Letters

What wrong with the SFC?

Regarding your story about the high rate of turnover on the Student Fee Committee [“Student Flee Committee,” Jan. 8], I agree that it may be the best situation that as many members as possible be elected by the student body directly. However, your story makes it clear that sometimes it’s simply not possible, due to workload, academic ineligibility and other reasons. Does this mean that the student body should suffer with an inefficient SFC, lacking board members to be able to make decisions?

By voting for President Rudy Soto and Committee Chair Amanda Newberg, the students have allowed implicit consent for them to oversee the legislative affairs as they see needed. That may include surrounding themselves with the best and brightest they see fit to fill vacancies. The alternatives–holding special elections on every possible candidate to fill positions–would create a bureaucratic boondoggle and completely hamstring the efforts of the SFC.

As long as the Student Senate is playing a role to advise and consent on nominees (and if they’re not, they should) what, really, is the problem? There’s currently a SFC board operating at capacity. Are you guys really hurting for controversy or something?

Kyle Curtis

Use the right word

I appreciate Carly Nairn and the Vanguard’s coverage of the Sexual and Gender Equality Task Force (SAGE) and our efforts to make PSU and inclusive university for staff, faculty and students of all sexual orientations and gender identities [“An advocate for gender equality,” Jan. 10]. One clarification is though I am the co-chair of SAGE at PSU, SAGE members Stephenie Jahnke and Alex Crossfield spearheaded the project to include gender identity and gender expression in PSU’s affirmative action policy within the SAGE group.

Another clarification is I specifically asked Nairn to make changes in the way she referred to the transgender community and transgender individuals as “transgenders,” which didn’t make it all the way through the editing process to print. I was quoted as having said, “Transgenders have been marginalized…” I find the term transgenders to be derogatory, and certainly wouldn’t have said it. Transgender individuals, transgender people and transgender community are more appropriate terms that connote individual agency which transgender people have been denied because of social and political marginalization.

Christa Orth

It’s been a long fight

Thanks for the nice article, Matt [“Another try for candidate Fritz,” Jan. 10].Minor correction: When I immigrated to the United States in 1979, I had already spent two summers working at a Salvation Army children’s camp in New Jersey, serving kids from the inner city areas of Newark and other poverty-stricken New Jersey towns. So I knew that the impression many Europeans have of everyone being rich and living like Disneyland was not true.

The OHSU strike in 2001 was far from “a first taste” of standing up for what I believe. I have walked the talk for my beliefs my whole life. The strike was when I realized that working people with a just cause, standing together, can take on powerful entities like OHSU, and win. I am seeking election to the Portland City Council because I believe everyone deserves basic services like housing, health care, public education and safe neighborhoods. I want Portlanders to work together to achieve that goal.

Amanda Fritz

Pack a lunch, yo

I have to disagree with the idea that students have to eat at the food court [“Students hungry for lower food costs,” Jan. 11]. One thing that I do to keep costs down is to pack a lunch or make sure I eat before I get to campus.

Anonymous