Be Good. Be Orange.

Submitted by Jyssica Yelas

When applying to colleges, students often apply to the schools that have the best programs in his or her chosen course of study. How desirable it is to be thoroughly knowledgeable on a subject or field –to have been involved in one’s studies so deeply that all subjects taught in school were learned and understood. This is a level of involvement that, I have discovered, must be far surpassed in order to be successful at Oregon State University, and beyond. It is not purely interest in one’s major that will create fulfillment –it is a deeper involvement, with other students, with subjects of alternative interest; it is involvement with community at large, and even with oneself that creates a truly informed, rounded scholar.

To be “involved” in this sense is to ponder and act deeper than is expected. This requires curiosity as well as mindfulness in learning. This term I have practiced exercising mindfulness through a series of yoga practices that, with the help of class discussions, have helped me be a more involved learner. This means I am listening with an opened and broadened mind that allows me to see where everything I am experiencing personally and learning about in school intermingles. By being involved in my own learning, I am not merely a ‘sponge’ in a classroom–a scenario that deters students from seeing value in attending class.

I am learning more about myself because of my involved learning. Through my ethics class this term, I have discovered that I am developing quite a utilitarian approach to ethics. Thus, being involved helps me know myself better, which allows me to treat others better. Maintaining and feeding curiosity throughout this journey is both healthy and promotes ethical behavior. When one is interested in matters outside their own usual interests, and genuinely thirsts to understand ulterior perspectives and experiences, room for appreciation of others expands. The ability to openly receive others’ ideas and find common ground comes from this very kind of involvement. It requires exposure to worlds outside one’s own, which allows for a more informed and compassionate decision-making.

To be Orange is to well represent Oregon State University –a responsibility possibly unasked for, possibly underestimated, but one that presents itself the moment one accepts to become a part of the OSU community, whether a student, professor, or anyone in between. The Orange community is made of millions of individual acts of involvement of all sorts. As I further my friend and interest circles at OSU, I start to see links between different friends or acquaintances of mine. He knows her through the Anactist Club; he knows him from anchoring at KBVR TV; she met him at the basketball game in the student section. These networks and relationships that tend to be so fulfilling and productive build between conversations between all kinds of students who are involved and interested –and everyone does it differently. As afore mentioned, a member of the Orange community can practice involvement anywhere from the classroom, to a conversation in the bathroom, to a friendly exchange of smiles whilst on a run down Monroe street. That’s the beauty of it. To be Orange is to be involved –to be engaged, however one chooses to be. I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “The world is run by those who show up.” This has been my inspiration this year, and it explains exactly why there exist so many successful and continuously involved Beaver alumni and students.

When you hear the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child”, what does it mean to you? After a short time thinking about it, you discern that it means a child is not raised just by those that cater most to them, but all of the people around them play a large role in the process. I have a similar definition in my mind, however when I think deeper about it, I realize that this phrase does not just accommodate to children, and it is not just the people that surround us by which we are molded. It is everything around us that shapes us into who we are in our daily lives. Every thought we have, words we speak or read, every interaction, and everything we see and process in our minds is what molds us.

So what does it mean to Be Orange? As college students at Oregon State University, we are the “child” in the village. A village that gives you the opportunity of knowledge and skills required to be who you strive to be in the future. Being Orange isn’t about pride, diversity or integrity. It is about a community that teaches you to be prideful, instills strong moral principles and gives you the confidence to rise in the face of diversity.

Being Orange is also about open mindedness, innocence and trust. These three traits go hand-in-hand in our OSU community. One of my favorite parts about Beaver Nation is that it is not uncommon for random people to just walk into your house, realize it was not the house they were looking for, apologize and be on their merry way. Just last night I was sitting on my couch watching television and three guys I didn’t know walked through my door. We had a small conversation before they realized that they were in the wrong house, and they left a couple beers on their way out. This may seem weird everywhere else in the world, but it is what makes me proud to call Corvallis home.

Compassion also plays a large role in the Orange community. It seems that a large majority of Oregon State students are very thoughtful and kind to one another. Oregon State does not just offer an education, it offers a home. A home that is full of people that will build you up when you are down. One that is full of people trying to reach out to one another. The individuality on this campus is not something that divides us, but instead it brings us closer together. It is shown that through the compassion shown to one another unifies our community as a whole. It is not uncommon to see a posting on our “Things Overheard at Oregon State” Facebook page about a lost I.D. or credit card, and people trying to contact whoever the card belongs to. People combine their efforts in order to help one another, that is what being orange is all about.

