Be Good. Be Orange.

Submitted by Leandro B. Monar

To be “Orange” as a value can be difficult to explain, mostly because to be “Orange” is not a value, but a group of values. This group of values can be compare to subjective relativism, due to the fact that they are different for every single member of the Oregon State University community (Vaughn, 2013). The “Orange” values are establish by the way people inside OSU community behave in every moment of their live. This behavior should not be confused with the behavior the OSU community has in school, which is establish by the Student Conduct Code (Oregon State University, 2014). Every person in the OSU community is different from one another, but among all the values the OSU community has, the one that most of them share and has great importance, is the value of respect.

People form the OSU community respect one another in every moment of their live and not only when they are at school and they have to follow a conduct code. In a university town, such as Corvallis, people from the OSU community can be found in very corner of the town. For this reason, the way people respect each other is noticeable in every corner of the town in every day of the year. The “Orange” value is seen in the way people from different cultures respect each other without any type of discrimination. For example, there are many Asian celebrations, such as Chinese New Year, that are enjoy by many members of the OSU community inside the facilities of Oregon State University. The “Orange” value can also be seen in the respect to elderly people and the respect to people with disabilities. This is seen a lot in the public transportation at Corvallis, where members from the OSU community give their sits to elder people and people with disabilities, and there is no need for the bus driver to interfere and ask people to give their places to someone else.

One of my favorite’s ways of showing respect is the respect to ideas and believes. In almost every part of the OSU community, people can respectfully express their ideas without the fear of being criticizes or segregated for that. Respect is an easy way to describe the “Orange” value, but “Orange” should be something more than that. “Orange” should be a permanent life style and not something that will just last while a person is part of OSU. To be “Orange” should mean that a person learn the importance of treating others with respect and will continue to do it after graduation or his entire life. It will not matter to what place that person move, what type of environment he encounters or at what age that person is, the “Orange” value of respect should continue inside that person and it should never disappear, but it should get stronger.

References

Oregon State University. (2014). Oregon State   University. Retrieved from Student Conduct and Community Standards :   http://oregonstate.edu/studentconduct/home/

Vaughn, L. (2013). Doing Ethics. New York: W. W.   Norton & Company, Inc.

In a university as large as Oregon State, it sometimes feels as though any one student is just a drop of water in an Oregon rainstorm. Everyone rushing from class to class, just trying to get through their own day; but what if everyone was to notice the struggles of their classmates, their community, or of their students? I believe that when anyone in our community pauses their own busy life to feel sympathy for another, or tries to help a stranger, they are acting on compassion. This sympathy and act can be as simple as picking up books after someone drops them, or can be as significant as donating countless hours to an organization that helps community members that are less fortunate.

As a psychology student I see the need for compassion in my studies and life every day. While other OSU students in a different major or community members may see being orange as a way to show school pride during sports or possibly meaning working hard on a degree to get a good future job. To me showing compassion for others is what it truly means to be orange.

The Oregon State strategic plan identifies the core value of respect, which can be simply defined as showing appreciation for someone. However, I think that just respecting the value of someone is not sufficient to create a caring atmosphere. I believe that creating a compassionate environment at OSU, where the struggles of life are met with sympathy and the desire to better the lives of others is a legacy that our current generation of community members should strive to fulfill. If the OSU community were to create a compassionate environment for everyone, I believe that everyone would benefit from it; there would be more acceptance for individuals who do not have the same life experiences as each other, there would be more of an open dialogue between students and community leaders, as well as less of a struggle for any one community member as it would be distributed among several other individuals who simply want to help another.

In closing, as a community we may not know everyone who currently is needing compassion, but we can always be compassionate to one another day in and day out, to create a caring atmosphere that will be our legacy for OSU generations to come.

Ake’la Ventura

Be Original, Be Orange

There are many other Universities out there that can “be” something, but it is difficult to just define a school by one word. Here at Oregon State University we are known for “Being Orange” and it describes our whole campus. To understand our campus and our community, we first must understand that to be orange has many meanings to the diverse population here at Oregon State University.

