As a kickoff for the week, Gov. John Kitzhaber signed a proclamation on Friday, May 11, in the Ceremonial Office at the Capitol.

Oregon State University’s Hallie E. Ford Center for Healthy Children and Families, which has taken a leadership role in parenting education in Oregon, will hold a series of events as part of Oregon Parenting Education Week. They include:

• Monday, May 21, 3 p.m.: “Making the Link Between Parenting and Policy: Understanding the Impact of Parenting on Early Childhood Outcomes,” a presentation by Rebecca Parlakian of the Washington, D.C.-based Zero to Three.
• Wednesday, May 23, 2 p.m.: A panel discussion on parenting education in Oregon
• Friday, May 25, noon: “Measuring and Predicting Healthy Development in Young Children,” an analysis by Megan McClelland, associate professor in OSU’s College of Public Health and Human Sciences.

All presentations will take place at the Hallie Ford Center on campus and will be streamed live on the research center’s Website.

“Parenting skills are learned, and always have been,” said Denise Rennekamp, parenting education program coordinator for the Hallie Ford Center. “In the past perhaps those skills were gained from a family and extended community network. But today as people are more separated by distance, and parents have to work more, the ability to learn those skills and obtain that knowledge can be a struggle.”

Rennekamp says effective parenting education programs have been linked with decreased rates of child abuse and neglect, better physical, cognitive and emotional development in children, and increased parental knowledge of child development and parenting skills. A list of resources is available at the Hallie Ford Center’s online resources for healthy children and families

Kathy Barber, a parenting education specialist with Pathways to Positive Parenting, an organization that offers parenting classes and workshops in Coos and Curry counties, said with limited resources and many demands, the skills and resources that researchers at the Hallie Ford Center offer have proven invaluable.

“OSU provides a solid foundation upon which to stand as we extend ourselves and dream big about what is possible to achieve for children and families,” she said. “It is a secure feeling to know that if there is a problem to be solved, or a need to be met regarding data, curricula, online reporting issues or conference content that I can get the help or resources I might need by calling any of the OSU team.”

Through the 12-county Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative, the Hallie Ford Center has taken a leadership role in evaluating the effectiveness of nonprofit programs that offer help to parents. The collaborative provides grants to nonprofit organizations to build systems, coordinate services, and provide programs for parenting education.

The collaborative is a partnership with The Ford Family Foundation, OSU, the Meyer Memorial Trust, The Collins Foundation and The Oregon Community Foundation.

Annual grants of $80,000 to $90,000 support regional parenting education “hubs.” The 12 hubs are in: Wallowa/Baker, Deschutes/Crook/Jefferson, Douglas, Linn/Benton, Hood River/Wasco and Coos/Curry, Columbia/Clatsop, Lincoln, Polk, Umatilla/Morrow, Lane and Siskiyou County, California. More information is available at Oregon Parenting Education Collaborative Hubs

A lifelong Beaver at heart, Lois left Oregon State University in June 1958 without a diploma in hand due to a few missing credits. Staying in Corvallis to finish her degree in home economics wasn’t an option, so Lois, disappointed and a few months pregnant, joined her husband, Greg, on assignment with the Air Force on the East coast.

When Greg was assigned to Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, S.D., Lois chalked up a few credits at the Black Hills School of Mines and Technology before moving again, something that would happen often to the Phillips’ family of six.

When they moved to the Buckeye State in the 1970s, the Phillips travelled to Corvallis to meet with OSU’s dean of Home Economics, who happened to be out of town. The staff member they met with in the dean’s stead mistakenly explained her credits were too old to count toward her degree and that it was too late to satisfy the remaining four credits she needed for her degree. Again, Lois left Corvallis disappointed and without her degree. But she didn’t give up on her education. She enrolled in the nursing program at Wright State University in 1971 and completed her nursing degree at the top of her class in June 1974.

In 2010, Lois’ daughter, Tami Ellingson, who works for the OSU Alumni Association, paid a visit to the OSU Registrar with questions regarding her daughter, a PHHS student. During their conversation, the Registrar explained that credits earned at OSU don’t expire, which prompted Tami to begin gathering documentation on her mother’s years at OSU. She then approached PHHS Dean Tammy Bray, and soon after PHHS Head Advisor Kim McAlexander and School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences Co-Director Alexis Walker began their investigation.

