800 pound guerrilla
The first day of May brought thousands into PSU’s Park Blocks to protest immigration legislation and advocate labor rights. The peaceful protesters gathered at PSU before marching through downtown Portland. They held bilingual signs that read “Jobs with Justice” in both Spanish and English and waved Mexican and American flags. The protest was one of many similar marches and rallies held around the country.
What this means for you: If you are a migrant worker, this action may have brought you closer to a bit more of the human dignity that you deserve. Now if only we could do something about those pesky INS agents.
This week, the price for a gallon of biodiesel dipped below the price of regular diesel, much to the delight of Oregon’s resident grease-monkey biodiesel manufacturers. With gas prices on the incline and no sign of relief in sight, despite the hard work of the oilmen in office, the bet that the environmentally friendly biodiesel, made from recycled restaurant oil, might be the wave of the future is a pretty good one.
What this means for you: Eating those freedom fries is now the newest way to stick it to those fat, earth-raping oil companies that made you cancel your summer road trip.
OH MY GOD! Bird-flu is coming! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
What this means for you: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
PSU President Daniel Bernstine continued his battle with the Student Fee Committee this week, handing the committee a May 10 deadline to determine what to do with 15 student group budgets that were increased by more that 25 percent. Bernstine, who has accused the SFC of violating its own guidelines by approving the 25-plus percent increases with a simple-majority vote, notified the committee of the deadline in his first written communication with the SFC since receiving the budget. Bernstine’s letter to the committee came 27 days after he received the budget – despite being expected under SFC guidelines to respond to the committee within 10 business days.
What this means for you: Since the “process” is working so well, student groups should finally get next year’s money by, oh, 2012-ish.
The week in Weird
The always wacky and consistently drug-addled guitarist for The Rolling Stones, Keith Richards, either fell out of a palm tree or off of a jet ski this week and suffered a minor concussion. He is currently at a hospital in New Zealand where he is in “good spirits.” Reports that Richards would need his skull drilled to drain off blood have been refuted. We can only assume Richards is disappointed, considering this is likely the only thing he hasn’t already inflicted on his brain. Those darn elderly.
What this means for you: There is a slight chance that this head injury will make Keith more intelligible. We can only hope.
