Sandy Leavens
The Broadside

Finally, students can go out for a brew and a burger without feeling guilty about neglecting their studies. Every month McMenamins  Old Francis School in downtown Bend hosts a “science pub” for Oregon State University- Cascades. The experience takes students out of their desks and onto a bar stool.
“What’s nice about the pubs is they dig into conversation,” said Kathleen Dean Moore, a recent guest speaker at one of the science pubs.
McMenamins has been hosting OSU’s science pubs for three years, and in that time students have covered a variety of topics, including bio-tech crops and how floods influenced the beer and wine industry. The pub labs take science and applies it to the real situations.
If the attendance is any indication, the pub labs are well received by the student body. Anyone who hasn’t RSVPed in advance and made plans to arrive at McMenamins 45 minutes early should not expect to get a seat.
Angie Monday, a natural resource major at OSU Cascades, said she attends the pub labs as much as she can.
“I feel like I’m engaging in more of a conversation than in a class and it’s a relaxed environment,” said Monday, “and besides, I don’t feel so guilty going out and not doing my homework.”
The conversational environment is a draw to more than one student on campus. Amanda DeValla, a COCC student also majoring in natural resources, said she enjoys the labs regardless of the topic.
“The topic doesn’t matter because they’re all so interesting and interactive,” said Devalla. “I also like it because it feels like a community event with a diverse crowd.”
If you’re interested in drinking in some science with a couple of brews, make sure to sign up for next discussion because last call isn’t far away.
WhaWhat you missed on February 21

Project Moral Ground: It’s Wrong to Wreck the World
Kathleen Dean Moore, Department of Philosophy, OSU College of Liberal Arts and Director, Spring Creek
What are our cultural, moral and spiritual relations to the natural world?  The author of award-winning books on this topic, including the recently published “Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril.” Professor Moore helps us understand whether we have a moral obligation—individual and collective—to future beings and to leave a world as it was left to us.
Repairing the planet is about more than scientific knowledge, according to author Kathleen Dean Moore, it’s a matter of ethics.
“We are at the root of a wasteful system,” Moore said in a recent telephone interview. “We need to grow more food, and rethink packaged foods.”
Moore was the speaker for this month’s Science Pub. Moore is also a professor in the Department of Philosophy, at the Oregon State University College of Liberal Arts.
Moore is an environmental philosopher who writes about moral, spiritual, and cultural relationships to the natural world.
”Who are we in relation to the earth, and the human race?” Moore asked. “ I want people to think about what they can do, and that one person can make a difference.”
Moore teaches through listening and encouraging conversation and questions.
“I like to ask the audience questions and let them dig in conversation on their insight,” she said, “and of what they believe their obligation is to the planet before it’s too late.”
Moore’s book suggests scientific knowledge alone doesn’t tell us what to do and that everyone should think about their actions.
“We have a moral responsibility to our planet,” Moore added. “How can you make a difference?”

Future Topics

• Bees on The Brink: March 27
• Let’s Trade Sexy for Smart: May 15
• This Is Your Brain On Stress: June 19
• ABC’s of Vitamin E: July 17

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