“We periodically have cases like this brought to our attention, and usually the student doesn’t meet requirements. However, this time, the requirements were met and it truly was an error,” Kim says.

After the Registrar gave the official stamp of approval, preparations for the party to surprise Lois with her long sought-after degree soon followed.

“Mom was truly surprised and thankful for her family and friends to make the trip to honor her,” Tami says. “She is a grateful and joyous person, and she couldn’t believe that Kim would take so much time out of her busy schedule to look into her transcripts and solve a longstanding issue. Mom told me that this has made her feel valued and important. It meant the world to her.”

In addition to a lifelong love for OSU, Lois also has a deep commitment to health and human sciences. When Greg retired from the Air Force in February 1978, the family moved back to their hometown of Portland, where Lois worked at a convalescent center and volunteered for 4-H in Multnomah, Clackamas and Umatillia counties. That work included serving on the Multnomah County Fair Board representing 4-H and running the needle craft judging program. She also led groups in sewing, cooking, cake decorating, wood crafts, poultry/chickens and rabbits.

Lois so capably led these students that they changed the name of their group to the “Blue Ribbon” troop due to the number of blue ribbons they regularly took home from the fair.

Lois’ talents and considerable heart now extend to serving as a foster parent for needy children. She and Greg have helped raise four foster children, from ages 2 to 14. They are now enjoying helping to parent the 6-month-old child of a foster daughter.

Click the image to see slideshow of Jovan in Japan

Last year, Jovan again followed her passion of healthy eating and culture, this time across the Pacific, for an internship in Tokyo. The trip was the capstone of her OSU Japanese minor, and the 13 years previous to OSU when she studied Japanese within the nationally recognized Portland Public School Richmond Japanese Magnet Program. In Japan, Jovan shadowed the Head Dietitian at Tokyo Women’s Hospital, taught at a nursery school, wrote an article for the city newsletter, filmed and edited a feature story on Tsunami refugees returning home from Tokyo, translated tourist emergency documents, and was able to meet and interview author and dietitian Noriko Miyajima about her famous school lunch redesign and nutrition education philosophy. Through these amazing experiences Jovan learned about Japanese culture in business, especially as a female.

Back home in Corvallis, Jovan was a part of the OSU LitenUp team researching premenopausal women, energy density and its connection to metabolic syndrome. She presented this study at the Celebration of Undergraduate Excellence. Also, Jovan helped design and peer lead a two-credit class for first-term freshmen, which combined a college success tip, such as time management, with a healthy eating tip, such as energy drinks. Jovan contributes to numerous food and nutrition blogs, and had an article featured in the OSU Daily Barometer: “Benefits of fresh, local, organically grown foods.”

Jovan is a member of the American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Oregon Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Student Dietetic Association, and the Alpha Lambda Delta Academic Honors Society, and will leave OSU for a Dietetic Internship at UC Davis. A Beaver for life (since age 5, when she decided she wanted to attend OSU), there is no doubt Jovan will make OSU proud by being a future leader in nutrition.

Dietetic inters April Strickland & Kayla Staggs

College of Public Health and Human Sciences dietetic interns attended Oregon Ag Fest at the Salem Fairgrounds on April 28 and 29 and encouraged healthy eating by presenting cooking demonstrations using products from Bob’s Red Mill.

In addition to Bob’s Cornbread Mix, the students used Bob’s Red Mill products to demonstrate making Oregon Berry Date Bars. OSUDI students presenting included Kayla Staggs, April Strickland, Natasha Luff and Christina Wright.

Bob’s Red Mill founders Charlee and Bob Moore are the driving force behind the college’s Moore Family Center for Whole Grain Foods, Nutrition and Preventive Health, donating $5 million to its endowed director and to renovate the college’s food labs in Milam Hall.

The Dietetic Internship at Oregon State University (OSUDI) is a non-credit, non-degree, post-baccalaureate program accredited by the American Dietetic Association’s Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). The OSUDI program focuses on long-term senior nutrition care and community nutrition.

