Noble Prize-winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu spoke at the international "God at 2000" symposium on campus in February. Tutu was one of seven internationally regarded scholars of religion to speak at the conference, which drew a sellout crowd and was televised nationally via satellite to more than 600 downlink sites.

Engineering expansion under way
The College of Engineering at OSU has begun a major expansion of enrollment, faculty and facilities with the new $2.96 million in funding it received from the Oregon legislature, in what officials envision as the first step of a process critical to Oregon's future.

A severe shortage of engineers, especially in computer, electronic and other high technology fields, is hampering the industry that the state looks to for its economic growth.

Twelve new faculty are being added at OSU, seven of whom have already been hired since the first new state funding became available last fall. Facility expansion is under way. A wealth of new scholarships has significantly increased the number of Oregon's brightest students who are choosing to attend OSU for their education. And by 2003 the college has committed to graduating 90 additional engineers every year in a range of fields, a 23 percent expansion.

But even that growth is small compared to what may lie ahead. For instance, next fall the college expects to enroll about 3,500 students, a jump of more than 400 students from current levels.

Accreditation process begins
Oregon State University is beginning the process of accreditation and as part of the process is taking a hard look at how the goals and values that guide the institution are being met. The last full accreditation of the university occurred in 1990.

In April 2001, a group of 18 evaluators primarily from peer institutions in the region will visit the university to determine if OSU is fulfilling its mission. The university needs accreditation so students will continue to have credits and degrees recognized by accredited institutions and remain eligible for federal financial aid.

Microbiology book available
A book commemorating the history of the department of microbiology is available for purchase. Under the Microscope, One Hundred Years of Microbiology at Oregon State University  is available at the OSU Bookstore or from the department.

Cost of the book is $30, with the entire proceeds going to a microbiology scholarship fund named for Emile F. Pernot, who started microbiology studies at OSU in 1899. For further information contact Peggy Peterson, Center for Salmon Disease Research, 220 Nash, OSU, Corvallis, Ore. 97331-3804 or at (541)737-5045.

Mills to serve as OSU liaison
Jonathan S. "Jock" Mills, who had previously been with the Bonneville Power Administration and spent the past year representing Gov. John Kitzhaber on the Willamette Restoration Initiative, is the new director of Community and Government Relations at OSU. He replaces Kevin McCann, who has joined the OSU Foundation.

OSU prof makes movie on Bonhoeffer
OSU German professor Christian P. Stehr is the U.S. producer of "Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace," an award-winning film that will premier nationally in prime time on more than 300 United States public television stations on June 14.

The movie depicts the final years of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, renowned German theologican and Lutheran pastor, who voluntarily returned to prewar Germany from safe haven in the United States to help with resistance activities.

McGorrin to head food science and technology
Robert J. McGorrin, manager of the Strategic Innovative Research section of Kraft Foods' Research and Development Center in Glenview, Ill., has been named head of the department of food science and technology at OSU.

McGorrin, who has a doctorate in organic/medicinal chemistry from the University of Illinois, has 22 years of experience in research and development with two Fortune 100 food manufacturers, Kraft Foods and Quaker Oats. He replaces Daniel Farkas, who retired recently.

Forestry chair awarded
Jeffrey J. McDonnell, an expert in forest hydrology, has been awarded the second of three Richardson Family Endowed Professorships in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. The professorship is supported by the Ward K. Richardson Family endowment.
McDonnell will become a professor in the department of forest engineering. He was most recently a professor of water resources at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, in Syracuse.

Family Business Conference planned
The Austin Family Business Program at OSU, the second oldest family business program in the country, plans a three-day conference to address the most critical issues facing family business today.

Featured will be a keynote lecture by an Italian owned family business, delivered by satellite, and presentations by family business experts and consultants. The conference will be May 14-16 at the CH2M HILL Alumni Center.

OSU, PCC launch dual admission agreement
OSU and Portland Community College are launching a dual admission and enrollment program.
The agreement allows students to be admitted to both PCC and OSU with a single application. Students start their work at PCC, but can take classes at both institutions and make an easy transition to OSU. Students will also pay regular tuition and fees at OSU and PCC.

This is OSU's third dual admission and enrollment program. The university already has programs in place at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany and Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay.

Craft Center schedules trips
The OSU Craft Center invites alumni to participate in its upcoming ARTrageous Adventure trips to the Tanglewood Music Festival and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

"Tanglewood and The Berkshires: A Summer Celebration of Music, Art and Dance" is scheduled July 12-17. The trip showcases the Boston Symphony Orchestra's "season highlight" performances and virtuoso performers including violinist Itzhak Perlman.

The excursion to Ashland, June 16-17, celebrates the opening of the outdoor summer season of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and will include a medieval dinner in the park as well as performances of "Hamlet" and "Forces of Nature."

For further information or for reservations contact the OSU Craft Center at (541)737-2947 or Barbara Sobo Gast at (541)456-4331 or by e-mail at bgast@cyberline.com.

New director to oversee OSU Central Oregon
Linda Johnson, an executive with extensive experience in health care administration and a former Washington state legislator, has been named the new director of OSU Central Oregon, one of the leading educational outreach efforts of OSU.

With new administrative offices in Bend, alumni activities, expanded educational offerings and a number of degree options to pick from, OSU Central Oregon is enlarging its student base and working to address the higher education needs of one of Oregon's most rapidly growing regions.
Johnson most recently served as an administrator at Central Oregon District Hospital in Bend.

By the Webworm

OSU's News and Communications Services has a shiny new electronic face this year. (Notice that the Webworm did not say "century" or "millennium." She's a purist about such things.) A few news headlines always are available on OSU's front door, but if you want more than a dab of what's happening at OSU, send your browser to osu.orst.edu/dept/ncs.

Serving from an electronic dining room decorated in a truly spiffy color scheme of blues and oranges, the site now slices and dices its offerings to suit almost any news palate. You can dip into the last two weeks, dish up the subject area of your choice or order an appetizer of monthly or quarterly news highlights. The tried-and-true chronological smorgasbord still is available along with full-text keyword searching to design your own blue plate special.

Another new feature is a link to downloadable photos, which also are noted under the news releases they illustrate. At this writing, there are huge color photos of some terminally cute black and white spotted lambs called Dorpers. These pictures are so large that you'll need to scroll both directions to get the full effect. The Webworm is strangely drawn to these fellow creatures even though she is acutely aware that no one thinks an agricultural/journalistic pest is terminally cute.

Other services available from NCS include OSU This Week, the faculty-staff newsletter in Adobe Acrobat format, the OSU Faculty Resource Guide, campus information for journalists and advice for OSU people who deal with the media. (The Webworm works both sides of that racket and suggests that the best way to deal with the media is to send them/us all to Siberia, or Cyberia as it has been known since the fall of communism.)

Because News and Communications is one of many campus news sources, the site offers quick access to Extension & Experiment Station Communications, Sea Grant Communications, Sports Information and The Barometer.

Agricultural and some Sea Grant news releases are integrated into the NCS listings, but those sites have additional goodies, like the magazine Oregon's Agricultural Progress and Restoration, a quarterly newsletter about salmon habitat and ecosystem restoration.

The Sports Info link does not take you directly to news releases, but it does show you the way to www.osubeavers.com, where you should find the latest and greatest.

The Barometer offers stories online before they are published on paper.

The Webworm, a former college journalist who has made her share of errors in 24 point type, sincerely hopes they do not appear online prior to the editing process. It's rather cold in Cyberia.