ASPSU launches new website

ASPSU will be launching a new website this week—maybe by Friday, according to student government representatives.

The current website is a dinosaur in many areas, users say. Donovan Powell, publications director at ASPSU and the force behind the new interface, said that the search function on the current ASPSU website accomplishes just about as much as the Portland State website’s search function does: zip.

In addition to the useless searching, there’s a “member login” that can be only used by the webmaster. Why this was put on the site, Powell has no idea.

“In comparison to the old site, the new site will be a sleek and efficient machine,” Powell said.

He remembers carefully considering his own frustrations with the site when he brainstormed improvements for all users.

The search function will be replaced with a methodically laid-out homepage that quickly directs ASPSU staff members and other visitors to information.
As part of the new design, far more student government documentation such as meeting minutes and proposals will be posted online regularly for students to view.

Documents spanning the whole term and previous terms will be available to everyone in the archive section, Powell said, and then transferred to the ASPSU I: drive at the end of the year.

Powell also aims to use the new site in promoting upcoming campaigns such as student outreach and the food pantry.

Overall, Powell said, the new system and website will be far more organized then it ever has been before.

Kelly Hess, a former ASPSU member, said that the current site could stand to be improved.

“It’s absolutely terrible,” he said. “There were broken links everywhere, misspelled names, incomplete bios. The Elections Board didn’t even have a link for the majority of the year. I recall having my picture taken for the site on at least two occasions, but it was never uploaded—or at least not successfully. I’ve seen some of Donovan’s in-progress pages, and each one is vastly superior to the entirety of the former site. I can’t wait to see it up and running.”

However, the current ASPSU site stands out in comparison to other student government websites in Oregon, according to Powell. He said that the University of Oregon’s associated students website is “very cut and dry.”

Along with the complete re-design of the website, the ASPSU logo and seal has been reconceived by Powell and Leif Zuk, ASPSU Senate Pro Tempore.
Zuk explained that the previous seal was designed arbitrarily.

Neither Powell or Zuk understood where many of the images and designs came from or what they represented. In fact, Powell said that some of the graphics used in the seal were clearly clip-art images culled from Microsoft Word.

Powell and Zuk designed a new seal—along with two commemorative seals—that have historical significance and will be used on future documentation and implemented on the new website.

The five stars on the new seal represent the high school presidents who helped the students form ASPSU. These stars also represent the five branches of the organization and the five different incarnations of the “school that wouldn’t die” after the Vanport flood in 1948.

Zuk pointed out that student government has been a part of the university since its founding in 1946.

He hopes that the new seal, to be voted on and approved this summer, will bring a new level of consistency to ASPSU.