Phillips was able to use the skills he gained during his childhood to come out on top.

Phillips grew up in Portland, and was inspired to cook by his grandmother.

“She was passionate about food and spent hours in the kitchen,” Phillips said. “She started preparing dinner at 7 a.m.”
Phillips is currently a student in the OSU nutrition program, and spends his free time volunteering at the Jackson Street Youth Shelter teaching basic cooking skills to children.

…

Those who would like to donate to the food pantry can do so by stopping by the Snell International Forum on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Additionally, donations are also accepted online through HSRC’s website.

…
Read the full article by Lara von Linsowe-Wilson.

Effective Fall 2013, Reserve Officer Training Corps will once again encourage its cadets and midshipmen to live in Finley Hall on the south side of OSU’s campus. The change, announced by University Housing & Dining Services this week, is an update to previous plans that had indicated part of Sackett Hall would be used for a second year for ROTC.

This community is designed for students who would like to live with other ROTC students who maintain the same rigorous ROTC schedule. Finley Hall is also conveniently located near several ROTC campus facilities.

For new students that requested Sackett with the ROTC building option on their Fall 2013 housing application, UHDS automatically updated the selection to Finley ROTC.

New students are welcome to revisit and update building preferences in the online housing application at any time. UHDS also encourages new students to communicate with potential roommates about the change before new student room selection begins May 20. Students can check the important application dates or their MyUHDS to determine their exact day for room selection.

Any returning residents (upperclassmen) who plan to live in the ROTC community are encouraged to make a room selection change, if necessary, by April 30.

For questions, please contact the UHDS housing office at 541-737-4771 or housing@oregonstate.edu.

View the video at the source: KVAL TV, Apr. 3, 2013.

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Jay Perry knew he wanted to be a chef at a young age.

“When I was 18, I saw the chef at a hotel I was in,” said Perry, chef at Oregon State University Marketplace West Dining Center. “The chef was 34 years old, and back then all chefs wore all white. Just that look that respect when he walked through the kitchen, I said to myself, ‘That’s what I’m going to be.'”

Perry wears the white chef coat at OSU – and earns respect through competition. Chef Jay took home silver from the National Association of College and University Food Services competition in Reno, Nevada.

“It kind of bridges a gap between the university and the housing and dining of just understanding that we’re here representing the school as well when we are doing these competitions,” Perry said. “It’s not always about football and basketball and baseball, but cooking is a part of the university as well.”

For a chef at Oregon State, the competition’s choice of protein – duck – was a feast fit for a Beaver.

Winning awards means a lot, but Perry sees cooking for college students as part of the larger mission of the university.

“Eating is an essential part of their education,” he said. “To eat right is good for the mind, it’s good for the body, it’s good for the spirit, so when we are giving them good food and giving them good options, it keeps them happy, it keeps them focused on what they come here for: to get an education.”

[Food Management, Feb. 27, 2013] — Cooper’s Creek, a Southern food concept at Oregon State University’s Market West dining hall, had been doing Southern food right for a few months after opening last year. Students and faculty could belly up to barbecue, blackened catfish, fried chicken, jambalaya, beef brisket, shrimp and grits, ribs, gumbo and more.

The Southern food was selling great at dinnertime—but at lunch? Not so much.

“We just weren’t pulling the numbers at lunch,” says Jay Perry, chef de cuisine at Oregon State University. Clearly, a new strategy was needed.

The solution came in the form of salads. Not just any salads, though: Salads that make use of those great Southern proteins and flavors. There was some risk involved, too: the salads were to be hand tossed, to order.

A tasting panel helped narrow down the selection of the Southern salads and their house-made dressings. Currently, customers can choose: Grape and Goat Cheese, Harvest Salad (dark green kale, orange winter squash, beets, with acai dressing), Shrimp Louis, Grilled Vegetable, Southern Cobb or Blackened Chicken (with zesty spices, oranges and spinach).

The salads are packed with local produce that’s rich in nutrients and antioxidants. That message is conveyed through marketing, and it seems like it hits the exact right lunchtime note.

“I thought they would do pretty well, but it’s just been amazing. Lunch sales for this concept increased 55 percent,” Perry says.

To keep things moving, no substitutions are allowed (except for dressings). However, customers can ask to leave ingredients out. …

Read the full article by Tara Fitzpatrick.

Acclaimed chef and Food Network television personality Jet Tila will be headline University Housing & Dining Services’ Lunar New Year: a journey through culture and cuisine on Feb 7. Tila completed on “Iron Chef America” and is a judge on the popular show “Chopped.”  Thanks to his background and education, Tila is comfortable in multiple roles as a nationally celebrated chef and consultant, a teacher and a student in the art of food.

This celebration of the first day of the lunar calendar will take place on Thursday, Feb. 7 at Marketplace West’s Ring of Fire restaurant.  Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to1:30 p.m. and dinner will be served from 5to 7 p.m.

Chef Jet will be demonstrating his cooking technique and his recipes from 12:30 to1:15 p.m. and 6:30 to 7:15 p.m. with time to meet with students, OSU staff and faculty and the general public.  He will also be available for media interviews.

The menu will feature Chef Jet’s Asian Broccoli Salad with Crispy Noodles and Spicy Basil Pork.  The menu will also include Roasted Duck Leg in Mandarin Orange Sauce, Braised Beef Short Ribs in Plum Sauce, Buddha’s Feast with Tofu (vegetarian), Crispy Spring Rolls, Sweet Sticky Sesame Rice Cakes and other culinary favorites.  The meal will cost $9.

