Filming by TNT’s television series Leverage on campus during winter term’s finals week sparked several complaints from students about restricted space, limited parking, added stress and rudeness from the film crew. While there were complaints, the show’s filming also sparked excitement within the Portland State community and brought in additional revenue.
The idea for a new student union by 2020 has raised concerns from Portland State students about the importance and timeliness of such an undertaking with tuition already on the rise. The two concepts—a renovation projected to cost $90 million, and a complete rebuild projected to cost $116 million—were unveiled the first week of April in two open-house meetings.
Last week, the student union 2020 feasibility study held open house meetings to discuss the study’s final results, unveiling two different building design concepts for a new student union. The concepts are the fruit of nearly a year’s collaborative efforts between Portland State and architecture firms Perkins + Will and DOWA Architects.
Oregon Mathematics, Engineering, Science and Achievement recently received a $216,000 grant from the Portland-based Lemelson Foundation to expand its focus on invention education. MESA programs provide early pathways for the next—and future—generation of engineers and scientists, giving support and tools to Oregon middle and high school students. Its programs teach students in the early stages of their educational careers about degrees that could help them pursue work in the engineering and science fields.
The first of its kind in the nation, Electric Avenue’s charging station, unveiled on Feb. 29 could change the entire model of electric vehicle charging, simply by using a battery. “It is wonderful to have this new station on Electric Avenue,” said Stan Sittser, transportation electrification project manager at Portland General Electric. “It is a terrific test bed for electric vehicle charging and information gathering. It is a showcase for new technology.”
Sustainability, feasibility, longevity, leadership—all major roles in determining the 2012 Portland State Solutions Generator student-grant program winners. These grants give students the chance to make their sustainable projects a reality. Approximately 40 proposals were submitted this year, and their overall high quality pushed the original number of group awards from 10 to 13. In total, about 50 students were chosen for awards.
Nuclear reactor safety has been center stage in national news since the U.S. recently announced the construction of the first nuclear reactor to be built in more than 30 years—the Georgia Vogtle plant. The announcement comes on the eve of the March 11
one-year anniversary of the 9.0 magnitude megathrust earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan. In the days after the catastrophic event, a series of malfunctions at the Fukushima I nuclear power plant resulted in one of the largest nuclear disasters in history. It caused worldwide concerns over nuclear reactor safety.
The Portland State Environmental Club is organizing a week of celebration for Earth Day, dubbed Earth Week, to be held April 16–20, and is looking for organizations at PSU and in the community at large to participate in the event.
The Broadway and Ondine residence hall buildings are the arenas for Portland State’s Eco Reps Conservation Challenge event, which runs from Feb. 6 to April 22. Aimed to help conserve resources at Portland State, the 12 events in the series promote sustainability and awareness of resource consumption. Each event challenges students to look at energy and water consumption, while offering prize incentives for students who take up the challenge.
Portland State will launch a healthy vending machine pilot program on campus, which will run from February until the end of the academic year in June.
The program originated with the nutrition committee, a sub-committee of the Healthy Campus Initiative.
There are more than 250 scholarships available for the 2012–13 academic year, and applications are due next week, on Feb. 1.
These are the general university scholarships, the largest category of scholarships at Portland State, which include the Presidential and Oregon Laurels Scholarships. Other scholarships offered through various academic departments and the PSU Foundation may have later deadlines. For example, the ethnic-based scholarships offered through the Foundation are due on Mar. 15, 2012. The main graduate application closes on April 2, 2012.