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SOU activities for kids help slow the summer slide
Daily Tidings August 7, 2013
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EDITORIAL: Mail Tribune hopes Phil Knight’s generosity extends to academics, not just athletics
Mail Tribune August 7, 2013
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Maslow Project, led by SOU alumna Mary Farrel, helps homeless students continue to college
Mail Tribune August 6, 2013
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SOU MM student Shey Yearsley comments on technology leadership for the Medford/Jackson County Chamber of Commerce newsletter
Medford Business Review August 2013
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Raiders

SOU football practice begins this week
Daily Tidings August 7, 2013
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SOU volleyball picked to finish third in conference this year
Daily Tidings August 7, 2013
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Caring camp
SOU activities for kids help slow the summer slide
By Janet Eastman
Ashland Daily Tidings
August 07, 2013 2:00 AM
Preteens Trinity Stewart and Ella Bloom have been best friends since preschool because they are both crazy over creatures.
So instead of staying inside this summer watching reruns of “Animal Planet,” the 12-year-olds participated in a weeklong veterinary medicine camp offered by Southern Oregon University Youth Programs.
Last week, they spent afternoons at the Southern Oregon Humane Society in Medford, taking in the sights and scents of dogs and cats, and learning about pet physiology and how to interpret animal postures.
“You can tell if a dog is nervous if he stays still and puts his tail under his bottom,” says Trinity, who attends McLoughlin Middle School in Medford with Ella and would like to be a veterinarian or volunteer for the Peace Corps someday.
The girls, along with a dozen other students ages 10 to 14 enrolled in the course, also studied a model of a dog skeleton and the similarities of animal organs, muscles and soft tissue compared to humans.
“Dog appendixes actually do something, unlike ours,” says vet tech Kayla McLean of the Animal Medical Hospital in Ashland.
McLean fascinated the hopeful dog docs by showing them a cat heart floating in a jar and X-rays of a canine’s fractured leg.
She then told them to volunteer at an animal shelter or clinic, and take science and math classes to eventually get a job working with critters.
Programs such as vet med camp engage, educate and challenge children, says Stephanie Butler, SOU’s pre-college youth programs coordinator.
Experts recommend kids participate in fun educational activities during the summer to prevent learning loss, also known as “summer slide,” when classes start up again in September.
The vet med campers are among 600 kids enrolled this summer in SOU’s hands-on day camps and classes, which cover a variety of fields, from law to music.
Another 400 youngsters are participating in activities during the day and getting an early taste of college life by sleeping in the Ashland campus dorms and eating in the cafeteria.
This week, high school students are shadowing health care professionals as part of Camp M.D. (Medical Detectives).
Starting Aug. 11, about 100 Latino students in seventh through ninth grades will spend the week on campus taking math, creative writing and dance classes.
One of SOU’s residential camps, called Academy, has been orienting fifth- through eighth-graders on campus life and learning for 33 years.
“Young people who attended our programs as youth are now returning, filled with enthusiasm to teach for our programs because their experiences were so memorable,” says Butler.
Ashland mom Roxanna Stapp required her four children to take summer classes of their choice offered through SOU, the Ashland Family YMCA and Ashland Parks and Recreation.
“Summer can be a good balance between relaxing, recharging and keeping active,” she says. “They take a music, art or theater class that interests them now but may connect to their education or career in the future.”
She has noticed that starting the new school year is less stressful on her children because of their summer courses.
Her son, Kyle Storie, 14, attended band camp last month and then vet med camp.
Afterward, while vacationing on a ranch, she noticed that Kyle could read fear in a calf separated from its mother. The Ashland Middle School student caught and calmed the animal and returned it to its mother.
“He was confident in knowing what to do,” says Stapp. “He was also comfortable feeding pigs.”
Kenn Altine, executive director of the Southern Oregon Humane Society, says the vet med camp is a broad-based look at a career working with animals. And more.
“Our biggest hope,” he says, “is that these children have a better understanding of animals, their moods and needs, and learn that pets are more than cute puppies. There are shy dogs and freaked-out cats who need their help.”
After five days of instruction, Trinity and Ella were ready to shake off any hesitations they had about putting Dexter, a mix of poodle, terrier and Jack Russell, into a tub and shampooing his black fur.
Together, they reassured the 1-year-old pup as they brushed him. Then they wrapped him in a towel, and Dexter relaxed in Ella’s arms.
“I can’t believe no one has adopted him,” she says, holding him like a swaddled baby. “He’s so easy to take care of.”
Reach reporter Janet Eastman at 541-776-4465 or jeastman@mailtribune.com.
 
