In Step with Campus: State of the University 2010

Yesterday, President Cullinan addressed the campus with her annual “State of the University” speech. She addressed the issues that are currently affecting faculty and students, including financial stability, enrollment, and goals. She narrated significant progress in the areas of Sustainability and the Climate Action Plan, with the recent addition of the Ashland Resiliency Project, about which she says, “The project is a fire hazard reduction plan for the watershed. Environmental Studies capstone students are proposing ways that SOU students and faculty can participate in baseline monitoring and tracking the project’s effectiveness.” Enrollment also saw results of the hard work of faculty and staff, with the largest number of new transfer students since 2001. The president was thrilled to announce that the overall headcount for Winter 2010 is the largest for any winter term on record for the university. While the good news was cause for celebration, the President also acknowledged the hardships that SOU has endured in the last few years, soberly noting that, “These last years have been a struggle. We’ve had to cut deeply; we’ve lost wonderful people”. Still, hopefulness rang throughout the address, with far more good news than bad, as she continued, “We’ve also worked hard to position ourselves so we can flourish and thrive even through difficult times. We’re making great progress.” Progress, indeed, as the president emphasized the unique stories that make SOU the school that it is. She noted faculty who have done extraordinary things, like Dr. John Roden, who was approved for a NSF grant for $490,000.00 in his studies in isotopes. She shared the story of Laura Armstrong, a SOU chemistry major who was just accepted to Berkeley and Stanford’s doctoral programs with full ride scholarships. The president concluded with, “We need to remember the tremendous work we do, the tremendous benefit our work brings to the region and the state- and our transformational successes with students, who currently number 5,624. Thank you for all you do.”

In Step with Student Life: How to Save $300 a Month!

I commented the other day about how I was destined to "be poor until I graduate", because I was in college. Little did I realize how much of my money was going to unnecessary purchases. By scaling back, I realized I could save up to$350.00 a month.

That comes out to over 4000.00 a year! Want to know how I did it?

First, I looked at my debit and credit card statements for three months. As painful as this process is, it will show you where you are spending your hard-earned money. Most banks now offer online banking, where you can see electronically stored statements for up to about a year.

Second, I identified areas where I was over-spending. Here's what I found:

-Coffee (Starbucks)

-Groceries

-Movies

-Eating Out

-Clothes

Here's how I cut back, and ways you can cut back too!

1) Say No to Starbucks! Sure, that tall latte looks good, and it might help you get more study time, but its eating away at your wallet. Did you know that if you drink coffee just 20 days out of a month (approximately $3.40 a cup), you are spending $68.00 a month? I limited myself to two coffees a week, on bargain days (double punch days at Dutch Brothers) and tea or brewed coffee from home the other days. I found I saved $40.00 a month.

2) Eating Out is Eating Your Budget! I found that eating out, just lunch, every day, was costing me about $30.00 a week. I now pack a lunch every day and eat out just once a week, with a maximum of $10.00 per meal. I stopped ordering sodas/tea with my meals and found that can cut about $3.00 off every meal. My TOTAL food bill for this month (I share meals with my roomates) was $46.00! That's a savings of $74.00.

3) Your Gas Pedal is Costing You! I was spending about $240.00 a month in gasoline, commuting from Medford to Ashland. Since I moved closer to campus, and now I am paying about $80.00 a month in gas costs! Limit your trips to surrounding areas, or carpool with roomates. It reduces your carbon footprint and the crunch on your wallet.

4) Those Little Shopping Trips... My roomates and I will often "run to Albertson's" to pick up little items like ice cream, magazines, and soda. We realized it was costing us about $30.00 a month to pick up overpriced snack foods because we didn't buy in bulk. Cutting these small trips and making just two giant Costco or WinCo runs saves us large amounts of money. Pre-packaging your own snacks (buy in bulk and tuck snacks into Ziploc bags) takes time, but saves you too. I didn't realize I had spent $25.00 a month in snacks and sodas at school.

