UHDS News

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.

[Corvallis Gazette-Times, Feb. 23, 2012] — It was a Wednesday about 4:30 a.m. when Alvaro Llanos and Shawn Simons woke up to a fire alarm in their freshman dorm room at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. The two thought it might be a drill until they opened their door to find thick smoke. They began crawling on their hands and knees, searching for an exit. They had too much adrenaline to be scared.

“The number one thing we were thinking was we need to get out of here and we need to try to get out of here alive,” Simons said.

“We were in survival mode,” Llanos added.

The two men, who were 18 at the time, didn’t know they were crawling directly toward the fire. The ceiling collapsed, and a fireball fell on Llanos. He suffered third-degree burns on 56 percent of his body. Simons burned his hands and almost lost four fingers because the floor seared his hands.

That fire on Jan. 19, 2000, killed three students at the dormitory and injured 58 others. Simons and Llanos were two of four who were seriously burned. The fire had started in a communal lounge in the middle of their third-floor hallway when two residents had set a paper banner on fire.

The friends, now both 30, told their story to about 300 Oregon State University students and staffers Wednesday night while also presenting a documentary of their experience “After the Fire” with the film’s director Guido Verweyen. The film chronicles Llanos’ and Simons’ recovery and their friendship that helped them through it.

The presentation at the LaSells Stewart Center was organized by Fire Prevention Officer Jim Patton of the Corvallis Fire Department. It was paid for by 10 nonprofit organizations.

Read the full article by Emily Gillespie.