The colors of our school have a strong influence on what “Being Orange” means. Even though our school color choice represents what it means to “Be Orange”, it isn’t half as much of what “Being Orange” truly means. To most of us here on campus we think of collegiate sports and dressing up for the games when we imagine what “Being Orange” means. “Being Orange” can relate to much more than greatness. It represents each person’s individual values whether it be pride, dedication, or intelligence. “Being Orange” is a value that we students and faculty pride ourselves on. This value represents our greatness that Oregon State University has to offer us. The idea that the color orange embodies our community in a way that it encompasses everyone that has a relationship with the university whether it be a student, staff, or a sports fan.

To me “Being Orange” is being original. You are your own person and that makes Oregon State University diverse. Everyone brings something to the table whether it is being from a different state, being from out of the country, and a boy or a girl. For example, the piece of art that was built out of branches outside of the MU Quad, that is unique to our campus and brings some culture to campus. Being original means that you can be yourself and not care what other people think because you are just being you. You are unique and powerful in your own way. You are intelligent and should be proud of how far you have gotten in life. “Being Orange” doesn’t just mean to excel at sports and academics, but encompasses being philanthropic in your community and to be someone that anyone would be proud of. Alumni of Oregon State University represent “Being Orange” in what they do, no matter how big or how small. We want each generation in society who has graduated to have values that derive from what they have gained from Being Orange at Oregon State University.

To positively show what it means to “Be Orange”, we need to show the community how to come together so that we can all be united and complete a common mission of “Being Orange”. There are already many activities around the university that implements acts of “Being Orange”. What should happen is we ought to express “Being Orange” throughout other communities and not just our own. I feel that the student athletes would make more of an impact at doing just that. They are well known and the travel during their sports season. I think that the progress in academia and showing our student athletes to the community would be a positive.

Since there have been recent acts of racism and segregation. I would love to see our university as an accepting place where we can live together in peace and harmony. Since we are a diverse campus there are groups and cliques that need to be dissolved. “Being Orange” means being a part of something different and original. Not only that, but being a part of Oregon State University. This could encourage the community to be mindful about what is going on and the can connect to the different values of “Being Orange”. The better the community is at “Being Orange”, the better we can all get along in an optimistic, respectful and empathetic way the more better Oregon State University will become.

Submitted by Bayla Sek

Being orange has many different meanings and interpretations from the Oregon State University community, however, wearing orange and black along with clothing that establish the new beaver logo is one feature that portrays what being orange means.  A lot of people come to OSU for many different reasons and motives, and that’s why being orange to me can differ to another person’s perspective. Everyone attending Oregon State obviously has the ultimate goal of graduating and receiving a college degree, which is one way to think of being orange. Being orange could also be interpreted as living in Oregon, more specifically Corvallis!

Being orange, in respects to being a student, could come off as being responsible, mature, and friendly. The university would want us all to represent them in the best light possible so all of those attributes would be necessary in order to create civil environment within the OSU community. Committing an action that OSU would forbid could also show what it means to not be orange. That’s when utilitarianism that we learned in class is considered for being orange because the university would want all of us to do actions that will benefit us all.

Being orange to me personally is so amazing for me and my family. I’m a first generation college student so the opportunity to receive an education at this level is incredible and I’m so grateful to be in the position I’m in. I think based on my background and everything that I’ve experienced, being orange to me is inspirational because it represents an opportunity that my parents never had the chance to pursue. Furthermore, during the first part of the term, we had our show and tell assignment with our lab groups and I didn’t know what to bring, so I just pulled out my student identification card. I explained that this I.D. card might not mean much to my group but it truly shows how far my family has come since moving to the United States decades ago. I do believe I inspired my group in regards to what an OSU student I.D. meant to someone like me, so I think from my peers perspective, being compassionate towards one another is another foundation of being orange. In addition, through some readings and lectures, I’ve learned a lot about self-compassion. I didn’t realize how much I neglected self-compassion and yet it has been proven to reduce stress, improve sleep, etc. I remember one detail specifically where it explained that if you show yourself more self-compassion, than you’ll have more to give to others. I believe that would directly coincide with being compassionate towards one another and being orange because everything starts with you, so if you help yourself before others, you’ll have more to offer. This one little small change can indirectly improve the OSU community and make it an even better place to live and make being orange a sign of gratification.

In conclusion, I’ve given my perspective on what being orange means to me, however there is no definite explanation on what being orange means. Being orange is totally subjective because it may mean one thing somebody and another for somebody else. There will never be a right or wrong answer so being orange can be several different things. Overall, I truly believe if we can keep inspiring one another and show compassion towards one another as well as self-compassion, I think we can improve as a community and attest why being orange is special.

