Posted: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 12:00 am
Test on local events wraps up the year that was
Gazette-Times
We couldn't blame you if you weren't always paying attention in 2008 - in some ways, it wasn't the best of years.
But if you did keep track of the big stories of the year, now is the time to reap your rewards by taking the Gazette-Times' annual news quiz. Impress your friends! Dazzle your family! Show that the time you spent reading the G-T in 2008 paid off by breezing through the following questions.
Because this is a university town, each of the questions comes with three divisions: Undergraduate, which supposedly is the easiest; graduate, a little harder; and doctoral, which will require you to defend your answers against a panel of local experts. Just kidding about that panel-of-experts part.
So sharpen your pencils, fire up that memory, and let's go:
1. In January, the state Land Use Board of Appeals ordered the City Council to reconsider a developer's plans to convert the historic Whiteside Theater building into a retail-and-restaurant complex.
UNDERGRAD: What happened next in the long-running Whiteside saga - and by "next," we mean the very next day?
GRAD: How many months had LUBA wrestled with the Whiteside case before issuing its ruling?
DOCTORAL: The LUBA ruling specifically mentioned one particular standing feature of the building and one proposed alteration to the building. Identify them.
2. In mid-January, Corvallis-based Samaritan Health Services announced plans to develop a health-care education campus centered around an osteopathic college.
UNDERGRAD: Where will the proposed campus be located?
GRAD: Name the California university that is Samaritan's partner in the project.
DOCTORAL: What is an osteopath?
3. Kevin Boss, a native of Philomath, played in the Super Bowl for the New York Giants.
UNDERGRAD: Where did Boss play his collegiate football?
GRAD: What's the number on Boss' jersey - a number that was printed on T-shirts that were delivered in January to Philomath Elementary, where Boss' mother, Teresa, works?
DOCTORAL: How many passes did Boss catch in the big game?
4. In late January, the Benton County Historical Society finally started moving items from the Horner Collection at Oregon State University into its new collections-care facility.
UNDERGRAD: Where's the society's new storage facility located?
GRAD: When did OSU close the Horner Museum?
DOCTORAL: In March, movers transported perhaps the collection's best-known item to its new home. Identify the item.
5. Here are some of the names of Corvallis development projects that were in the news during 2008. Identify their location and briefly describe why they were in the news:
UNDERGRAD: Timberhill Meadows.
GRAD: Corvallis Crossing.
DOCTORAL: Hilltop Village.
EXTRA CREDIT: Seavey Meadows.
6. A film directed by a filmmaker who graduated from an area high school won the Best Animated Picture Oscar at February's Academy Awards.
UNDERGRAD: Name the movie.
GRAD: Name the director, and the school from which he graduated.
DOCTORAL: What is the real first name of the director?
7. In February, the U.S. Postal Service announced plans to feature an Oregon State graduate and two-time Nobel Prize winner on a stamp.
UNDERGRAD: Name the honoree.
GRAD: What's the face value of the stamp?
DOCTORAL: Name the two other Oregonians who have been honored by being pictured on U.S. postage stamps.
8. In March 2008, the Oregon State men's basketball team set a Pac-10 record that never can be broken, only tied.
UNDERGRAD: What was the record?
GRAD: As the season progressed, the men's basketball coach, Jay John, was fired. Who served as the interim coach between John's firing and the hiring of Craig Robinson as the new Beaver coach?
DOCTORAL: Before Robinson was hired, who reportedly was offered and then turned down the job?
9. One of our favorite offbeat news stories of the year began in March, when a Kings Valley man, Nick Wallace, stopped to check out an injured animal in the road.
UNDERGRAD: What was the animal?
GRAD: What happened to the animal after Wallace, seeking to save it, put it in his car?
DOCTORAL: What eventually happened to the animal?
10. On March 21, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama made an unscheduled stop in Corvallis.
UNDERGRAD: Where did Obama stop?