5) Invest in Nicer Electronics...and take care of them! In three months, I found I had purchased three car kits, three chargers, and five pairs of headphones for my iPhone! I had bought them all on discount (about $6.99 each), but they all broke fast. I now purchased one brand-name one and take better care of it. So far it's lasted three months.

7) Clip Coupons! Yes, it sounds nerdy, but I clip coupons for things like makeup, groceries, and photo developing and it saves me over $20.00 a month. You can even find things like poster board or index cards in advertisements and save on those too. Using search engines like www.swagbucks.com also gives you points for searching (like Google), and lets you use them for online merchants.

8) Clean Your Closet for Cash: I cleaned my closet and brought clothes to Avant Garb, Deja Vu, and other consignment stores in Ashland. They take name brand, good condition clothing and give you cash or credit at their store. They carry designer jeans and designer clothes, and it's a budget friendly way to overhaul your closet. Make sure your clothes are clean, pressed, and without tears or stains.

Start saving today...and pocket the results.

Grace S. Cartwright (Nursing, Class of 2011) is an OHSU/SOU student at the Ashland campus, and blogger for Southern Oregon University. She is a professional freelance writer and music publicist.

In Step with Campus: First Amendment Forum

Southern Oregon University hosted more than 100 students and community members in the Rogue River Room of the Stevenson Union on Monday to listen to a panel discussion on shield laws and first amendment rights of journalists at the annual Thomas W. Pyle First Amendment Forum.

Lucy Dalglish, executive director, from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press was the event’s keynote speaker. Dalglish discussed the history of shield laws in the U.S. and briefly spoke about upcoming legislation to create a federal shield law.

The RCFP defends reporters facing subpoenas to disclose the identity of confidential sources. The group is also involved in other First Amendment related issues. Dalglish discussed these issues in the context of the services journalists provide to society.

“Journalists in this country have a long tradition of revealing important information in times of national crisis,” she said while discussing the importance of shield laws

Joining Dalglish on the panel were Celina Montoya and Kim Wetzel of the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University, a project dedicated to giving journalism students experience investigating wrongful convictions.

State shield laws were created in 36 states as well as the District of Columbia following a landmark Supreme Court case in 1972, Branzburg v. Hayes, when the Court ruled that the First Amendment could not be used to protect journalists summoned before a grand jury. Groups like the RCFP continue to advocate for better federal protection for journalists, but the debate is not easy.

“It’s the most frustrating, ridiculous system in the world,” Dalglish said.

-Guest blogger Philip Shilts

In Step with Alumni: Cast of Modern Family Scores Golden Globe Nomination

Ty Burrell, center, as Phil Dunphy with his TV "family".

Modern Family, ABC's new "mockumentary" situational comedy, features one of SOU's own alumni. Ty Burrell, who stars as bumbling father Phil Dunphy, graduated in 1993 with a bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts. Burrell hails from Ashland, and worked at the Shakespeare Festival during his time at college. Modern Family debuted in September 2009, to critical acclaim. The comedy series draws comparisons to The Office, known for it's sarcastic humor and situational character development. The series was well received by audiences, and now is nominated for a Golden Globe, a People's Choice Award, and a Screen Actor's Guild Award.

You can learn more about the show at the website:

http://abc.go.com/shows/modern-family

You can view Burrell's extensive film and television resume here:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0123092/

In Step with Students: Daniella Dieterich

Daniella Dieterich, 20, says she chose SOU for it's outstanding nursing school, as well as the "pretty campus!". Dieterich will graduate in 2011 from OHSU's prestigious School of Nursing which campus-shares with SOU. Students who are in the school of nursing are dual enrolled and can take SOU classes to fulfill electives and credits. Hailing from Portland, Dieterich says that she loves that "everyone knows each other here! I also liked the fact that I could get such a good education with quality, nationally recognized faculty, and still pay in-state tuition". When she's not in school, she says she enjoys the outdoor activities available right around campus, like hiking, boating, and skiing.