Southern Oregon University Youth Programs offers classes and camps for elementary to high school students. Summer courses continue through Friday, Aug. 23. For information, call 541-552-6452 or seewww.sou.edu/youth/summer/index.html.
 
 
The Southern Oregon Humane Society accepts volunteers at 2910 Table Rock Road, Medford, 541-779-3215, www.sohumane.org. Volunteers ages 12 to 15 need to be accompanied by an adult.
Children enrolled in Southern Oregon University’s veterinary medicine camp were given this information from the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association about keeping pets safe and healthy:

• Exercise a pet but not in the midday summer heat or on hot pavement.
• Feed a pet a balanced, nutritious diet.
• Provide a pet with plenty of clean, cool drinking water.
• Never leave a pet unattended in a vehicle.
• Protect a pet from sunburn with pet-specific sunscreens.
• Have a pet examined yearly to help detect problems.
• Vaccinate a pet against potentially deadly diseases such as distemper, parvo, panleukopenia and rabies.
• Keep a pet free of parasites, including fleas, ticks, heartworm.
• Spay/neuter a pet.

Information at https://oregonvma.org/care-health/summer-pet-care-tips
EDITORIAL: Knight’s UO generosity needs broader scope
Most of his donations have been to sports as regular students struggle with costs
August 07, 2013 2:00 AM
It should come as no surprise that Phil Knight’s name is among those nominated to serve on the soon-to-be-formed board for the University of Oregon. After all, it appears he’s already calling a lot of shots for the university and the state (such as it is) system of higher education.
Knight, founder and CEO of Nike, was among the 45 names submitted to Gov. John Kitzhaber last week as the governor prepares to appoint new boards for Oregon, Oregon State and Portland State. That certainly seems to make sense as it was evident in the university’s push for independence that the principal motivation was the ability to raise more money. And no one has given more money to the Ducks than Phil Knight, something in the vicinity of $400 million, according to various estimates.
The creation of the board is part of a “governance” change for the Oregon University System in which the “Big 3” — Oregon, OSU and PSU — will be run by local boards and smaller schools such as Southern Oregon University apparently will be able to do the same at some point in the future. The squishiness of the latter part of that sentence is evidence of the fact that this was a change engineered by the big schools.
Knight’s latest donation is the university’s spanking new Football Performance Center — price tag $68 million. It is a thing of beauty if you’re a rabid Duck football fan: glass and chrome and leather and art and meeting rooms that probably have caused some Fortune 500 executives to call their designers and demand a do-over.
Now, we’re as happy as anyone in the state when the Duck’s football team roars past its opponents on its way to another BCS bowl (before you start yowling, Beavers, we’re equally happy when OSU does the same). But to us, the Football Performance Center is emblematic of everything that is wrong with big-time college football.
Spending $68 million on a football palace is obscene in a state in which only 2 of 10 needy Oregonian students can get state help through the Oregon Opportunity Grants for low- and middle-income families. We have a university system that is increasingly unaffordable for students and yet we have a rock-wall-lined hydrotherapy room for football coaches (not players — coaches).
To be fair, Knight has been generous to UO in areas other than sports, although sports leads the recipient list by several laps. There are rumblings out of Salem that the man from Nike is about to drop another huge payday on the Ducks — and that the payday was contingent on the state approving the new governance model that sets up the individual boards.
We can only hope that if that payday comes, some of it would go toward helping the university become more affordable rather than merely toward helping the football team run up more points on the next Tennessee Tech.
 