GRAD: How many buses made up the Obama entourage?
DOCTORAL: What did Obama eat during his stop? Be specific.
11. A North Albany man successfully climbed Mount Everest this year.
UNDERGRAD: Name the man.
GRAD: What other globe-spanning mountaineering feat has this man accomplished?
DOCTORAL: Climbing Everest presents challenges even in the best of times, but what regulatory hurdles did the China throw into the mix this year?
12. Oregon Public Broadcasting announced this year that it would close its Corvallis studios, where OPB got its start, in early 2009.
UNDERGRAD: What are the call letters for the Corvallis OPB station?
GRAD: Where on Oregon State's campus are the Corvallis studios located?
DOCTORAL: What reason was given by OPB for the impending closure?
13. The Elements Building in downtown Corvallis opened in 2008, next door to the Renaissance.
UNDERGRAD: When did work start on the Elements Building?
GRAD: What caused the delays on the project?
DOCTORAL: The original cost estimate for the building was $4 million. What did owner Deanna Carr say was the final cost?
14. Four members of the Corvallis City Council either took office in 2008 or were elected for the first time to the council.
UNDERGRAD: Name one of them.
GRAD: Name two of them.
DOCTORAL: Name three of them.
EXTRA CREDIT: Name all four.
15. A booth this summer at the Corvallis Farmers Market made national news.
UNDERGRAD: Name the booth.
GRAD: Identify the person who was the "star" of the booth its first weekend in June.
DOCTORAL: What was the booth's "secret," as was revealed a few days afterward?
16. In July, one performance of a local play was canceled because one of the actors injured himself in performance.
UNDERGRAD: What was the play?
GRAD: What was the injury suffered?
DOCTORAL: Name the injured actor.
17. A restaurant that has been a Corvallis landmark for decades closed its doors in January as the owners announced their retirement.
UNDERGRAD: Name the restaurant.
GRAD: How long had the restaurant been open?
DOCTORAL: Name the owners.
18. In late September, the Oregon State football team stunned the then-No. 1 ranked University of Southern California Trojans.
UNDERGRAD: What was the final score?
GRAD: What was the score two years ago in Corvallis, when the Beavers again stunned the Trojans?
DOCTORAL: What was the last time the OSU football team knocked off a No. 1-ranked team?
19. Late in the year, a Philomath man, Derek Mamoyac, was stranded on a mountain in Washington state for five nights after suffering an injury on the mountain.
UNDERGRAD: Name the mountain.
GRAD: What did he eat to survive?
DOCTORAL: What was the injury he suffered?
20. Property taxes in Benton County increased 8 percent in 2008 as a new public-safety levy for the county went on line and the Corvallis School District increased the amount it could take from its local-option tax.
UNDERGRAD: What business pays the most property taxes in Benton County?
GRAD: What business is No. 2?
DOCTORAL: What business is No. 3?
ANSWERS
1. Undergrad: The next day, the developers of the project announced that they were dropping their plans for the Whiteside. In February, the owners of the building, Regal Entertainment Group, donated the building to Friends of the Whiteside, the nonprofit Corvallis group that now is working to raise money to restore the building.
Grad: Nine.
Doctoral: The west wall; LUBA asked the council to reconsider plans to remodel the brick wall on the west side of the building. In addition, LUBA said that the city had failed to show that a cornice proposed for the top of that wall would not be prohibited by the municipal land-development code.
2. Undergrad: The 51-acre site Samaritan is developing is in Lebanon.
Grad: The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific, a division of Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, Calif.
Doctoral: Osteopathy is a fast-growing branch of medicine that emphasizes the unity of all parts of the body, stressing preventive medicine and the importance of proper diet and exercise.
3. Undergrad: Western Oregon University.
Grad: 89
Doctoral: One catch, but it was a key 45-yard reception in the fourth quarter of the Giants' 17-14 stunner over the previously unbeaten New England Patriots.