Click the photo to view slideshow from event

At the annual OSU Alumni Association (OSUAA) spring awards dinner April 27, Bob’s Red Mill founders Charlee and Bob Moore received the university’s highest honor – the Honorary Alumni Award. This award was established by the OSUAA in 2005 to recognize those who have made outstanding contributions to Oregon State University and the OSUAA but who have not yet received an OSU degree.

Carolyn Mendez-Luck

Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Sciences
School of Social and Behavioral Health Sciences
View Carolyn’s Faculty Profile

Having the chance to be part of the beginning of a new chapter in OSU history was something Carolyn Mendez-Luck couldn’t pass up.

“I liked the idea of getting in on the ground floor of the development of an accredited School of  Public Health,” she said. “I was especially excited by the opportunity to be part of this dynamic time in the College’s history.”

Mendez-Luck has just made the switch from Southern California to Corvallis, drawn to both the opportunities and the chance for a smaller town lifestyle. After completing her PhD in public health at UCLA, she was a faculty associate with the UCLA Health Policy Research Center.

Now at OSU, she is continuing to work on research projects in East L.A. that she already established, focusing on Latino caregivers and elderly diabetic care receivers and the ways they manage diabetes in the home. The work is part of a five-year NIH/NIA-funded career development (K01) award in health disparities and aging research. The topic is one she hopes to investigate here as well.

“I am eager to begin similar research in Oregon,” she said. “My first steps will be to reach out to the Latino community in the Corvallis area and throughout the state. I am especially interested in identifying the health issues that Latino families are most concerned about and the aspects of their communities that they believe enable and inhibit healthy lifestyles.”

Mendez-Luck focuses on building academic-community partnerships with local non-profits. The topic of aging, especially in the Latino community, is very relevant to the shifting demographics of the United States.

“The U.S. Latino elderly population is the fastest growing older adult subgroup and is expected to represent 20 percent of all older adults in 2050″

“The reason I study elder care in Latino families is because of the changing face of the aging population. The U.S. and Oregon are also becoming increasingly diverse,” she said. “The U.S. Latino elderly population is the fastest growing older adult subgroup and is expected to represent 20 percent of all older adults in 2050. Since the long-term care system in America relies heavily on informal care networks, all families will face an increased demand for elder caregiving.”

Latinos particularly face a larger burden of disease because of a lack of healthcare access over a lifetime, and diabetes, a disease that is common in the Latino population, has debilitating long-term health consequences.

“One long-term goal of my research program is to lessen the caregiving burden in Latino families by designing culturally-relevant programs aimed at improving diabetic elders’ health through good diabetes management in the home,” she said.

Mendez-Luck will be teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in gerontology, including culture, aging, and health.

Faculty in this piece:
Marilyn Read

Scientists at Oregon State University found that men control nerve impulses similar to individuals trained for explosive muscle usage – like those of a sprinter – while the nerve impulses of women are more similar to those of an endurance-trained athlete, like a distance runner.
Read the Full Press Release

In the News:
The Daily Barometer, May 1, 2012
Wired, April 24, 2012
Statesman Journal, April 17, 2012
KTVZ News, April 17, 2012

Journal Article:
Spinal Motor Control Differences Between the Sexes, OSU Scholars Archive

Faculty in this piece:
Sam Johnson

• Thea Matos (Apparel Design) and Lauren Graebner (Apparel Design), under the supervision of Genna Reeves-DeArmond (DHE Ph.D. candidate), have received two competitive awards for their research “Intersections of Cross-Cultural Style: The Design and Assessment of the Infinity Hijab Headscarf for Saudi Arabian Women.”
  The first is the OSU Libraries Undergraduate Social Sciences/Sciences/Engineering Research Award , which includes a $500 scholarship and plaque. They also took first place in the Undergraduate Research Competition sponsored by the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA). Their paper will be presented at ITAA’s annual meeting in Hawaii next November.
  (photo L to R students Lauren Graebner, Thea Matos, Maha Albarjas and Elham Maqsood)
  Read more at The Daily Barometer:  Student product connects American and Middle Eastern cultures