Fund would help homeless students continue to college
By Sanne Specht
Mail Tribune
August 06, 2013 2:00 AM
Maslow Project hopes to create a $10,000 fund to help homeless students continue their educations beyond high school.
The Medford-based nonprofit organization provides services to homeless youths and their families in Jackson County. The organization received an offer of a $5,000 challenge grant, provided it can raise $5,000 for the Maslow Graduate Fund by Nov. 1, said Karen Phillips, development director. The donor has asked to remain anonymous.
“A private donor will match that amount, essentially doubling the fund and helping lots of homeless youth move out of poverty and toward a life of financial stability,” she said.
The Maslow Graduate Fund was created to honor the memory of Judy Baierl DeMaio, who taught inner city middle school students for 32 years. The fund will be available to Maslow’s clients who have graduated from high school or earned their GEDs, and wish to pursue further education, said Mary Farrel, Maslow’s director.
The goal is to remove some of the financial barriers, generally not covered by scholarships, that can stand in the way of the students achieving their goals. The money can be applied to various needs, including: SAT test fees, college application fees, bus fares, college textbooks, laptop computers and course tuition, she said.
“A lot of kids find the idea of continuing on to college to be overwhelming,” Ferrell said.
Ferrell said Maslow has up to a dozen clients each year who, against odds that often include a complete lack of parental support, attempt to attend college. Ferrell said one Maslow client recently managed to navigate his way through four years of high school while homeless. He stayed engaged in his classes, maintaining a high GPA that landed him on the honor roll. Upon graduation, he earned a full scholarship to Southern Oregon University, she said.
“It is a huge success,” Ferrell said. “The student is excited.”
His scholarship covers his tuition, and even room and board, she said. But many other expenses associated with college are not covered. From books to bus passes to laptops to pens and paper, these expenses often become a barrier to young adults looking to continue their transition out of poverty and toward a life of financial stability, she said.
“These are expenses most students take for granted,” Ferrell said.
The organization does what it can. But it has never before had a dedicated funding stream for this effort. The newly established Maslow Graduate Fund may just help to remove a few more of those barriers, she said.
“The goal is to remove any remaining barriers,” Ferrell said. “The money can be used at our sole discretion as long as it supports their education. (The donor’s) goal is that kids won’t feel like they have to take time out after they graduate high school before they can attend college.”
To make a donation to the Maslow Graduate Fund, or to learn more about Maslow Project, call 541-608-6868, or visit www.maslowproject.com.
Reach reporter Sanne Specht at 541-776-4497 or email sspecht@mailtribune.com.
 
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SOU football braces for start of camp
August 07, 2013 2:00 AM
More than 100 Southern Oregon football players will report to campus this week as the 2013 fall camp officially begins with Saturday’s first practice.
Coming off one of the best seasons in program history, the Raiders will look to defend their 2012 Frontier Conference co-championship this year. Record-breaking quarterback Austin Dodge returns for his junior season to lead an offense that last year set a collegiate football record for both NAIA and NCAA with an average of 642 yards per game.
The players are scheduled to check in on Thursday and take part in meetings to get to know their coaches and fellow players, with the first official practice slated for 6 a.m. Saturday at Raider Stadium. Two-a-days kickoff the following day as the Raiders begin preparations for the first game of the season on Aug. 31.
The Raiders were picked to finish third in the Frontier Conference preseason coaches’ poll. Montana Tech and Carroll tied for first in the poll, released last week.
For the second consecutive season the Raiders will open the year with a Kickoff Classic game. While last season’s opener was at Medford’s Spiegelberg Stadium, this year’s opener will be at Mel Ingram Field in Grants Pass. Southern Oregon will host Rocky Mountain in a Frontier Conference showdown beginning at 1 p.m.
 
 
So. Oregon volleyball team third in CCC coaches’ poll
Raiders have four starters back in lineup after tying for second in 2012
August 06, 2013 2:00 AM
The Southern Oregon University volleyball team is ranked third behind College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon in a Cascade Collegiate Conference preseason coaches’ poll released Monday that closely resembles the final league standings of 2012.
College of Idaho, the defending league champions, picked up eight of a possible nine first-place votes and 97 poll points overall to enter the season as the clear favorite, while Eastern Oregon, which tied SOU for second last season, received the other two first-place votes and 88 points.
Southern Oregon received 79 points, five more than fourth-ranked Concordia. Northwest Christian, Warner Pacific, Northwest, Oregon Tech, Corban and Evergeen rounded out the 10-team league’s preseason poll.
Southern Oregon returns four starters from a team that finished 19-11 overall and 14-4 in league play before losing to Eastern Oregon in the CCC tournament semifinals.
All-Cascade Collegiate Conference libero Renee Yomtob, a senior, returns to lead the Raiders. She’ll be joined by fellow seniors Liz Madden and Mona Goudarzian, both outside hitters.
The Raiders began practice Monday in preparation for their first action of the season — the prestigious Biola Invitational, Aug. 22-23. The Raiders will face four ranked teams in the tournament, included top-five programs Biola and Concordia (Calif.).
The top six teams in the CCC’s final regular season standings will earn spots in the conference’s postseason tournament, which begins Nov. 12. The regular season champion and the runner-up automatically qualify for the tournament semifinals, where they’ll face the winners of the quarterfinals contests. The league quarterfinals will be held on campus sites, while the regular season champion will host the semifinals and finals. The CCC’s tournament champion will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships, which begin Nov. 23.
CCC Volleyball Preseason Poll
Team Points
College of Idaho (8) 97
Eastern Oregon (2) 88
Southern Oregon 79
Concordia 74
Northwest Christian 51
Warner Pacific 51
Northwest 45
Oregon Tech 29
Corban 22
Evergreen 14
* First-place votes in parentheses