By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director
SALEM, Ore. -- The odds are that a lot of people would be interested in having a chance to work with the Oregon Lottery. It seems like a unique and intriguing place. The Oregon Lottery not only provides money to lucky winners of scratch-off tickets and multiple-pick drawings, it also supports education, State Parks and other important projects throughout the state.
Willamette University men's basketball player Jared Baumgartner (Wing, Albany, OR/Crescent Valley HS), who will be a senior this fall, is one of the lucky people who have been able to see the Oregon Lottery up close. He is working there this summer, helping the organization with a variety of promotions to teach people about the lottery and to encourage them to purchase lottery tickets.
"I got an internship there," Baumgartner said. "It's a full-time job for the summer."
As a promotions intern, Baumgartner travels with employees of the Oregon Lottery as they attend various civic and sporting events throughout the state. Most of his travel has been in the Portland, Salem and Willamette Valley areas, but he's traveled as far as Pendleton in eastern Oregon and to Coos Bay on the Pacific Coast.
"We just go to different events throughout the summer and promote the Oregon Lottery. We give out free lottery tickets and t-shirts," he said.
At a race involving the Oregon Lottery, participants had a chance to have a free photo taken in front of a blue or green screen. Race information and "I run for State Parks" was added. The photo and a magnet sleeve were given to each participant to they could place the photo on a refrigerator or other metal surface as a reminder of the race.
According to Baumgartner, promotional events by the Oregon Lottery focus on two key goals. The first is to explain how the Oregon Lottery benefits the state when lottery funds are distributed. The second is to promote a particular lottery game.
This summer, much of the effort by Baumgartner and his co-workers has been to promote the Wheel of Fortune scratch-off game. People attending events involving the lottery workers get to spin a wheel to win prizes. They also receive a Wheel of Fortune lottery ticket.
How did Baumgartner get such an interesting summer internship?
Baumgartner said that he found out about the opportunity through JobCat, Willamette's on-line job board. He then made direct contact with Oregon Lottery workers during a job fair at Willamette.
After participating in a phone interview, an in-person interview and a background check, he was one of three people selected for the summer internship program. Baumagartner and one other worker are promotions interns. The other worker is a finance intern.
One of his duties with the Oregon Lottery is to provide input from a college student's perspective.
"Today, their design team has a page in both the Oregon and Oregon State football programs. I gave them a couple of ideas of what would resonate the best with young people," Baumgartner said.
One day, Baumgartner was able to draw the winners from a Facebook contest held in association with visits to soccer games involving the Portland Timbers and the Portland Thorns.
"I did three drawings," Baumgartner said. "I went to the drawing room. I was the official drawing person."
Baumgartner went on to explain that he went through a security checkpoint and entered a tiny room for the drawing. He slowly progressed through a 182-step process to ensure that the drawing was fair and included only people who entered once. Winners received Timbers' tickets, Cape Blanco Music Festival tickets or Cuthbert Amphitheater tickets.
Drawings for money, including Powerball, Mega Millions and Oregon's Game Megabucks are conducted by full-time, regular employees of the Oregon Lottery.
It is ironic that Baumgartner earned his internship with the Oregon Lottery since he seldom has purchased lottery tickets. He said that he has bought a few scratch-off tickets for gifts and that he played the last big Powerball jackpot prior to working for the lottery, but that's about it. As an intern at the lottery, he is now prohibited from buying tickets.
Although his internship takes up much of Baumgartner's time this summer, he is also scheduled to help with Willamette's Pro Hoop Camp from July 17 through July 21. He will be a counselor at the basketball camp, which has been held at Willamette for decades. Head Coach Kip Ioane is the director of the camp.
"I'll probably be a coach of a team," he said, noting that he coached a group of players from 12 to 14 years old last summer. "At the end of the week, I evaluate them on improvements they made and what they need to work on going forward."
Baumgartner is ready to begin his fourth year as an economics major in Willamette's 3/2 MBA program and he will be a senior on the basketball team. His internship with the Oregon Lottery ends on August 14 and he will begin classes at the Atkinson Graduate School of Management the following day. He also will take classes in the College of Liberal Arts starting on August 29.
On the court, Baumgartner was chosen as the Bearcats' Defensive Player of the Year in 2015-16. At Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis, Oregon, he was name Defensive Player of the Year for his team and league.
"That's something that I've always taken pride in," Baumgartner said regarding his defensive efforts. "It's important to own your role. It would be out of character for me to just shoot it up. I do take the shots I can hit."
He shot 50% on field goals this past season, hitting 13 of 26 shots. He also is good at hauling down offensive rebounds.
"I just go 110%," Baumgartner noted. "That helps with the rebounding and defense. I need to do my part in being positive and vocal, and doing the little things, like the fundamentals and our game plan."
NOTE: Summer in Salem is a series of articles about Willamette University student-athletes who are staying in Salem or nearby communities this summer.
