ROSE (roz) n. One of the most beautiful of all flowers, a symbol of fragrance and loveliness. Often given as a sign of appreciation.

RASPBERRY (raz'ber'e) n. A sharp, scornful comment, criticism or rebuke; a derisive, splatting noise, often called the Bronx cheer.

We hereby deliver:

• ROSES and a salute to newly hired Oregon State University men's basketball coach Craig Robinson. Formerly head coach at Brown University in Rhode Island, Brown arrival at OSU appears to be a no-lose situation. We're not just talking about his salary deal, which we reported as a "six-year, incentive-laden deal that starts at $750,000 annually and increases every season to about $1 million in the final season."

You can't really do worse than what we saw this season: a winless conference record that was the nadir of a 17-year record with 16 losing seasons.

True, Robinson had only two seasons at Brown, an Ivy League college that went 19-10 in his second year.

Nevertheless, we're optimistic, and that's what's needed to restore the team's shattered morale and confidence. Of all the things Robinson said Monday at Gill Coliseum in his first public introduction to his team and the community, we liked best: "I remember the last time I was here, this place was rocking," referring to his appearance at a playoff game 25 years ago. "We have to get that excitement back."

Yes! We've been waiting to say it: Here's to you, Mr. Robinson. Welcome, and good luck.

• RASPBERRIES to a city a little too far ahead of its time - in the literal sense. We're talking about the heart-stopping clock atop the Corvallis Fire Station tower, which is now set a full hour ahead of the old courthouse clock.

We've written in the past about how those two clocks were at odds with each other when it came to agreeing about what time it is, which we saw then as emblematic of how our city respects all viewpoints - even as regards the correct time.

However, we noted then that the more venerable courthouse clock was more generous about what time it is (for those who usually run a bit late).

But this is really a huge gap, and we suspect that when we all set our clocks to "spring ahead" Daylight Savings Time on March 9, the city sprang ahead twice.

We'll leave it to our many witty readers to make of that what they will, but we suggest that for those of us who still do a double take when we cross the Harrison Street Bridge, glance at the clock and say "Oh no! I'm an hour late!" The surge of panic inspired by this sight could pose a real health (and traffic) hazard. Please fix!

• ROSES to a Benton County couple honored by the State Land Board for their work with the Mid-Valley Wetland Mitigation Bank in wetland restoration. Marvin and Cindy Gilmour were honored for establishing a 45-acre

restored wetland on their grass seed farm near Adair Village. It is a haven for wildlife and

native vegetation that offsets the loss of wetland acreage to development elsewhere.

Wetland banks still are controversial in terms of how effective these restored or "banked" wetlands are in terms of their equity with the wetland values of the existing wetlands whose loss they are meant to offset. But the "banking" system does seek to strike a compromise between net loss of wetlands and simply bringing construction to a halt in locations where buildable land is rare.

Marvin Gilmour is a partner in Oregon Wetlands Inc., a business venture that is developing two other mitigation banks in the region - One Horse Slough near Lebanon and Evergreen near Philomath.

• ROSE-RASPBERRIES to the improved fortunes of a little old lady seal that is thriving now at Sea World in San Diego after being nursed back to health a the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.

The small Guadalupe fur seal was brought to the aquarium last August in sad shape. She had a shark bite on her back. She was blind in one eye and had a cataract in the other one. She had few teeth left.

But now the sleek little survivor, following the care of OCA vets in Newport, is reportedly doing very well after having been transferred to Sea World in February, where she is living with a colony of California seals.

The razzie part? We think it would be wise to rename this tough little marine mammal, one of only 7,000 remaining in her species. After all, starting off life as "Guadalupe fur seal" is sort of limiting …

• ROSES to whatever that thing is, all bright and yellow in the sky. After the winter and "spring" that we've had, we really weren't sure what to make of it when it hung around all day Thursday.

The forecast said it will be back today and Saturday - maybe even part of Sunday. It should bring us all outside again, to finally enjoy our gorgeous Oregon spring - without an umbrella.