Being Orange is not just about the five core values that are listed on the Oregon State website. To Be Orange is to appreciate everything this town and university has to offer. Each individual at OSU is the “child raised in the village” and I am proud to see what people grow into at this university.

Submitted by Lauren Buster

The phrase, “Be Orange,” encompasses many values held by the OSU community.  To me,  the values of development and being orange are almost synonymous.  I see being orange defined by the Oregon State University Strategic Plan as implementing the values of diversity, respect, accountability, integrity, social responsibility.  I will explain why I believe that all of these values promote development in the community of Oregon State University.

Diversity is defined as the ability to welcome, respect, and interact with people who are different than us.  This is seen through OSU’s many diversity clubs and cultural centers, as well as study-abroad programs and cultural classes.  I believe that each of these things helps with development for OSU students.  Diversity clubs and cultural centers develop both a greater knowledge of other cultures. and personal pride in one’s own culture.  Study abroad programs promote the development of greater cultural understanding and grow independence.  Cultural classes also develop cultural knowledge and understanding.

Respect is defined as recognizing the worth and excellence of someone/something.  This is seen throughout campus in the way that classes are conducted, and diverse viewpoints and backgrounds are supported.  Every teacher I have had a class with has always had a great amount of respect for students’ questions and opinions, and the students have held that same amount of respect for teachers and classmates.  The respect in classrooms doesn’t simply stop at being understanding of differing views.  Teachers also demonstrate their respect towards students by seeing their potential and pushing them to be the best they can be.  I think that is a sign of respect that often goes unnoticed.  Without this, though, students would not see any development in the areas of hard-work, discipline, and learning.

Accountability is defined at OSU as being cooperatively loyal to and responsible for the community and all of the resources entrusted to us.  This is a multi-faceted value.  It deals with overall wellness of the people of OSU, and sustainability of natural and financial resources.  I believe that this closely relates to the value of social responsibility, too.  The overall wellness of OSU’s community is ensured in programs like Student Health Services, Counseling & Psychological Services, Orange Rewards, and Dixon Recreation Center.  These all promote development of physical, spiritual, emotional, mental, and financial well-being.  This university is known for being sustainable in a large variety of ways.  Being bike friendly, earning sustainability awards, and having many sustainability programs and events are among some of the ways OSU promotes sustainability.  The commitment to holding everyone responsible for our natural resources develops our concern for sustainability.

Integrity is defined by OSU as practicing honesty, freedom, and truth.  In academics, we have policies that ensure each of those things.  Whether that be policies of academic dishonesty or policies for students with disabilities.  Both of these things ensure that integrity is maintained in the classroom.  The fact that OSU has no tolerance for cheating makes it so that students must truthfully develop further knowledge in the field of the class they are taking.  Also, the policy for students with disabilities ensures that everyone has a fair chance at obtaining this development.

I see so much proof of Oregon State’s commitment to being Orange and developing not only in my life, but in the lives of students around me.  I look back at the person I was before coming to OSU compared to the person I am today, and I see so much maturity, advancement, and development in my life.  I see it academically, physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially.  I am proud to be orange and to be developing.

OSU Strategic Plan: http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/strategicplan/

By Will Schlechter

From the first day you step on Oregon State’s campus you see the marketing slogan “Powered by Orange.” At first notice this phrase is taken lightly, but after my fourth year here this “Orange” thing is definitely taking form. So what does it mean to be orange? Ed Ray, the President of the University has a list of core values which include integrity, respect, accountability, diversity and social responsibility (http://oregonstate.edu/leadership/strategicplan/).Even though these key values are a big part of being orange, they do not fully define what it means to be orange.

When walking away from Oregon State, what values will be taken away? How will others view the community from a third person perspective? Every student, teacher and alum has an impact on our community. We are all forever associated with Oregon State as a team but we all have different values which allow us to bring different things to the table. This is why one of my key values for being orange is being an individual. This value is comparable to President Ray’s value of diversity. He defines his core value of diversity as “We are committed stewards of the loyalty and good will of our alumni and friends and of the human, fiscal, and physical resources entrusted to us.” Diversity is a key value because we need understanding from different resources in order to see the big picture. Individuality is a key value because staying true to you and striving to be different is what brings out the maximum potential in all of us. In my opinion reaching potential is the goal of education. The main difference between these two values is that we are born diverse, we all come from different backgrounds and upbringings. Individuality is learned, it is natural for us to conform and not ask questions. Some people are naturally individual but for the majority it is easiest to follow the path of least resistance.

