Kevin Ahern, a senior instructor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Oregon State University, has received the Mentor Award from the Medical Research Foundation of Oregon.

This award has been made for 21 years to an Oregonian who has provided “outstanding leadership and support of health research, education or the advancement of health care.” The Medical Research Foundation supports biomedical exploration and the development of research careers in clinical investigation in Oregon, through seed grants and other initiatives.

“Kevin has touched the minds and souls of thousands of OSU students, helping them to develop and pursue careers in medicine and biomedical research,” said Dr. John Fitchen, chairman of the Medical Research Foundation Committee.

Ahern, who received his doctoral degree from OSU, is an author and editor of scientific publications and journals, on such topics as molecular biology, biotechnology software and biochemistry. He has received numerous awards at OSU for both teaching and student advising.

Freeman earns Eagle Scout

Jordan Mark Freeman, 16, earned his Eagle Scout Award at an Eagle Court of Honor on Nov. 11 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Walnut Boulevard. The award was presented by Gordon Duckworth. Jordan is a member of Troop 362, sponsored by the Corvallis 3rd Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the son of Mark and Lisa Freeman of Corvallis. His scoutmaster is Craig Huntsman and the committee chairman is Max Lewis.

Jordan earned 30 merit badges with is favorites being rifle shooting, camping and cycling. He is a member of the Brotherhood of the Order of the Arrow and has served as patrol leader and quartermaster in his troop.

Jordan attends Crescent Valley High School, where he is in his junior year. He is a member of the CVHS ski racing team and has played on the CVHS soccer team for three years. He also attends early morning seminary at the LDS church.

His Eagle Scout project involved building a shelter 10-feet wide by 30-feet long to house song birds at Chintimini Wildlife Center. It will be used to protect injured birds during their rehabilitation. It has five rooms to separate the birds. The project took more than 122 hours and 18 volunteers.

Harvey and Mayer earn Eagle Scout

Andy Harvey and John Mayer have recently attained Eagle Scout status in the Boy Scouts of America. An Eagle Scout Court of Honor recognizing both young men was Nov. 18 at College United Methodist Church in Philomath. Both scouts are members of Troop 161 and are sponsored by College United Methodist Church. The ceremony was led by Scoutmaster Greg Skaer.

Andy is the son of Rod and Doris Harvey of Philomath. John is the son of Bill and Gail Mayer of Philomath. Both scouts have participated in scouting together in Philomath since the second grade. They began as Cub Scouts and advanced through the ranks, earning the Arrow of Light. They participated in Buckskin Junior Leader Training and three summer sessions of Day Camp at the Troop 3 cabin.

Andy has served as senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader, assistant patrol leader, scribe, historian and librarian. He has earned 37 merit badges.

John has served as senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, patrol leader, assistant patrol leader, den chief and scribe. He has earned 45 merit badges.

Both scouts have attended summer camps at Camp Baker, Melakwa, Baldwin, Meriwether, and Makualla. They participated in local Camporees and have donated many volunteer hours during the past 10 years to community service projects involving food drives, city clean-ups and work parties involving the Philomath Scout Lodge property.

A highlight of their scouting experiences was representing Troop 161 in March 2004 when they were part of the Honor Guard ceremony that laid the wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C.

For his Eagle Scout project, Harvey designed and built an information kiosk located at the Philomath Scout Lodge property, highlighting the history of Clemens Forest Products and local logging history and paying tribute to Rex Clemens by honoring the legacy he left to the Philomath community. Harvey led 30 volunteers through 228 work hours to complete his project. His project mentor was John Patterson.

For his Eagle Scout project, Mayer designed and constructed a Veterans Memorial located at the Philomath Scout Lodge property including engraved boulders and a memorial garden, and he installed flagpoles for the American flag, Oregon flag and Philomath Scout Lodge flag. With the help of Troop members and various community volunteers, his project took 117 hours to complete. His project mentor was Mark Koeppe.

Both young men are seniors at Philomath High School and have assumed the roles of assistant scoutmasters for Troop 161 for the remainder of the school year. Harvey is involved with Link Crew, forestry, cross country, baseball and Philomath Police Explorers. Mayer is involved with football, forestry, National Honor Society and Philomath Police Explorers.

