Answered! Wim Wiewel edition: Irrelevant information that you need to know

Say wha?

“One thing is for people to stop feeling that somehow we are a … neglected stepchild.”

-Wim Wiewel, as quoted in The Oregonian about one thing he would like to change about Portland State.

In case you were wondering…

The most exciting part about having Wim Wiewel as our new president isn’t his plan to build on the reputation of the university or his awesome accent. No, it is the many puns and phrases we at the Vanguard are already making on his name.Wim Wiewel (pronounced Vim Vi-vel), the recent ‘vinner’ of the PSU presidential race, may have assumed that plays on names ended in elementary school, but Answered! is bringing name-based ridicule back in a big way. And remember, we love our new president just like anyone else, so ‘Big Vim’ should not be offended.

Here are some of the nicknames and phrases we have been inserting Wiewel’s name into (to avoid confusion, the letter V stands in for the letter W in most cases):

-Evil Vievel -Vievel Knievel-Vievel the Weevil -Invader Vim-Grim Vim-Slim Vim-Vievel, don’t leavel!

Have any more Wim Wiewel nicknames? Send them to [email protected] and you may be rewarded with gold doubloons … or at least have your name mentioned.

What the hell is that?

Besides being the birthplace of PSU’s new president, the Netherlands is known for a host of other interesting things. Just don’t call it Holland (that name really only describes two of the country’s provinces, North and South Holland, respectively).

Obvious details that set this Western European country apart: it is the third largest exporter of cheese, it is well known for its tulip production and has a curious history of clogs. There’s no way wooden shoes are that comfortable, but hey, they look great on a postcard.

While sadly, Oregon has fewer tulips than the Netherlands, we do share more than a couple social similarities, at least in our major cities.

Amsterdam loves bikes and so does Portland. Amsterdam has legalized prostitution; Portland loves strip clubs. Drugs are legalized in Amsterdam and Portlanders, er … love drugs. Portland also has an uncomfortably high amount of Clog dealers. Wiewel should feel right at home.

And just in case you weren’t convinced that Portland is basically the Amsterdam of the West, try this on for size: the Netherlands is one of the few nations of the world to allow assisted suicide, and Oregon is the only state where it is legal. So there’s that.