U.S. News and World Report lists the University on the “third tier” of national universities. The Fiske Guide to Colleges calls the school one of the nation’s “Best Buys” in education. But Jonathan Gottshall who has a different system for rating college campuses, rates the University a “two squirrel” school.
College rankings have been done before, but never quite as Gottshall does on his “World o’ Squirrels” Web site, which ranks 58 national colleges and universities not by academics, but instead by how “squirrel-friendly” their campuses are.
Gottshall, who is now a librarian for the Los Angeles Times, began the list six years ago while he was studying for a master’s degree in history at California State University at Fullerton. Often during that time, he said, he would visit nearby college campuses to use their library archives for research.
An avid rodent fan — he said he has “loved small, furry animals” since the 1982 release of the movie “The Secret of Nimh” — Gottshall would often feed the local squirrel population on his visits to these campuses.
From this experience, he said, he noticed not all campuses were as “squirrely” as others. So, he decided to post rankings of the colleges on his Web site, www.gottshall.com, awarding more cartoon “squirrels” to a school depending on its squirrel population and how it was treated.
Broadcast policy could be delayed
The Oregon Association of Broadcasters and the lawyer for KVAL want the University to wait at least three weeks before releasing a final policy regulating how TV stations can film Duck games for news stories.
Joel DeVore, the attorney for Fisher Broadcasting, said he found he could make the request while searching for a way to add the numerous letters and editorials against the proposal into the public record of the decision-making process.
Old frat house offers alternative housing option
The former Phi Delta Theta house at 15th Avenue and Kincaid Street has been reincarnated this summer into a dormitory-style boardinghouse named The Spot.
Now seeking applicants, The Spot will include 31 single rooms that rent at $630 a month. Rent at the newly remolded co-ed house will include a daily food program, utilities and cleaning services.
Steve Frichette, who is leasing the property from the University’s greek system, said the opening of The Spot indicates a shift in the area’s housing market, which is seeing many students snubbing fraternities and sororities for other dormitory-style houses.