Ellen at OSU

Comedian and Talk Show Host Ellen DeGeneres created a lot of ruckus in the Corvallis area on the afternoon of Saturday, May 17 after sending out a tweet that read “I hear Oregon is beautiful this time of year. I also hear something fun is gonna happen at @OregonStateUniv on Wed. Now you heard it too.” That tweet lit up Twitter and eventually made its way to Facebook.

There was speculation all weekend and into Monday that she was going to be in Corvallis promoting Coldplay’s new album. She confirmed late Monday that she will not be at OSU on Monday but will be in her studio interacting with OSU students via satellite.

On Wednesday, she finally disclosed everything. It turned out that she really sent her correspondent, Jeannie Klisiewicz, to Oregon State University in Corvallis to give away money to five lucky people in the crowd. The theme for the show was “Worst Dressed Dad” in honor of Father’s Day which is on June 15. By 2 p.m. Wednesday nearly 2,000 people, mostly students, flocked to the shows set which was located on the Memorial Union Quad on campus. Before taping started at about 3:30 p.m. Ellen’s correspondent went through the crowd looking for five people that were the worst dressed. Once she selected them she brought them inside the barricades and spoke to them. There were two segments the OSU was included in on the show. In the first segment the five selected people were told by Ellen to search for the JC Penney boxes which inside had cash, there was five boxes total, the five chosen people had seven minutes to find the boxes. In the second segment the five lucky people, who each got a box, opened them to see how much money the won. Ellen DeGeneres, with the help of JC Penney, gave away $17,000 total. One box had $10,000, one had $5,000, one had $1,000 and the two others each had $500.

Last weeks Ellen DeGeneres Show taping was the first time in 3½ years that a national TV show has come to Corvallis, Oregon. On Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010 ESPN College Gameday set up shop in the Memorial Union Quad to broadcast their three hour college football pre-game show live from OSU’s campus. Roughly 6,000 people showed up for that event, ESPN was there to cover the annual Civil War game between the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers. Oregon won the Civil War that year topping Oregon State 37-20.

The OSU episode of the Ellen DeGeneres show will air on Wednesday, May 28 on NBC. If you receive Portland stations the show runs at 3 p.m. on KGW. If you are in the Eugene viewing area then the show will run at 4 p.m. on KMTR.

Mr. Morella Profile

With grease covered hair and tinted glasses the driver's education teacher at Philomath High School is hard to miss. Mr. Morella, who is mainly referred to as just "Morella", has been teaching drivers education at PHS for 22 years for the first 14 of those years he taught at both LBCC and PHS.

The New Jersey native attended Rutgers University before moving to Oregon in 1990. He then attended Western Oregon University and Oregon State University, he has a degree from each college. One Master's and two Bachelor's. He began his career driving commercial vehicles along with teaching others how to drive commercial vehicles back in New Jersey. He then heard of a job opening in Philomath, near where he went to college, and decided to apply.

Morella, who will be retiring at the end of next year, enjoys teaching driver's education because he feels that he can create more of a relationship with the students and get to know them better where that isn't the case in other classes. He says that there isn't much that can surprise him, one thing he doesn't like is driving with students at night or in the rain. There are close calls from time to time but Morella tries not to react because often times the driver wont even notice. He tries to stay calm and doesn't raise his voice because that may spook the driver and cause more harm than good.

While on the ride-along an incident occurred right at the get go. As the student drove out of the high school parking lot he forgot to stop at the stop sign, as he passed the stop sign Mr. Morella said "Stop! What are you doing?" The student responded, "I'm doing a safety stop." Mr. Morella replied, "No, you don't need a safety stop! There is nothing blocking your view. Even if there was you need to stop at the sign first then creep out." The student apologized and Mr. Morella replied, "Don't be sorry just don't do it. Your also forgetting something else right now too. Where's your blinker?" The student replied, "I was just going to turn it on." Morella replied in disbelief by saying "No you weren't!" There were also several lies by the student. There was an instance going over Wren Hill just outside Philomath that the student changed lanes but failed to check his blind spot. When asked by Morella if he checked his blind spot the student said that he did and Morella said "I didn't see you."

One thing interesting about Morella is that he is a huge baseball fan, as most New Englanders are. Philomath happened to be playing a baseball game at Newport on the same day that Morella planned to do a drive with two students from Philomath to Newport and back. When we arrived at Newport and prepared to switch drivers Morella had the driver go to the baseball park to watch 10-15 minutes of the baseball game and then head back. The 10-15 minutes turned into 30 minutes, not because of a student but because of the teacher wanting to watch the game. It got to the point where one of the students finally said to the teacher "Mr. Morella, I think we should probably go." Philomath ended up routing Newport 18-5.