Submitted by Kaitlin Muramatsu

Being orange means you are a part of this Oregon State community. Your actions reflect not only you, but how people see the school. Each person has different values, different things that they think are important. I believe that as a community we represent these different values by the diversity in majors and classes or clubs and activities. One of the great things about being an Oregon State student is that there are countless majors and classes available to us. If we decide to switch majors we have that opportunity; we care able to find where we fit in this school. I always see posters for clubs and campus activities and I see new things to do all the time. If students are passionate about something they can make new clubs to find others who relate to them.
In a time when it seems like everyone is going to college and being a college graduate feels like it means less I want to find a different way to stand out. Our college we choose has a reputation the will precede us, we all want it to be a good reflection and for me that means, I want people to know that I am respectful, I am a hard worker, I am open, and I am creative. The way that we get our school to reflect good things is to do those good things. As much as the school says about us in general it is us that give the school a reputation; our actions as individuals and as a community creates an image for students at the university.
Being orange should mean that we are respectful to others, but also ourselves. Life is a balancing act between others and yourself. We cannot expect to treat others the way we want to be treated when we don’t care for ourselves. Understanding ourselves can be the hardest thing, we are tough on ourselves and don’t see what other see. Why would we speak harshly to ourselves when in the same situation we would give others encouragement? If we can encourage ourselves we can genuinely encourage others. We build a connection with other students as soon as we decide to go to this school, we may have completely different reasons for choosing the university, but we have chosen the same university. We are part of the same community, trying to get an education, to build relationships, and to go from here.
Being orange should mean that we work hard, learn a little of everything even when we don’t want to. Bacc Core classes can be tough, they’re not all classes that we instinctively want to take or think would be fun, but regardless, they are there for a reason whether we agree with them or not, we work hard through the classes. We learn all sorts of things about the world and gain a little knowledge in different fields. I think doing this is good not only to be “well rounded” but we see things other than those that we are focused on and are important to us. It means that we work our hardest, we make mistake, but we learn from them. We grow and improve and do things that are quality, which we can be proud of.
I want being orange to mean that I’ve come from an open community. A place that is welcoming and accepting, and full of people from all walks of life. I want it to mean that I have been in a community full of real people, who are individuals. I want people to see Oregon State and see a university that is a place for equality. I strongly believe in treating human beings equally. I want my school to show that we care about everyone.
Being creative is a special value for me, I want a career that lets me be creative and express myself, so I want to surround myself in a community that values the arts and imagination. I think that society often forgets the value of art and creativity, we are aesthetic beings, we like things that look nice, but it feels like we under value those who create those thing we enjoy. I want to come from a school that recognizes those who do music and art are just as important as those who do math and science. Sometimes we only see one talent, but people are talented at different things and they are all important.
What I want Oregon State to represent may not be the same as others, but at its core I want people to see me as a student from Oregon State and think that I am worth giving a chance to. I want them to think fondly of the school. This involves the things I do, I must do the things that I want from the school; so, I will be respectful, I will work hard, I will be open, and I will be creative.

Be a Leader. Be Orange.

By James Thomas

To Be Orange is to be a leader of yourself so that you can help lead your community and be an active citizen. Being Orange is being a part of the Oregon State University (OSU) community; the OSU community includes students, faculty and staff, and alumni. To be orange requires the OSU students to understand the value of community and subsequently the value of leadership. Throughout this post I will explore the link of the values of community and leadership and how these values represent being orange. I will also define what my degree will mean to me and I hypothesize that the degree from OSU should represent an individual with a global awareness, the ability to think critically, perform research, and be a leader.  Leadership development opportunities for students is immense at OSU and I will propose that we continue to illuminate opportunities for leadership development to the students.

The values that represent being orange include community, compassion, leadership, health, and sustainability. I will focus on leadership and community and will guide my thoughts on community based on the following definition: community includes a group of individuals who seek to achieve a common goal. In this case, one goal is to be a leader. In order to be an active part of the community and practice citizenship, one must have compassion for the other members of the community and must also be a leader of their self and promote active self-care. To be a leader of yourself, practice self care, and to have compassion for your community is leadership; being an active leader to promote citizenship across your community is being orange. OSU seeks to be a sustainable community with major focus on human health and wellness and sustainable ecosystems. As part of this community at OSU, we are all being Orange and must strive to lead our community to sustainable growth and development.

