5A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 2016
Oregon State hires expert to ¿ght slXg menace
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Oregon State University
has hired a new invertebrate
pest scientist to help farmers
¿ght the slXg menace threaten-
ing their crops.
In 2015, farmers com-
plained that damage from the
slimy mollXsNs has grown
worse in recent years dXring
a ³slXg sXmmit´ organi]ed by
OSU, prompting the Xniversity
to seeN additional resoXrces to
battle the problem.
:hile slXgs have long been
a pest for Oregon growers,
some believe their popXlations
have grown more nXmeroXs in
recent years dXe to the popX-
larity of no-till farming and
diminished ¿eld bXrning.
7he slXg researcher Mob was
among several new positions
Courtesy of Rory McDonnell
Courtesy of Robin Rosetta, OSU
Rory McDonnell, hunts
for slugs in Ireland in this
undated photo. McDon-
nell has been selected as
OSU’s new slug expert.
European red slugs are quite common in gardens and
landscapes.
created at OSU thanNs to an
additional 1 million in fXnd-
ing allocated for agricXltXral
research and e[tension dXring
the 2015 legislative session.
7he search for OSU¶s slXg
expert was recently com-
pleted with the hiring of
5ory 0c'onnell, who¶s cXr-
rently a research specialist
at the University of Califor-
nia—Riverside and will start
his new position in Oregon in
mid--Xly.
A native of Ireland,
McDonnell obtained a doctor-
ate in environmental science
from the National Univer-
sity of Ireland in 2004 and has
since stXdied biological con-
trol of slXgs, inclXding a nema-
tode that parasiti]es them.
OSU was initially con-
cerned that few people with
sXf¿cient expertise in slXgs
woXld apply for the Mob, bXt
was Xltimately able to choose
from a good pool of candi-
dates, said SXMaya Rao, an
entomology professor at the
Xniversity who headed the hir-
ing committee.
It was important for OSU to
¿nd a researcher who¶s famil-
iar with applied science —
managing slXg pests — rather
than simply stXdying slXg biol-
ogy, she said.
McDonnell’s experience
with Xsing biological con-
trol agents and essential oils
to combat the mollXsNs was
impressive, as was his ability
to win grant fXnding and train
gradXate and post-doctoral stX-
dents, Rao said.
Novel methods of con-
trolling slXgs are increas-
ingly important becaXse the
baits that are commonly Xsed
to attract and Nill them aren’t
always economical, she said.
³3eople are looNing oXtside
the box for slXg management,´
Rao said.
:hile recrXiting for the
position, OSU consXlted farm-
ers as well as representatives
of the USDA, Oregon Depart-
ment of AgricXltXre and local
soil and water conservation
districts, she said.
³:e got inpXt from every-
one,´ Rao said.
Humorist Garry Shandling dies at 66; fellow comedians laud his genius
Coroner’s Lt. David Smith
said it appeared Shandling died
of natXral caXses bXt an of¿-
cial caXse of death determina-
tion had not yet been made. No
aXtopsy was planned, bXt of¿-
cials woXld determine Shan-
dling’s caXse of death based on
medical records and his medi-
cal history.
+is death prompted an oXt-
poXring of respect and affection
from the comedy commXnity.
“Garry Shandling was
one of the most brilliant peo-
ple I have ever Nnown,´ Billy
Crystal tweeted. Steve Martin
laXded Shandling’s “beaXtifXlly
Xnpredictable mind´ in a Twit-
ter post.
Shandling had a face and
voice made for comedy, with
pillowy lips that delivered
pXnchlines in a tone that verged
on whining.
In a 2009 interview with The
Associated Press, he explained
his perspective on his art.
“The answer isn’t gonna be
in the facts,´ he said. “It’s gonna
be in intXition. That’s how I
worN creatively. I’m always
teaching people that the answer
By ANTHONY
MCCARTNEY
AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES — While
Garry Shandling’s fellow
comedians foXght to host a late-
night show, he brXshed away
the prospect.
³I woXld not do a show
where yoX MXst sit and talN to
somebody,´ the hXmorist said
in 1 when he was coXrted
by N%C to sXcceed David Let-
terman on ³Late Night.´
+e’d blown Xp the for-
mat with “The Larry Sanders
Show,´ the +%O series aboXt
the maNing of a ¿ctional talN
show that drew on his own neX-
rotic self-absorption — and that
of +ollywood — for exTXisite
satire.
Doctors said that Shan-
dling, , died ThXrsday of an
apparent heart attacN, accord-
ing to Alan Nierob, his spoNes-
man. Shandling, who was
taNen to a hospital after para-
medics were dispatched to his
Brentwood home, had no his-
tory of heart troXble, Nierob
said.
J ohn A ndreas O wen
Astoria
January 19, 1944 - December 24, 2015
There will be a
“Celebration of Life”
for John at the
American Legion
Main Floor
1132 Exchange St.
Astoria
Saturday
April 23 rd
3:00 p.m.
Saturday Opening
Coastal Family Health Center
Beginning March 19th, 8 AM – 5 PM
(503) 325-8315
Located on the 3rd floor of the Park Medical bldg.
2158 Exchange Street, Astoria, OR 97103
Call or Walk in
All insurances accepted. Discounts apply for those who qualify.
!
Vo i K au he a
The Real Lewis
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or how the Finns discovered Astoria!
O pen s
Frid a y,
A p ril 8th
RU N S TH RU SU N D A Y , A PRIL 30TH
Friday & Saturday nights at 7pm (doors at 6:30)
Sunday matinees April 17 & 24 at 2pm (doors at 1:30)
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T ickets ca n be purch a sed a t th e door on e h our before
ASTORIA
sh ow tim e, but reserva tion s a re recom m en ded by
ca llin g 503-325-6104 or on lin e a t w w .a storstreetoprycom pa n y.com
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to that creative TXes-
Then in the
tion is right here, in
1980s, he began to
the room, between
experiment
with
Xs here.´
TV comedy, and to
More to the point,
toy with the sitcom
it was dealing with
form, with his ¿rst
the TXestions he con-
series, “It’s Garry
fronted in himself.
Shandling’s Show,´
Born on Nov.
a Showtime proMect
29, 1949 in Chi-
that made no bones
cago, Shandling was
aboXt its inherently
Garry
raised in TXcson,
arti¿cial natXre The
Shandling
Ari]ona. On arriv-
actors in this other-
ing in Los Angeles as a yoXng wise standard domestic com-
adXlt, it was a short hop from edy roXtinely broNe the foXrth
a brief stint in the advertising wall to comment on what they
bXsiness to comedy writing and were Xp to. Even the theme
stand-Xp.
song began with the explana-
tory lyrics, “The theme to Gar-
ry’s show....´
Then, in AXgXst 1992,
Shandling created for HBO his
comic masterpiece with “The
Larry Sanders Show,´ which
starred him as an egomani-
acal late-night TV host with
an angst-ridden show-bi] life
behind the scenes.
It was MXst three months
after Johnny Carson had
retired from “The Tonight
Show,´ where Shandling had
appeared as a stand-Xp and
occasional Carson stand-in. It
seemed a wry bXt deeply felt
homage to the King of Late
Night.
BXt it was more. “Larry
Sanders´ proved to be an act of
coXrage, a brave effort led by
someone portraying a character
dangeroXsly close to himself.
As Larry, Shandling dXg deep
to confront his own demons,
and did it brilliantly as the series
teetered between dXal realities
pXblic and private maNe-be-
lieve and painfXlly trXe.
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