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The Student News Site of Oregon State University

The Daily Barometer

The Student News Site of Oregon State University

The Daily Barometer

The Student News Site of Oregon State University

The Daily Barometer

AJ Damiana (she/her)

AJ Damiana (she/her), Senior Reporter

Third-year biochemistry major

All content by AJ Damiana (she/her)
Farewell, valedictorians

Farewell, valedictorians

Why there will not be a valedictorian at OSU commencement
AJ Damiana, Senior Reporter
June 3, 2024

Editor's note: This story appeared in truncated form in the Barometer's June 2024 print issue. In 1772, Lord Botetourt, an English transplant to the American colony of Virginia, announced to the student...

Third year mechanical engineering student Abby McCombs throws pottery in the Student Experience Center at Oregon State University, on April 12.

Crafting Calm: the mental health benefits of working with your hands

AJ Damiana, Senior Reporter
May 6, 2024

The sensory motor cortex, a slice of brain dedicated to sensing and moving different parts of your body, is topologically divided; the nerves that control and sense your right leg are found in a very certain...

General ASOSU Graphic

Performing Arts Budget Proposal extends $5 Student PRAx Tickets

AJ Damiana, Senior Reporter
March 12, 2024

As construction on the new Patricia Valian Reser Center for the Creative Arts at Oregon State University comes to a close and its doors approach opening, the Student Fee Committee passed a decision package...

General ASOSU Graphic

SFC bills await approval, wage increase ‘tabled indefinitely’

AJ Damiana, Senior Reporter
March 11, 2024

The fee bills presented to the Associated Students of Oregon State University’s Senate from the Student Fee Committee that passed Feb. 21 are now on ASOSU President Carissa O’Donnell’s desk to approve...

A snag (dead tree) stands in the Timberhill Natural Area in Corvallis on Feb. 13. Trees such as this one were used in Jim Rivers’s research in enriching forest habitats.

Ain’t no rest for the wooded: Jim Rivers on the importance and creation of snags

AJ Damiana, News Reporter
March 4, 2024

A torrential rain floods the forest floor as heavy raindrops throw themselves through canopies of leafy limbs and thunder brews overhead, preparing to strike.  White lightning snakes through the charged...

SFC Committee votes to reject fee-funded wage increase, approves other packages

SFC Committee votes to reject fee-funded wage increase, approves other packages

Alexander Banks and AJ Damiana
February 11, 2024

In their final meeting, the Student Fee Committee voted to reject the proposal for a fee-funded student wage increase and approved other proposals, like increasing the amount of student tickets for athletics. According...

Preserved bees of various species from around the world found in the Oregon State University Bee Laboratory on October 13, 2023.

OSU’s new bee keys make identification a breeze

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
February 5, 2024

Most bees don’t really look like bees. In fact, the Pollinator Health Lab at Oregon State University has boxes upon boxes of specimens that look more like gnats or beetles than bees. Linc Best, director...

A student walks into Strand Agriculture Hall on November 28, 2023 in Corvallis, Oregon.

Read the Room: Folk singers and college students ain’t so different…

AJ Damiana, Columnist
January 23, 2024

Editor’s Note: This is a column and does not reflect the views or opinions of the Daily Barometer With the message “This machine kills fascists” stuck to the front of his guitar, your first idea...

The Oregon State University research brewery in Wiegand Hall, where mashing, fermentation, and milling occurs.

Hops research at OSU grows in many different directions

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
December 18, 2023

In 2015, during a severe drought in Washington, John Henning, a courtesy professor in the Oregon State University Department of Crop and Soil Science, noticed something interesting happening to the hop...

Cristina Eisenberg in Avery Park on Nov. 1, 2023.

Elliott State Research Forest seeks public input for management

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
November 3, 2023

Moss-laden trees rise out of a mattress of pine needles and ferns. A distant fog blurs the end of the hiking path and the air is dense with the smell of damp soil. Overhead, still branches move and the...

How do you eat a wrapper? One bite at a time

How do you eat a wrapper? One bite at a time

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
October 30, 2023

Class is starting in a few minutes and you are pressed for breakfast. Luckily, a basket of muffins sits out on your table. You grab one and as you rush out the door, take a big bite, wrapper and all. The...

A photo illustration shows Kailey Legier (she/her/they/them) (left) and Charlotte (Charlie) Epps (she/her/they/them) smiling at the Reciprocity Garden on October 2, 2023. Both have dedicated countless hours towards the student-led project.

You reap what you sow: the story of the Reciprocity Garden

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
October 30, 2023

The supermarket only has so many types of rice. For Oregon State University’s many students with a multicultural or underrepresented cultural background, there is no guarantee that local supermarkets...

Tanks filled with zebrafish line the Tanguay laboratory at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon on Oct 6.  The Tanguay Lab recently received a $7.5 million grant from from the NIH to modernize the facility.

Small Fish in A Bigger Pond: The $7.5 Million Upgrades to the Tanguay Lab

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
October 15, 2023

A school of paperclip-sized, striped fish dart around the bubbling tank. Wiggling in the currents, dropping between the surface and bottom, it’s surprising to think these zebrafish are one of the...

A display of special eclipse-viewing glasses at WinCo, located in northern Corvallis, photographed in July 2017. The glasses provide adequate protection for anyone wanting to view the eclipse.

How to view the annular eclipse

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
October 10, 2023

Back in late 2017, when the world was abuzz over the total solar eclipse, viewers experienced a few moments in the middle of the day where the sky grew dark. It was a rare instance where humans were...

(Left to right) Grace Darazs, Hannah Summers and Jenna Price demonstrate a cycling exercise at Dixon Rec Center on the campus of OSU on Sept. 14. They are the student leaders of CHAARG, a new-to-OSU athletic club targeted towards female-identifying individuals.

Taking CHAARG: New student-led workout group takes shape in Corvallis

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
September 25, 2023

In the midst of all the clubs and organizations recruiting new members this fall, a new workout program will be starting its inaugural year.  CHAARG, which stands for "Changing Health, Attitudes and...

Fourth-year Forestry Major Audrey Brandis takes in the stars in Corvallis on August 8, 2023. Students, like Brandis, can connect with the Astronomy club to view the Meteor Showers and meet new people.

OSU astronomy lovers share advice for upcoming meteor showers

AJ Damiana, News Contributor
September 11, 2023

Yourself, a blanket and the night sky.  That is all it takes to enjoy the Orionid meteor shower coming up in late October of this year, or the tail end of the Perseids happening throughout September.  Meteors,...

Read the room: Where Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ends, Linus Pauling begins

Read the room: Where Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer ends, Linus Pauling begins

AJ Damiana, Columnist
September 11, 2023

Editor's Note: This article contains spoilers for Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer." This column does not represent the opinion of The Daily Barometer. This column reflects the personal opinions of the...

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