Deputies graduate from police class

Benton County Sheriff’s Office Patrol Deputies Eric Konzelman and Michael Elliott graduated from Basic Police Class 297 on Nov. 16 at the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training. Following the intense 16-week training academy, the recruits will now begin a field training program to ensure a basic knowledge of police procedures. They are expected to complete this phase of their training by the end of February 2008 and will then become certified police officers for the State of Oregon and the Sheriff’s Office. Both deputies were hired in August 2007.

Abele honored with award by Jaycees

George Abele was recently awarded with the Allen Whitfield Memorial award from the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce, also known as Jaycees, at their annual year-end convention in St. Louis. This award is presented annually to the outstanding state president who has shown exemplary dedication and commitment to the Junior Chamber movement. Abele, a member of the Corvallis Jaycees, was the Oregon Jaycees State President during the 2006-07 year. He also led the state to a number six final ranking in the parade of states. Abele is the chairman of the board of the Oregon Jaycees.

Military news

Coast Guard firefighter Trevor W. Fuller, son of Ellen A. Fuller of Corvallis and Kenneth M. Fuller of Cottage Grove, recently graduated from the U.S. Coast Guard Recruit Training Center in Cape May, N.J. Fuller is a 2007 graduate of Corvallis High School.

Navy Seaman Apprentice Jeffrey S. Cassell, son of Kathy J. Shoemaker of Corvallis and Stephen A. Cassell of Port Ludlow, Wash., was recently promoted to his current rank upon graduation from recruit training at Recruit Training Command, Great Lakes, Ill. Cassell is a 2002 graduate of James Campbell High School of Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

Santiam high school honor roll

The following students made the honor roll at Santiam Christian Schools for the first quarter.

Senior class n 4.0

Katie Caday, Seth Carey, Terri De Jager, Katie Elwer, Jordan Gerding, Samantha Gilman, Scott Hart, Wade Knowles, Dana Kropf, Michelle Land, Amollia Matthews, Rachel Miller, Amy Peterson, McKenzie Ulrich, Lisa Zuidema

Seniors class n 3.5 and above

Rebecca Anni, Brent Binning, Beth Brandaw, Joshua Brumfield, Aaron Burnap, Curtis Burwell, Andrew Conniff, Molly Daniels, Jennifer Danna, Kyle Doty, Luke Fowler, Andrew Garver, Edward Henricks, Susan Herbert, Andrew Kennel, Hannah Kessi, Ji Hye Kim, Kristin Knaupp, Grant Knowles, Kalyssa Koontz, Ethan Ladd, Tiffany Land, Trenton Laughery, Steven Morris, Benjamin Oldham, Keith Petersen, Andrew Richardson, Nicholas Rukke, Alyssa Schmidt, Andrew Seumalo, Isaac Sutter, Eunice Trujillo, Rebekah Warner, Masahiro Watase, Raechel Wendel, Jacob Wonsley

Junior class n 4.0

Nicole Barton, Ashley Boersma, KateAshley Clarke, Jordyn Coon, Sara Gray, Spenser Harold, Christopher Hebert, Erik Hellesto, Demetri Howerton, Derek Howerton, Megan Klosterman, Rachel Kubler, Taylor Kummer, Christopher Mikkelson, Jason Powell, Amanda Prentiss, Lauren Schaffner, Danae Swatman, Courtney Towery, Sean Wilson

Junior class n 3.5 and above

Meagan Anderson, Amy Balkins, Corrie Bellamy, Ian Bellamy, Rebecca Boddy, Nicola Coon, Brittany Cooney, Trent Davis, Cory DeKruyf, Hannah Doyle, Brandon Ellis, Chuck Gidley, Kristi Graffenberger, Ryan Hanson, Richard Herbert, Timo Hohmann, Aaron Jenks, Tristan Manley, Chris McCarthy, Lauren Oakes, Roxy Ower, Jung-Yeun (Laurie) Park, Lisa Perry, Ah Young Song, Kayla Sundin, Marcus Thomas, Venisa Troyer, Elizabeth Ward, Miranda Warren, Daniel Ziminski