The value of leadership can be broken up into two parts: leadership of one’s self (knowledge of self identity, and core values) , and leading others (either through a direct leadership position such a director, or through emergent leadership). In order to be a leader, one must have a solid understanding of their personal goals and virtues, and should be able to identify their own place in the world. Once an individual has reflected on their self-identity, they are ready to help their community through leadership and through a compassion for others in their community. I have spent a lot of time as an undergraduate student on exploring my own values, learning how I work with others, and learning about the needs of other college students; these components make up my leadership development and I hope that every student at OSU has the same opportunity.

Leadership can be taught in the classroom, however as like most lessons, applied leadership experience is necessary to “learn” leadership. Leadership is a very important value as it requires people to explore their self-identity and virtues, and then impact their own community through social change and compassion. When I leave Oregon State University I anticipate that I will have broad perspective of knowledge of the world through my bach-core classes, and that I will be an ethical leader well in tune with my personal values and aware of the needs of the community I live in. To be orange is to be prepared to lead your community and in turn, an active citizen. Emergent leadership does not require you hold a position of power but suggests that you can inspire positive change for those around you by your actions; this is the type of leadership I believe being orange represents and than an education at OSU will teach.

When I leave Oregon State University I will still “Be Orange” and I hope to bring my ethical awareness to the world in which I live. Through my leadership development here at OSU I have learned how to work with a variety of individuals that come from diverse backgrounds and I have obtained a sense of compassion for the community I am a part of. Being orange is to be a leader of yourself and a leader in your community to promote active citizenship and engagement. During my education at OSU I have had the opportunity to participate in undergraduate research, and explore student leadership and involvement in both applied and academic fashions. I have been a part of student clubs (Student Dietetic Association – SDA, Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences –  OSUMANRRS, The College of Business Management Club), and I have helped organized events such as the Leadership Fair and Art of Leadership Conference while working at the Center for Leadership Development. I am working on a Minor in Leadership here at OSU which allows me to study leadership theories and apply what I have learned in class and from textbooks to my work with student clubs, student involvement, and leadership development.

I have learned that leadership requires a check in with your personal values from time to time, and identification of your purpose in life. Once you are in tune with your own self, it is then time to inspire others and work with your community to help one another achieve your goals; this concept is compassion, and it follows the social change model of leadership. This value of leadership leads people to be an active member of their community and practice active citizenship by seeking to take care of their own self and be a positive contribution to society and their community; this value of leadership is what it takes to be orange.

An education at OSU should train people to be excellent citizens in their community by working with the students to ensure the students see how they fit in the world, see their strengths, can identify their values, and so the students then feel empowered to help others to the same. I would encourage every student at OSU to get involved on campus in some way, and to explore what it means for them to “be a leader, to be orange”.

Additional Information:

To identify how other students at OSU define “Being Orange” I reached out to the Facebook community; all of the responses indicated or implied the value of community and were from OSU students.  Here is the Facebook post:

(the names and photos have been blurred, but the post is also public so feel free to view online)

Works Cited:

 –http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/strategicplan/

-Our Class Text Book: Doing Ethics: Moral Reasoning and Contemporary Issues, by Lewis Vaughn

Submitted by Devon Renard

“Be Successful. Be Orange”

            To be “Orange,” you must strive for success in the ventures you undertake on a daily basis which promote the well being of the Oregon State University community. One must engage in activities and follow through with decisions that ultimately uplift beaver nation. Being successful, in my eyes, is the basis of what it means to be “Orange.” In order to strive for greatness and achieve my life goals through the receiving of my OSU degree, I must prove to be a successful person. Whether that be advancing my physical activity from collegiate athlete to playing for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association such as Jared Cunningham, leading a group of my peers to rally for a tuition freeze like Dan Cushing, or simply following my own dream towards success of working for a well known contracting firm, building a firm network through my time at OSU, and gaining internship experience with local companies. My degree here at OSU symbolizes the long road of learning I have gone through and the credentials I have gained that are necessary to professionally present myself in the business world. This degree exemplifies the understanding I have gained of how a community can come together, supporting one another and give back where aid can be given, as well as my educational cap off of knowledge gained through sitting in a classroom receiving instruction from a single professor per course.