Faculty

• Hsiou-Lien Chen and Brigitte Cluver are part of an Environmental Protection Agency project on finding alternatives to plastic mulch. Hsiou-Lien, Brigitte and several students are looking at non-wovens made from flax and waste wool. Be sure to watch the project’s documentary film ‘Following a Plastic Trail‘ (YouTube) and located at the bottom of this page.
• Five DHE/Graphic Design faculty received the Global Learning Initiative Grant ($12,500) to enhance courses and build a global learning community in DHE: Seunghae Lee (DHE 445 Advanced Commercial Design), Minjeong Kim and Sandy Dawson (DHE 470 Retail Merchandising, DHE 4XX International Retailing), Leslie Burns (DHE 475 Global Production and Trade in Textiles and Apparel) and Nancy Froehlich (GD/DHE 4XX International Collaboration in Design). They will participate in the OSU Global Learning Community during Spring Term.
• Sandy Dawson has been selected to participate in a three-week China Retail Study Tour co-sponsored by the David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research of the Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida and the U.S. Department of Education. The tour will focus on business practices of multinational companies and domestic companies in retailing-related industries including Coach, Gap, Li & Fung, Brown Shoe Company, Umbra, Oglivy and Wal-Mart.
• Minjeong Kim received an LL Stewart Faculty Development Grant to participate in Gerber’s webPDM (Product Data Management) training in Texas. This software program is designed specifically for managing product-related data such as images, cost comparisons, construction details, lab dips and measurements and will be incorporated into product development courses.
• Elaine Pedersen received an LL Stewart Faculty Development Grant to purchase museum/collection quality mannequins for use in displaying artifacts from the DHE Cultural and Historic Textiles and Apparel Collection for class learning activities.
• Andrea Marks received an LL Stewart Faculty Development Grant to attend the GAIN: AIGA Design for Social Value Conference. This conference focuses on the role design plays in business strategy, leadership and product and message, as well as how the creative attributes of designers provide advantages for tackling socially complex business challenges.

Following a Plastic Trail

The study, now online in the journal Preventive Medicine, was conducted at Oregon State University by Paul Loprinzi and Bradley Cardinal, professor of social psychology of physical activity at OSU. Loprinzi is now an assistant professor of exercise science at Bellarmine University. He conducted the research when he was a student in Cardinal’s lab at OSU.
Read the Full Press Release

In the News:
Everyday Health, April 11, 2012
Shape, April 12, 2012
Huffington Post, April 13, 2012
Self, April 24, 2012
Shine, April 25, 2012
South Florida Times, April 26, 2012

Faculty in this piece:
Bradley Cardinal

The new study is, however, among the first to look at the role that cruciferous vegetables can play after a cancer diagnosis.

But Ho cautioned that many questions about the connection between vegetables and cancer risk remain.

“There are still a lot of unanswered questions about what, exactly, is in [cruciferous vegetables] that is protective,” she said. Researchers do not understand exactly what the underlying mechanisms are and what impact these vegetables may have at the tissue level, she said. Furthermore, research has not yet made it clear whether supplements could have the same potential effect as vegetables themselves seem to have.

Read Full Article

Carol began teaching dance at OSU in 1977 and developed the university’s and community’s first modern dance group two years later. She also founded and has choreographed every show for her annual concert, now in its 33^rd year. This year’s “Oregon Dance” concert is set for April 20 and 21 at Corvallis High School Theater and features a special 1984 duet choreographed by her brother, dancer William Soleau by students Avery Grant and Sean Carrigg. You can get a sneak-peek at the performance by watching a video of one of their rehearsals at the bottom of this page.

Avery Grant, Fisheries and Wildlife, ‘15

Although dance long has been part of her life, she has spent an even greater amount of time as part of a college community. Carol, whose father was a prominent Episcopal minister and professor, grew up in seminary in Virginia and completed undergraduate and graduate work – and began dancing – at Stanford University before working as a dancer in New York, where she performed in small venues, as well as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and choreographed liturgical dances for church services.

