Author: Carly Nairn

After not knowing whether they would receive money to print next year, Pathos Literary Magazine will be funded now that it is housed under the Student Publications Board. On Friday, the Publications Board accepted Pathos as a student publication. If it had not, the quarterly literary magazine would not have been able to receive Student Fee Committee money for next year. The Student Fee Committee put Pathos’ requested $15,049 budget for next year in a designated reserve, pending its approval to join the Publications Board. SFC guidelines state that a student publication that prints regularly must be housed under the board, which reviews and approves budget requests for student publications. The magazine will now move out from under the advising of Student Activities and Leadership Programs.

Last Saturday, hundreds packed the main gym of the Peter W. Stott Center to participate in and watch traditional dances, sample a variety of foods and learn about many cultures at the annual Pacific Islanders Club luau. The sixth-annual luau consisted of a traditional Hawaiian dinner, a raffle, local vendors selling products made from the Pacific Islands and a showcase of dances from the islands, which was the main entertainment of the evening.

The city has become a hub for sustainable fashion, with more local designers relying in part or entirely on sustainable materials.

Last weekend, vegans, vegetarians and omnivores descended upon Benson High School, where they made their way through the events that made up this year’s VegFest, an educational event designed to highlight veganism and vegetarianism. Samples of food were available, while guest speakers and chef demonstrations helped give insight into how a reduction in meat consumption could help bring about what Northwest Veg, the nonprofit that presented the event, calls a healthy, sustainable and compassionate world.

How often can you ride your bike to campus this month? That is what Portland State’s Transportation and Parking Services and the Bicycle Cooperative want to know, and they are challenging students to bike to and from school as much as possible in May for the Bike to PSU Challenge.

Deep in the basement of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department in the Fourth Avenue Building lies a virtual treasure trove of robotic oddities. There are full-sized mannequins, boxes of costumes from around the world, detachable faces, circuit boards and robots of all shapes and sizes. The basement is the headquarters of “Robot Theatre,” a brainchild of Portland State electrical engineering professor Marek Perkowski.

Seventeen-year-old Val stood on the stage in the Park Blocks early Thursday evening and told a crowd of over 100 that she was raped two years ago. Val, like most rape survivors, did not give her last name. She said life after being raped is not easy. Val now sees it as important to speak out about her experience so other survivors can know they are not alone. “I am not a victim anymore. I am not a spectator to my own life,” Val said. “The difference between a victim and a survivor is that survivors speak.”

Today marks the return of the annual “Take Back the Night,” a sexual assault awareness march and rally hosted by Portland State’s Women’s Resource Center.

Aimeera Flint wants to be a voice to help bring the under-represented and minority students into the PSU student government process.

ylee Richardson says she knows budgets and that is why she would be a good choice for next year’s Student Fee Committee Chair.

Michael DeVietro believes that his greatest challenge on campus as president of the Portland State College Republicans has nothing to do with the issues, but instead with the party’s stigma. “Every time people hear the word Republican, they think of George Bush and the Iraq War,” he said, “which is a big thing that is currently happening, but there are other issues to discuss.”