The value of success is expectant to be used by every single person in the world and it is our goal as Oregon State graduates to implement this knowledge into the minds of those who personally did not receive this degree or who did not take part in the construction of the student’s knowledge base to receive this degree. Each and every participant in the OSU community, students, faculty, and scholarship granters, all have a job to spread the word of striving for success across the world. This applies to the victims of the tsunami that hit Alaska in 1964, as natural disasters such as these are being studied by students and faculty at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at OSU. The success of the world may also apply to Oregon Health and Science Universities Doernbecher Children’s Hospital who provide pediatric healthcare for kids suffering from bone and joint damage, cancer and blood disorders, cardio and neurological problems, and the OSU community generates thousands of dollars to aid in their world wide supportive health providing care, which saves the lives of countless children each day. (Doernbecher Children’s Hospital) With the aim of success, as the slogan “Be Orange” expresses, the OSU community is able to help others grow in their successfulness and promote itself for future endeavors to come.

Being orange may not only entail the sole value of success, but rather a new angle of promotion. “During the reveal, Oregon State athletic director Bob De Carolis declared the rebrand as being about three things: ‘Recruiting, recruiting, and recruiting.’”(Berkes, Peter [De Carolis, Bob]) In an interview with SB Nation the Oregon State athletic director clearly labels the mantra of what it means to be orange and new school logo as a means for recruitment towards student-athletes. This creates an immense drive for better athletes to want to come to OSU, ultimately producing a greater fan base and bringing in more revenue for the school. Athletics on the OSU campus are one of the top revenue earners for the school, but is recruitment the only way being orange can be defined? In class, communicating with my group members, a value they all believed was the best for defining what it means to “Be Orange” was diversity. To them this was cultivating the beliefs and ideas of people with different temperaments, talents, and convictions and spreading diversity across campus, through the community, and to the world. This would generate an endless amount of knowledge and creative thinking, but will this value advance OSU in a direction to advance the world?  I believe the success of both recruitment and diversity among the OSU campus are a part of what it means to “Be Orange,” but lack in the opportunities in knowledge growth and the education that Oregon State has to provide for its students and community.

Success is an important value and holds the sole aim of accomplishment. Being orange is doing just that. To “Be Orange,” one must simply accomplish the task at hand and promote the community, nation, or world around them. This value requires you as an individual or together with others, to determine a common goal or idea, building off of the knowledge and ideals of others, without the actions of procrastination, with the notion that no idea is a bad one, diving into the moral values you hold and to come up with a solution that has in some way advanced you, the community, nation, or world around you in a fulfilling manner. This applies to everyday individual choices made such as being polite through conversation, picking up garbage off the street, brushing your teeth in the morning, or spending time at a retirement home. Success may also be applied towards larger actions and moral decisions such as driving on the correct side of the road, aiding other countries by donating food and money, or building skyscrapers downtown. Being successful excludes anyone aiming to deter from the advancing successfulness of what being orange has to offer. This may include terrorists, people who perform bomb threats towards communities, or sexual assaulters on the Oregon State Campus. These people who perform these acts suppress the advancing successes of OSU and the positive movements Oregon State makes for the community, the nation, and the world.

Being “Orange” is being successful in your everyday life and is necessary for the modernization, economic growth and well being of Oregon State University, the community which surrounds it, the nation and the world which we live in. Being successful when referring to being orange is not just a belief some students have that it might be defined as, but rather a way of life people take on and define themselves by when they come to Oregon State University and agree to take part in what this institution has to offer. Be successful. Be Orange.

Sources Cited

1. Berkes, Peter [De Carolis, Bob]. “SB Nation.” March 4, 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2013/3/4/4063318/new-oregon-state-logo-uniforms>
2. “Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.” Oregon Health and Student University. 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/doernbecher/>
3. “O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory.” Oregon State University. 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://wave.oregonstate.edu/>
4. “Tsunami Research Center.” University of Southern California. 2005. March 17, 2013. <http://www.usc.edu/dept/tsunamis/alaska/1964/webpages/index.html>
5. “Wear The Square.” 2013. March 17, 2013. <http://www.wearthesquare.com>