Since then, she has choreographed more than 250 dances, including outdoor/multimedia productions for local events such as Da Vinci Days, where she entertained the public by swinging in the trees with ropes and harnesses.

Sean Carrigg, Bioresource Research, ‘13

Carol says she strives to make her work thought-provoking, entertaining and audience-friendly. “My dances have to be conceptually driven,” she says.

At OSU, it’s about sharing her love of dance with generations of students. During the years, she has seen trends come and go, and as a result her instruction in modern, jazz and ballet has likewise evolved. One constant, however, is why she continues to teach – the students themselves. “I learn so much from them,” she says. “They keep me young with their unbridled enthusiasm. I love working with the students, and I am so fortunate to love my job.”

Performance and ticket information is available at Oregon Dance

Greaves has taught within Human Development and Family Sciences for 17 years, beginning her time at OSU as an undergraduate in 1992. She later earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. from OSU, although she says the latter almost didn’t materialize.

“I was halfway through my doctorate when I so fell in love with teaching, I had a hard time finishing,” she says. “I love what I do. I love being in the classroom talking.”

And talk she does. To 600 students each term in HDFS 240, in fact. She also voices her expertise in human sexuality as Dr. Sex, writing the “Ask Dr. Sex” column in OSU’s student-run newspaper The Daily Barometer each week and speaking to various groups on campus, answering questions and helping students become comfortable with their sexuality.

Her goal is for students “to be more comfortable with themselves as a sexual person – and they’re not,” she says. “Most come at sex from an abstinence background; they’re coming at it apprehensively and not positively. In fact, they haven’t heard anything about sex that’s good other than it feels good.”

The key, she says, is confidence. “Confidence with yourself leads to responsible choices and positive, satisfying sexual relationships.”

Being comfortable with one’s own sexuality is a skill needed for life, she says. “On course evaluations, students consistently say this should be a required course.”

They also say Greaves is the best professor/instructor at OSU in a poll in The Daily Barometer’s 2012 “Best of” campaign, which, among other things, also names the best places to eat, study, hike and work out.

1 St. Francis plaque: She derives inspiration and encouragement from St. Francis’ quote, which to her means, “One positive thing is enough to cast away the negative.”

2 “Yes” sticks: She uses these yes/no sticks as icebreakers, to help students meet each other and to gauge how much they know.

3 Calendar: Once a month, she reconfigures this Lego calendar. “It’s good to train your brain,” she says.

4 Small book: This book of famous quotes and proverbs, a gift from her husband, provides a lot of wisdom, she says. “And it’s short, so it’s easy to read.”

5 World map: This map she prepared for a guest lecture highlights 22 countries facing repeated food crises and a high prevalence of hunger due to natural disasters, conflict and weak institutions.

6 Hippo: “I love hippos,” she says. The intrigue and humor lies in their proportion, she says of the animal she collects in many forms. “For instance, they have a tiny tail for such a large body.”

7 Brown mind map on wall: Her most recent, this mind map helped in brainstorming how to make use of smartphone applications to teach nutrition in a fun way.

8 Mind map at left: Dietetic, nutrition and pre-med students at Utah State University worked with her on this map to figure out ways to better teach youth about the importance of calcium in preventing osteoporosis.

9 Mind map at right: Contributing to this map was a physician, an engineer, a psychologist and Extension faculty who worked to make use of a virtual pet to motivate 6- to 8-year-olds from lowincome families to lower their risk of childhood obesity.

10 On the desktop: The FoodScapes slideshow is one of her favorite online tools to teach kids about new foods. “I love creative things,” she says, “and to help others learn to appreciate culture and diversity.”

11 Blue cards: On each card is a conversation starter for family dinners such as, “Tell about someone who encourages you.”

12 Music mug: A former violinist for the Malaysia Symphony Orchestra, she loves music, and this mug was given to her by her sister, who teaches music to children in Malaysia and who influenced Siew Sun to incorporate fun and games into learning. And the approach works, especially given her playful personality.

“I want to create something versatile and low cost,” she says of her teaching tools. “It’s important to reach those with limited resources. It’s also important for some kids to reduce their screen time,” she adds. “Kids need more social interaction and teamwork. That’s my motivation.”