• ROSES to the giant-killing OSU Beavers football team for a terrific win last Saturday over Southern Cal on national TV! The Trojans were ranked third in the nation at the time.

The best part of OSU's 33-31 win was that it was no fluke. The Beavers simply outplayed USC, at one time leading by a score of 33-10. As some have pointed out, only a few missteps by the Beavs kept this from being a blowout.

Other than the spectacular Fiesta Bowl victory over Notre Dame, you have to go back to the Giant Killers of 1967 - when OSU again defeated top-ranked Southern Cal - to find a win of similar proportions.

Over the course of three weeks, the Beavers have turned around their season, bouncing back from some disappointing losses earlier this year. But before we get to thinking too much about bowling in December, it's time to take care of the Sun Devils this Saturday at Reser Stadium. And speaking of Saturday …

• ROSES to the OSU Alumni Association and others behind the Homecoming parade and other festivities this week. The fun culminates Saturday with a parade from downtown to campus.

The parade begins at 9 a.m. at First Street and Jefferson Avenue, and will proceed west on Jefferson to 26th Street, where it will turn south and conclude in front of Dixon Recreation Center. (We've heard some of the best parade spots will be near Sixth and Jefferson, where the newspaper will be serving up coffee and treats!)

Grand marshals for the parade will be the OSU baseball team, winners of this summer's College World Series. They will be honored for their own stupendous accomplishment during halftime of Saturday's football game, which kicks off at 1:05 p.m.

See http://alumni.oregonstate.edu/

homecoming/index.html for the updated OSU Homecoming schedule.

• RASPBERRIES to individuals who fail to recognize the diverse world in which we now live and that bigotry and racism no longer have a place in society. Nor do they have a place in politics.

On Oct. 22, somebody calling from a Corvallis-area phone number left this message on the answering service of Mario Magana, who is running for state Senate: "I was wondering when you would be free to come over and mow my lawn. I am not interested in sending somebody like you to represent me."

Apparently, at least to this caller, a man with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and demonstrated community service just doesn't rate.

What doesn't rate is people who continue to cling to repugnant notions that have no place in Corvallis, Benton County or anyplace else.

Other than this and another "nasty" phone call and some campaign signs stolen from his property, Magana said running for Senate has "been been a wonderful experience in many ways."

Foremost, he said, has been the opportunity to speak with many Benton and Linn County residents in District 8, and learn more about the community. One thing he didn't expect was meeting so many people living in poverty.

"It was shocking," he said. "People would tell me, 'All I want is a job. We don't want handouts.'"

Magana said it made him "a little angry at the system. A good number of politicians don't seem to care about these people."

It's up to politicians and others, he said, to find and create opportunities to train these people and generate jobs for them to fill.

• 75 ROSES to Marion and Paul Gathercoal, who still know how to keep the warmth in their marriage. The couple celebrated a milestone last weekend: their 75th anniversary.

They were married Oct. 30, 1931. Nine years later, they moved to Corvallis, where they have been active leaders in our community, in addition to raising a family that now includes 23 grandchildren.

Marion helped found the Corvallis Arts Center and was named the city's First Citizen in the mid-'60s. Besides developing properties around town, Paul served a stint on the City Council.

We're proud to have such wonderful role models for our community.

• RASPBERRIES to someone who isn't such a model citizen, managing to hit the trifecta of public loathing: a thieving politician-turned-TV reporter.

An audit shows Emilie Boyles violated Portland's public financing code earlier this year when she took out a year's lease on her campaign headquarters - she was running for City Council - and paid her 16-year-old daughter $12,500 for Internet marketing work.

Now Portland's city auditor says Boyles owes $95,250, including interest. The thing is, she's moved to Montana, where she's working as a TV and radio reporter.

"If the people of Portland want to be repaid, please don't call me at work, so I don't lose my job,'' Boyles told KGW television in Portland.

We're betting it may already be too late.

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.