I see the Oregon State community as a team of Individuals striving for knowledge. The team is always evolving and ever changing which is why you can never fully define what it means to be Orange. Being Orange changes case by case, person to person. Being Orange is all about learning your role on the team and evolving as the team evolves. Whether the team is the Oregon State community, the populace of the whole world, or your fellow employees, that striving for individualism is what gives the unit its most potential.

Submitted by Jorge Lopez-Contreras

Coming to Oregon State, there is one thing that becomes apparent during START is that coming to Oregon State means being orange. At the time I didn’t really understand what it meant, but throughout my time here at OSU I have developed a better understanding of what it means to be orange. It’s a philosophy, a set of morals and values that each student should live by.

To me one of the most important components of being orange would have to be being prideful. Not just in your work but also in the way one conducts them when they are affiliated with Oregon State University as one of their students. I think the whole point of having school spirit is to have motivation to do well. To have something that everyone can rally towards because in a way we are all here for a specific reason, to get degrees in our chosen fields. Saying that, one is able to comprehend and better understand what it means to do well. For some, a good school means that they have really good athletic programs for others it’s the academics. Regardless of how one categorizes how well their school performs. I believe a combination of the two is the best indicator the school performance. By doing well in these areas it motivates us to do well in our work so that we may say that we are a part of OSU’s. That students like me are the reason why this is a great school.

I think there are a lot of values that make up being prideful person. For one is doing our part and taking responsibility to do our part in the community. Whether that means doing something simple as picking up a piece of litter or moving over a seat when you are at the end of aisle and there is an open spot next to you. It means acting responsibly in the community, which Oregon State resides, by that I mostly mean not making a fool of ones selves or do anything that might jeopardize the reputation of the university. It means whenever you are attending an event on campus and or outside, and you are representing the school in some form to act accordingly, to again insure that you don’t do anything that would negatively reflect on the school. At the same time I think it means to take initiative to do your part in the community, like mentioned earlier it can be anything as small as picking up a piece of trash or respecting the cross walk and stoplights if you’re a biker. That if one believes in something that they should participate in that movement and make their voice heard.

Another big part of being prideful is, as Aristotle would put it, knowing ones worth and acting upon it. That by knowing ones worth one can respect themselves and with that treat others the way they’d like to be treated. As a student, this means doing your best not to be on your cellphone during class. It means if your going to show up late or leave early you will be considerate and sit in the back and come in quietly. Most importantly it means having the common sense that a lot of the people sitting next to you are dealing with very similar things. Whether that is finances, relationship issues, family issues, and of course school. There is at least one area where we can sympathize with someone else and that alone should be enough reason to always give someone the benefit of the doubt.

Submitted By: Shayna Kim

Many people outside of the Oregon State University community believe that Be Orange is seen as mainly school pride because of Benny the Beaver, but that’s not all there is to it. After asking other OSU students, they see being orange as being eco-friendly, reliable, and unique. There is a large amount of words that could describe being orange. Everyone has a different perspective on being orange depending on their own personal values because one may be more important to one person but less important to another. That doesn’t mean we aren’t being orange, we are being orange in our own way.

When I first chose OSU as my college of choice we were told that we were going to be Powered by Orange. This has had a great effect on me because it gave me a sense of a community and unity. All of the OSU students, faculty, and staff are unified under the values of OSU. Be Orange is the same thing. We are all unified under the same moral values that we want as students to better ourselves by being a part of the OSU community.

I see Be Orange as a code of ethics in a way for the OSU community. OSU defines being orange by their core values of accountability, diversity, integrity, respect, and social responsibility. To me, the most important moral value held to Being Orange is social responsibility, basically making the right decisions. In Hawaii, this moral is called being pono. Be pono is to do the right thing. College in general is when we, the students, become adults and we are guided by the moral values of the school and choices we must make as adults. Every day we are faced with challenges that test our values and morality, that’s what makes ethics so important. Question all that we know to know that what we are doing is right for ourselves in our own situations. This is a part of life that I struggled with most and being orange has led me to becoming a better decision maker and making the right choices.

