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 to Corvallis' Catherine Mater, the president of Mater Engineering, who has accepted a post on Gov. Ted Kulongoski's Oregon Way Advisory Group. The group, featuring a variety of government and business leaders, is charged with helping coordinate some of the federal stimulus money coming to Oregon. In particular, the group will be looking for projects that emphasize energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability. Yesterday's editorial talked about what an opportunity this could be for Corvallis and Benton County. Obviously, Mater will have to keep the interests of the entire state in mind, but it was cool to learn Thursday that a Corvallis luminary will be at the heart of this initiative. This was a wise appointment by the governor.

• RASPBERRIES - perennially - to those lowly scam artists who continue to prey on our worst fears.

In the most recent, most reprehensible, example, the attorney general's office on Thursday warned about con artists who use bogus stories about kids on spring break getting into car accidents, plane crashes or getting jailed. Phone calls come in the middle of the night to parents, who are told to wire money to a "friend" to pay for medical help or bail.

The scammers can manipulate caller ID to make the scam seem more legitimate, the attorney general's office said. Parents are told they must immediately find a 24-hour money transfer service.

By the time weary and frazzled parents realize they've been scammed, the money and the scammers are gone. The advice from the attorney general's office is for parents to pre-arrange ways to easily communicate with their children during trips, either through cell phones or with trusted friends or adults on the same trip. For more information, you can call the attorney's general's consumer hotline at 877-877-9392 or access the Department of Justice online at www.doj.state.or.us.

• ROSES to a quintet of area high school basketball teams, who racked up some impressive seasons this winter. Crescent Valley's boys team landed in the 5A state tournament - its first state tournament appearance in more than a decade. The smart money suggests it could be back there next year.

Corvallis High's girls team also made a run into the 5A state tournament and racked up its second straight fourth-place finish. The Philomath girls team qualified for the state 4A tournament this year, capping an excellent season.

Santiam Christian's boys team qualified for the 3A state tournament, and ended up placing fourth.

Santiam Christian's girls team enjoyed the best season of any of our area's high school basketball teams, making it all the way to the championship game of the 3A tournament before settling for second place. Like Crescent Valley's Raiders, Santiam Christian's girls team could be a good bet to return to the state tourney next year.

Great work all around. The icing on the cake comes with postseason appearances by both of Oregon State's basketball teams: The men's team is wrapping up an impressive rebuilding year with an appearance in the College Basketball Tourney. The women's team has earned a slot in the postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament.

• RASPBERRIES to local proof that car alarms - bought and sold on the premise that when they sound, someone will investigate - offer false hope, at best:

Criminals smashed the windows of at least 17 vehicles parked at OSU between midnight and 3 a.m. Wednesday to steal their contents and, sometimes, the vehicles themselves.

We realize that car alarms most often indicate a malfunction rather than a crime. But the sound of something like a crowbar, exploding against glass, shattering it, always means trouble yet also was ignored, 17 times.

• ROSES to another Corvallis luminary: OSU scientist and professor Jane Lubchenco, whose nomination as the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was confirmed Thursday by Congress.

As we've said, her nomination offers some reassurance that the Obama administration isn't inclined to subvert science to serve one political agenda or another.

ROSES to OSU students, faculty and employees, whose record-setting February food drive collected the equivalent of 485,000 pounds - nearly 250 tons - of food. Most will go to the Linn Benton Food Share, which has been grappling with increased demand for its services lately; this is a huge boost for that worthy agency, and excellent work by everyone at OSU. It's worth repeating as well (actually, our Thursday story on the food drive's success underplayed this) that OSU employees collected nearly four times as much food as the runner-up - the University of Oregon.