Sophomore class n 4.0

Brooke Callis, Bethany Carlson, Hannah Carpenter, Ellen Chambers, David Faddis, Timothy Fanno, Robert Graham, Dustin Grimps, Heather Hambley, Kiersten Hendrix, Isaac Kennel, Kimberly Knaupp, Sheng-En (David) Lin, Tyler Mavichien, Noelle McCarthy, Sarah Miller, Tammy Pratt, Julia Quiring, Jonathon Stavros, McKenzie Thompson, Alisha Veldink, Austin Williams, Taylin Woods

Sophomore class n 3.5 and above

Kyle Alexander, Lianna Barnes, Darren Bartholomew, Cressa Berg, Hannah Bittner, Kathryn Blakely, Bryan Bremer, Kelsi Buswell, Megan Daniels, Maggie Dufour, Kaz Dyer, Aubri Emmert, Benjamin Griner, William Harvey, Megan Herrold, Elaine Horton, Hwan Hoon (Chris) Jung, Yoko Karasawa, Andrew Mason, Eric Morris, David Nigro, Jong Hwa (Kevin) Park, Connor Schehen, Jesse Sutter, Hannah Warner

Freshman class n 4.0

Hanna Almen, Emma Carlson, Ian Coe, Elle Coon, Josiah Covey, Vahishtah Dasteur, Dustin Edin, Samantha Guthrie, Emily Hellesto, Doe Hyun Kim, Arielle Nunez, Timothy Prentiss, Kaylee Roderick, Michaelah Swier, Ashley Torgerson, Rachel Van Dyle, Taylor Wobig, Anna Wruck, Renee Zipp

Freshman class n 3.5 and above

Wesley Barton, Anissa Bowman, Tyler Brumfield, Krista Burrows, Heather Hutchinson, SooMin (Sue) Jun, Kelsie Kachel, Dong-Min (Alex) Kim, Laura Kramer, Soo Hyun (April) Kwon, Elizabeth Land, Jae IL (Andy) Lee, Jieun (Kira) Lee, Matthew Maupin, Shea Mead, Kendra Moss, Michael Neilson, Brittany Nunez, Brooks Radtke, Bethany Reams, Katherine Simmons, Hayden Tedrow, Thomas Ulrich, Jessica Waite, Colton Williams, Ian Woosley

8th Grade n 4.0

Evan Barnes, Molly Bartholomew, Joshua Edwards, Julia Fox, Jade Headings, Jeffrey Hendrix, Gretchen Jacobsen, Victoria Kreger, Erin Miller, Victoria Nelson, Tyler Ropp, Levi Salyer, Reese Schaffner, Isaac Seumalo, Elizabeth Slezak, Pendrey Trammell, Lauren Verdeyen, Travis Waite, Darilyn Woods, Michael Worotikan

8th Grade n 3.5 and above

Tyler Aldrich, Sara Almen, Kenneth Anderson, Daniel Bowder, Joseph Chambers, WanHee (Tessa) Chung, Jonathan Faddis, Michael Fanno, Laura Freeman, Eric Gray, Jacob Howard, Hanna Kim, Matthew Klosterman, Ryan Kropf, Connor Ledeboer, Daniel Parsons, Anna Mae Sutherland

7th Grade n 4.0

Michael Armour, Olivia Boddy, Emma Boersma, Matthew Bolden, Emilee Bradley, Tiffany de Vos, Taylor Deskins, Kandice Easdale, Rebecca Elmer, Nishana Hamann, Andrew Han, Sadie Hellesto, Tevita Hufanga, Eunice Kim, Jordan Lange, Aubree Lewis, Danika Locey, Cody Manzi, Caleb Moss, Zachary Paul, Merissa Prentiss, Micah Ropp, Grant Schroeder, Jessi Seumalo, Amy Shifley, Kalyn Thayer, Laura Thompson, Derek Wong, Joanna Ziminski

7th Grade n 3.5 and above

Christian Alexander, Jennifer Baily, Michael Brown, Carly Davison, Daniel DeLeon, Jodie Dufour, Emily Griner, David Harold, Garrett Lesko, Nicole Magnuson, Christina Mason, Joseph Miller, Graham Nock, Cody Paratore, Lydia Parker, Jonathan Perry, Austin Powell, James Saunders, Warren Smith, Jordan Swigart-Risinger, Emily Thiessen, Matthew Warren, Kodi Wolfe, Abigail Woosley