Nick Houtman is director of research communications at OSU and edits Terra, a world of research and creativity at Oregon State University. He has experience in weekly and daily print journalism and university science writing. A native Californian, he lived in Wisconsin and Maine before arriving in Corvallis in 2005.
Since 1919, when Oregon became the first state in the nation to levy a gas tax, the revenue stream has been as reliable as winter rain in Portland. Today, it generates about $400 million annually, but in the near future, with the push for energy independence and electric cars in particular, paying for pavement may become more difficult.
Nothing gets a conversation started like a proposal for a new tax or a user fee. OSU economist B. Starr McMullen discovered that when she gave public presentations about vehicle mileage fees.
OSU graduate student Jesse Abrams interviewed ranchers, homeowners, business people and local officials to understand changes unfolding in Wallowa County.
As soon as the story was out last winter, Chrissa Kioussi’s phone started to ring. People offered to send her their teeth or to volunteer in her study of tooth development.
Maps of Oregon’s territorial sea are due for an upgrade.
Without antioxidants, you may be more prone to cancer and neurological or cardiovascular problems.