Living with Autism

On July 19 it will be ten years since I was diagnosed with a high functioning level of Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a form of Autism.

Autism affects every 1 in 88 people in the United States, there are approximately 43,000 people diagnosed with Autism in Oregon. At LBCC alone there are 46 people that are diagnosed with some form of Autism. It should be noted that some students do not self-disclose their disability, the number reflects the amount of students that have provided documentation to the Office of Disability Services on campus. Because of the Autism Spectrum, the impact the diagnosis has on individuals is very different. There is a wide range of accommodations for people with Autism or any disability that are provided by ODS including, but not limited to, preferential seating, reduced distraction space, and extended time on tests.

A doctor at OHSU in Eugene diagnosed me. My father was in the room when being told. Because I was over 13 (I was 14) the doctor allowed me to be in the room but only with parental consent. The doctor asked my father if it was OK for me to be in the room while delivering the results, he said it was OK. To be honest, I think it was a good idea for me to be in the room. When it was revealed that I have Autism, I didn't want to believe it. After the diagnoses I felt I wasn’t normal, that I wasn’t the same as everyone else. I was often, when in Alsea, bullied in school and made fun of and I felt that because of being diagnosed with Autism I would be even more. It was also saddening because I felt that I’d never have a girlfriend because nobody would want to go out with someone who has a disability.

Due to constant bullying in Alsea along with an incident that occurred, that will not be discussed, my parents moved me and my siblings over the hill to Philomath when I was in 8th grade. Although I actually grew up in Alsea I often tell people that I grew up in Philomath because I dislike the memories that are brought back when Alsea is talked about. I do believe that I matured much more in Philomath than I did in Alsea. As I said I began school in Philomath in eighth grade, life became much better in Philomath because I had peers who helped me overcome many symptoms though eighth grade and all through high school. Things like understanding social boundaries, what's appropriate and inappropriate in different situations, things that people without Autism already understand. There’s still some things that I am overcoming, but over the last nearly ten years I have overcome a lot.

You may be wondering how most people that I went to high school with in Philomath knew about my disability. Well, I had two friends, who were twins, that I hung out with a lot in 8th grade and into high school, we were in the same grade. I told them about my disability, they then told others and word spread. At first I did not like the fact that they told others about my disability but looking back now, I’m quite thankful that they did. Had they not I am certain that I would not have overcome all that I have.

I know it’s not good to speculate but I think what initiated me overcoming what I did was something that took place right at the beginning of my sophomore year. During my freshman year I had had lunch with Kara and Teri Bartlow (the twins mentioned above) practically every single day, which was overwhelming to them. I did not really understand that having lunch with someone everyday was too much until the assistant principal, which was their dad, told me in a conversation that was had near the end of the school year. At the beginning of my sophomore year I saw Kara and Teri in the hall and they said to me “Hey Jarred, I think starting this year we should maybe just have lunch two or three times a week instead of everyday.” I then responded by saying “Ok well I was actually thinking two times a week too, because everyday is overwhelming.” There was then a brief pause followed by this response “Oh...ok.” I think the fact that I noticed I over-stepped a boundary and later on learned from it told them that I was willing to change and improve on my social skills that lacked due to my disability. I really truly did want to change and be more normal, and from that point on I started overcoming things with the help of Kara and Teri and a few hundred others. By the end of my sophomore year many of the students at PHS knew about my Autism, mainly in my grade and the grades above and below me.

I used to be worried about revealing my diagnosis to people after entering college because I was scared that I’d be judged and people would avoid me and not want to hang out with me. However, in January 2013 former Miss Montana and Miss America contestant Alexis Wineman revealed on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that she had been diagnosed with a high functioning level of PDD-NOS which is another form of Autism. When she told her story I was shocked by how many similarities there were between us. Her story inspired me to be more open about my disability. However, I do worry at times that some people might judge me and treat me badly if I reveal to them that I am different.


I like to think of July 19 as my second birthday. In 2012 Robin Roberts, Anchor of ABC’s Good Morning America, was diagnosed with a bone marrow disease known as MDS following previous medical issues that she had in the past. Her bone marrow transplant occurred on September 20 of that year and she considers that date to be her second birthday. After she talked about that date being her second birthday during a show that made me wonder if that would work for a disability. Yes Autism is a disability, not a disease but it is still something different that I have had to live with since the date that I was diagnosed. Although on June 7 I’ll turn 24, I’ll have lived with Autism for 10 years on July 19, 2014; my 10th birthday.

At a glance:

Who: Benton County Health Department

What: Benton County Developmental Disabilities Program

Where:
530 NW 27th Street
PO Box 579
Corvallis, Oregon 97339

When: Regular Business Hours

Why: To get help for people who believe they or someone they know has autism or a different disability.