Being Orange means being the best person you can be in the world. Make a difference through what you have learned as being a part of OSU and keep a part of OSU with you for the rest of your lives. Everyone has a different opinion of Being Orange depending on how they want to make a difference in the world and their own personal values. I believe we all just need to do what we think is right for ourselves; not anyone else. Doing the right thing for you will always be wrong for someone else because our world is so diverse. Be Pono. Be Orange.

“Do what you feel in your heart to be right- for you’ll be criticized anyway.”

–Eleanor Roosevelt

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.

Submitted by Andrew Jacobo

One of the values that I associate with Being Orange is to provide a welcoming place with equal opportunity for all students. However, I am not sure that I see that as much as I would like to. I believe that OSU is lacking in the attention it puts into transfer students. I myself am a transfer student who spent his first two years of college attending a community college to save money. In my first two terms here at OSU I have met many other transfer students, and there have been several of us with similar complaints about our experiences.

I realize that there are transfer students who may just want to earn a degree, graduate, and move on with their life. They probably want to be allowed to do their own thing and be treated similar to other junior or senior level students.

On the other hand, there are students like myself who want to get more involved in OSU and learn what they have to offer, but need some help doing so. Us transfer students can be a little clueless in this new environment. For example, a freshman that I know told me about some kind of party that was being held at Dixon at the beginning of the year. I would have loved to go and have fun before the term started, but I wasn’t informed of the event in time.

I haven’t had any special attention as a transfer student since attending START. And unlike the two day experience that START was for incoming freshman, START for transfer students is a very basic orientation. My freshman friend described the two day START program as “fun,” and told me that they played games and met new people. Nothing about the transfer student START could be described as fun. We registered for classes, got our ID’s, attended a few informational presentations, and then went home. I understand that some transfer students want to get straight to business, but I have put off having the “college life” for 2 years, and want to have just as much of an exciting orientation as freshman.

I don’t just have a problem with the lack of fun that transfer students have in comparison to freshman though. I think we also need more help getting adjusted to school at OSU. In my first term, I went straight into junior level Computer Science classes. Since I had gone to a community college for the previous two years and not a university, I expected that I would need to do some catching up to be at the same level of abilities and knowledge as the other juniors. However, not only did I have to adjust to the higher difficulty of the classes, I also had to learn things like how to use my free printing as an engineering student, the fact that I needed a PIN number to register for new classes, how to get that PIN number, how to reserve study rooms in the library, how to find clubs that would expand my knowledge, how to look for internships and jobs that would help me get ahead, and the list goes on and on.

I think transfer students need more assistance in finding clubs, learning about how to use the resources OSU offers, and should be provided information about fun events on campus to help make new friends. We are in some ways as clueless as freshmen, yet expected to be at the same level as upper level students. Give us an optional fun 2 day START, show us how to do things other juniors know, make us feel more welcomed and comfortable in this new place.

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.

Be Sustainable, Be Orange

Submitted By Marco Olivera

If you walk around the campus you will notice the many values and phrases of what it mean to “be orange.” To be orange is to represent your school (Oregon State University), your program, and your self in a way other will admire. Some of the values that students and staff associate with being orange and that are currently seen around campus are accountability, diversity integrity, respect, and social responsibility. You can ask 100 people who are part of Oregon State or OSU Alumni and you may get 100 distinct answers, but one thing does hold true to all of these answers, and that is that being orange is associated with being an ethical person.
To me being orange means being sustainable. But I do not just define sustainable as a way to help save the planet. Sustainable to me encompasses more things, it means sustaining life by only taking your share, being sustainable by helping others so they can later help themselves, and in turn help others. It also means to respect others, their things, their beliefs, and themselves. To be sustainable you will graduate from OSU and contribute to make this world better for everyone not just those who are close to you or also graduated from Oregon State, but you do your part no matter how large or small to make this a better world.
Our “do ethics” assignment was a great jumping off point for many in our class, who like myself knew little about what ethics actually was. It doesn’t take a solution to world hunger to be ethical. It takes doing what you can to create a little good in the world. Something as small as donating 1 hour of your time to help your neighbor shovel snow off there sidewalk is an ethical act, it is a sustainable act, and it is an act that demonstrates what it mean to be orange.
I am towards the tail end of time here at Oregon State as an undergrad, and I did not come into the university the man I will be leaving as. Being Orange has truly become part of who I am. I will continue to “be orange” by being sustainable, I find it to be my responsibility to give back to the future generations for they hold the potential to solve problems that are still to exist, and to help the older generations for they hold the knowledge they have obtained through their experiences.