News briefs

$497,000 grant given to assistant professor

Lynn Fox, assistant professor in Portland State’s speech and hearing sciences department, has received a two-year small-business research grant worth $497,000. She will be the principal investigator for the grant, meaning Fox will head research efforts funded by the grant.

The grant, which was awarded by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research, will help fund a research project for the medical company Life Technologies, Inc. The project is called “Why Go It Alone? The Use of Public Resources to Enhance Computer Accessibility for Individuals with Cognitive Disabilities.”

Fox, whose specialty area is neurogenic communication disorders, studies mainly medical speech and language pathology. She received a bachelor’s degree from California State University in 1971 before receiving her master’s degree at Humboldt State University in 1985 and a doctorate at the University of Oregon in 1998.

–Carly Nairn

QRC to host Queer Jeopardy Thursday

Portland State’s Queer Resource Center (QRC) will hold an event called Queer Jeopardy Oct. 25.

Erik Vander May, one of five center coordinators, said the game will be set up like the traditional Jeopardy game show, but with categories centered around lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer and transgender themes.

The game will have categories such as queer pop culture, history, people and significant events, Vander May said. Prizes such as gift cards from Powell’s Books and Quiznos, as well as memorabilia from the Portland State University Bookstore will also be given out, Vander May said. Pizza will also be offered to participants, he said.

“It’s going to be fun. You can meet people,” Vander May said. “Kind of come test your knowledge about what you know about queer history.”

Earlier this month, National Coming Out Day was celebrated in the South Park Blocks, and Vander May said the event was pretty popular and that the QRC had a good response. October is nationally regarded as Queer History Month.

The event will be held Thursday in the QRC (Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 401), from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

–Nathan Hellman