Author: Desmond Fuller

Today the ballots will be counted in Oregon’s primary. In the absence of a race for the governor’s office or a contested presidential primary, Portland’s tight mayoral race takes the spotlight in the local political arena. The three prominent candidates, Eileen Brady, Charlie Hales and Jefferson Smith, sit in a dead heat as the polls close tonight.

On April 25, the office of campus safety sent an email to all students and staff informing them of a police investigation concerning threats of violence to the student body. It was reported that 33-year-old Henry Liu, a graduate student studying conflict resolution, had made death threats regarding faculty. The email stated that though Liu had not been charged with a crime, he had been banned from campus and was under investigation by law enforcement agencies.

An April lawsuit filed by students at California’s Ventura College against Higher One calls into question the vendor’s policies and procedures associated with college student accounts, including those at Portland State.

Looking ahead to the upcoming fiscal year, Portland State is faced with a disparity between revenue and expenses, resulting in inevitable cuts in spending—including employee cuts. In attempts to prevent some of the anticipated job losses, PSU recently came out of negotiations with the American Association of University Professors with a plan to provide retirement incentives for eligible employees. For every employee who opts to take incentives and retire, PSU administration argues, one less position will have to be cut down the line.

In panning out the Oregon state budget for 2011, legislators made significant cuts in funding to state universities. Whereas once state university expenditures were mostly covered by state subsidies, now the opposite is true, with most expenses covered by tuition and fees. With a dramatic 23 percent decrease in state funding and a continuing harsh economic climate, Portland State administrators set about devising a proposal for a new budget model by which to evaluate financial decisions in the coming years.

After stepping back from a 40-year political career in Oregon politics, former Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski decided to continue working in the field, but with a change of scene: from the governor’s office to the classroom. Starting fall term 2012, Kulongoski will be teaching political science in the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State.

By this time next year, Portlanders should see a new flock of bicycles settle in the Rose City. Part of the new Portland Bike Share program currently making its bureaucratic rounds, the 740-strong bicycle fleet would find homes at various pods across the city, including Portland State.

As of Tuesday, March 6, a total of 23 candidates had filed to run in the 2012 mayoral election. With the May 15 primary elections fast approaching, the Portland mayoral race moves into a critical period of voter outreach, and candidates are redoubling efforts to raise awareness of their platforms. The top candidates—Jefferson Smith, Eileen Brady and Charlie Hales—and alternative candidates like Cameron Whitten are seeking endorsements and knocking on as many doors as possible, hoping to gain momentum going into the primary.

TriMet has emphasized, in the media and in its series of open-house meetings, that changes have to be made to make up for its $17 million budget shortfall. It needs higher rates and a streamlined system in order to balance the budget and especially to prevent further cuts in services. But what exactly does TriMet mean by a “flat-fare” system?