4. Undergrad: The storage facility is next to the museum's headquarters in Philomath.
Grad: OSU closed the Horner Museum in 1995.
Doctoral: A gigantic stuffed moose.
5. Undergrad: Timberhill Meadows is north of the intersection of Kings and Walnut; a combined housing and commercial development is being built there.
Grad: Corvallis Crossing is at the southwest corner of Ninth and Circle; developers have plans to build a new Rite Aid store there in addition to other developments.
Doctorate: Hilltop Village is near Highland Dell Drive; it is a proposed affordable-housing development.
Extra credit: Seavey Meadows is in northwest Corvallis along Conser Street; plans are for the Willamette Neighborhood Housing Services to develop an affordable housing project there, but the project hit some controversy because of wetland concerns.
6. Undergrad: "Ratatouille."
Grad: Brad Bird, who graduated from Corvallis High School in 1975.
Doctoral: Phillip.
7. Undergrad: Linus Pauling
Grad: 41 cents.
Doctoral: Dr. John McLoughlin and the Rev. Jason Lee, both of whom helped shape the Oregon Territory in its earliest days.
8. Undergrad: The team went 0-18 in Pac-10 conference play, the first team to do that.
Grad: Kevin Mouton.
Doctoral: Bill Grier, of the University of San Diego.
9. Undergrad: A bobcat.
Grad: The bobcat woke up, understandably alarmed, in Wallace's car; Wallace kept the animal calm until he drove to a veterinary clinic in Corvallis.
Doctoral: The bobcat was transferred to Chintimini Wildlife Center, where it was nursed back to health.
10. Undergrad: American Dream Pizza's downtown location.
Grad: Three.
Doctoral: The candidate dined on cheese pizza.
11. Undergrad: Mark Luscher.
Grad: With his conquest of Everest, Luscher had climbed the tallest peaks on all seven continents.
Doctoral: Trying to guard against the possibilities of protesters marring the path of the Olympic torch, Chinese officials severely limited access to Everest.
12. Undergrad: KOAC, for Oregon Agricultural College.
Grad: Covell Hall.
Doctoral: OPB says that its electronic equipment needs to be in a climate-controlled setting, and Covell isn't air-conditioned.
13. Undergrad: Work on the Elements Building started in 2005.
Grad: It was delayed when owner Deanna Carr decided to seek silver-level LEED status for environmentally friendly buildings.
Doctoral: Carr said the final price tag was $20 million.
14. Jeanne Raymond, Richard Hervey, Joel Hirsch and Mark O'Brien either took seats on the council in 2008 or will be sworn into the council in 2009.
15. Undergrad: "Meet a Black Guy."
Grad: The black guy featured during the booth's first weekend was Jeff Oliver, 21, of Corvallis.
Doctoral: It turned out that the booth was part of a nationwide "street-theater" stunt.
16. Undergrad: "A Midsummer Night's Dream," performed as part of Oregon State's "Bard on the Quad" series.
Grad: A sprained ankle, sustained in one of the production's acrobatic jumps.
Doctoral: Grant Davis was the injured actor.
17. Undergrad: The Gables.
Grad: 50 years.
Doctoral: Larry and Helen Hearing.
18. Undergrad: OSU 27, USC 21
Grad: OSU 33, USC 31
Doctoral: 1967, when the Beavers beat O.J. Simpson's Trojans, 3-0.
19. Undergrad: Mount Adams.
Grad: Centipedes and ants.
Doctoral: He broke his ankle on the mountain.
20. Undergrad: Hewlett-Packard paid $6.32 million in property taxes in 2008.
Grad: NW Natural paid $427,000 in property taxes.
Doctoral: Evanite paid $400,214 in property taxes.
Impress your friends! Dazzle your family! Show that the time you spent reading the G-T in 2008 really paid off by breezing through the following questions. CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR BONUS QUIZ