Video: Chef Jet on Vimeo.

In an effort to encourage bike and pedestrian safety on campus and around Corvallis, Oregon State University and the City of Corvallis are inviting the public to the Memorial Union Quad on Thursday, Jan. 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., for a special  “Be Bright!” event

Benny Beaver will be on hand as participants spin the wheel and win a variety of great and illuminating prizes aimed at making the commute safer for everyone. Bike lights, reflective gear and even some coveted illuminated umbrellas will be given away during the event.

According to the Oregon Department of Transportation, every year in Oregon, the majority of pedestrian fatalities occur at night or in low-light hours. More than half of the pedestrians killed were wearing dark clothing and were not visible. In October 2012, ODOT reported that pedestrian fatalities in Oregon were up 23 percent from the same period the previous year.

“The Be Bright! effort is an attempt to get commuters to think about visibility issues during dark, rainy Oregon winters, and during the rest of the year after nightfall,” said Steve Clark, vice president of university relations and marketing at Oregon State. “Drivers need to pay more attention to bikers and pedestrians, and walkers and bikers need to make themselves as visible as possible during low-light situations.”

“We are very pleased that community interest in promoting safety and increased visibility among motorists, pedestrians, joggers and bicyclists is growing in the Corvallis community and on the Oregon State campus,” Clark said. “The last thing anyone wants is to have serious accidents or injuries occur. So we are simply promoting improved safety by being bright and being seen.

The Be Bright! Be Seen public safety campaign is sponsored by Oregon State University, the city of Corvallis, the Corvallis Gazette-Times, the OSU Beaver Store and the OSU Daily Barometer.

For more information, see http://poweredbyorange.com/be-bright.

Over Winter Break, one of the first visible phases of a new campus construction project along Jefferson Way occurred with the removal of a row of trees along the north side of Jefferson Way between Fairbanks Hall and Sackett Hall (across from Hawley-Buxton).

The trees were removed to make way for construction of several new campus buildings, including the new hall for the College of Business named Austin Hall, and a new Asian & Pacific Cultural Center. Over the next two years, this area will be abuzz with activity to construct these two new campus centers and parking in the area will be limited at times.

Austin Hall

In the fall of 2014, the newest building on campus will be a home for Oregon’s future business leaders and embody the authentic character of Oregon State that inspires students and faculty. Located on Jefferson Way near the Women’s Building and across the street from Weatherford, the new home for the College of Business will be the anchor of a developing quad on campus.

Austin Hall, named to reflect the $10 million commitment from alumni Ken and Joan Austin, will be an expansive 100,000 square feet that will include ten classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, collaborative team rooms, more than 70 faculty offices, staff and program offices, a café and event space. Ground-breaking for the estimated $50 million project is scheduled for Spring 2013.

Artistic renderings: Austin Hall.

Asian & Pacific Cultural Center

In 2002, Oregon State University made a commitment to cultural centers on campus to honor diversity and enrichment of student life. At present, the APCC is inadequately housed in a small house on the corner of Northwest Jackson Avenue and Arnold Way, at the far northern edge of campus. The students of the APCC needed a larger facility able to accommodate all of their needs and activities, including areas for quiet study, dance performances, and community feasts. A location closer to the campus core was requested that better supports the APCC’s goal of educating the greater OSU community about the Asian and Pacific Islander cultures.

The new APCC will provide a learning and gathering place for Asian, Pacific Islander, Indian, and Middle Eastern students to celebrate and share their cultures and heritage. It will serve as a supportive and welcoming educational environment where knowledge and traditions can be shared among each other and with the greater OSU community. The proposed Asian & Pacific Cultural Center (APCC) will be constructed on the north side of Jefferson Way within the OSU National Historic District. Presently, this location is the southeast corner of the Women’s Building Field, a recreation field. The center is still in the design phase and a groundbreaking and completion date have not been set.

Artistic rendering: Asian Pacific Cultural Center.

Learn more about these projects at the following links:

• Austin Hall project
• APCC project
• OSU Campus Master Plan
• Video: Tour the changing landscape of OSU

This fall, University Housing & Dining Services brings you the chance to win plasma TV for your room and to be featured in photos for upcoming UHDS publications.

How to enter: Submit a photo of your room, your name, and short description of what makes your room unique via oregonstate.edu/uhds/photocontest. Photo submissions will also be added to Facebook album on the UHDS Facebook page.

[Sustainable Business Oregon, Jan. 10, 2012] — Students at the University of Portland and Oregon State University are joining a national competition this month, going head to to head with students at schools around the country to reduce their electricity and water use.

The Campus Conservation Nationals competition will run from February 6 and April 23 — schools pick a three-week window within those dates to run the program on their campus. Building dashboard software by Lucid, an Oakland, Calif.-based software company, will track each university’s progress including individual dorm performance and a national goal to save one gigawatt hour of electricity through the competition. A total of 250,000 students are expected to participate in the competition.

On the University of Portland campus, individual dorms will compete against each other for a $500 prize. The school also has laid down a challenge to its sister school, Notre Dame University.

The competition is organized by the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council.

Officials at UP say the efficiency competition is just latest in a stream of sustainability efforts. The school was the first college on the West Coast to discontinue the sale of disposable plastic water bottles on campus, has set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2040 and has reduced food waste by 70 percent in its dining halls.

Oregon State University also brings considerable sustainability cred with it to the competition. The school was last month named No. 4 in the nation for its green power use and last year received a gold designation from the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment and Rating System.

Article by By Christina Williams. See the original post.