“That’s why I moved here—to get away from big coal,” said Carol Ross, a transplant to Oregon from West Virginia. “I watched as my home was destroyed by the coal industry.” Ross and her husband moved to Oregon after their retirement to escape the “constant heartache of witnessing the decimation of Appalachia.”
At Portland State, students can find opportunities for involvement in projects that will impact campus life or important policies at the university or community level. But one group of graduate students in the Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning program are taking that involvement one step further, formulating a project whose outcomes could potentially determine the economic future of an entire city.
If it’s never occurred to you that the science museum could be used as a hot date night, then you’ve been missing out! OMSI offers an array of interesting events for nightlife seekers. OMSI After Dark, held the last Wednesday of each month, is a 21+ night that often features libations, live music and science-themed samplings for all five senses ($12 for non-members). OMSI also spreads the love throughout Oregon with twice a month science pubs. And don’t forget OmniMax, where you surround yourself in science, sound and visuals inside the dome of OMSI’s surround screen. Available to all ages for less dough than the average megaplex theater.
Education is one of the most widely discussed areas in local and national politics. President Obama, in his 2012 State of the Union Address,focused on the increased difficulty of affording higher education. According to the Oregon Education Association, 33 of all considered bills in the recently closed 2012 Oregon State Legislative Assemblypertained to education. And last month, Oregon was one of 26 states to file a waiver temporarily exempting it from the nation’s highly contested No Child Left Behind Act.
“I have one of the most fun jobs on campus,” said Shannon Timm. A faculty member of the Student Activities and Leadership Program, Timm wears many hats, but her primary role as coordinator of Student-Led Services brought her to the six-member Speakers Board. “I get to stay really plugged in to what’s happening on campus,” Timm said.
“I have one of the most fun jobs on campus,” said Shannon Timm. A faculty member of the Student Activities and Leadership Program, Timm wears many hats, but her primary role as coordinator of Student-Led Services brought her to the six-member Speakers Board. “I get to stay really plugged in to what’s happening on campus,” Timm said.
Environmental journalists face a dilemma—how to make headlines for an often-invisible issue. “If it’s bloodless, slow-motion violence, the story is more likely to get buried,” said Rob Nixon, author and English professor at the University of Wisconsin-
Madison. Nixon visits Portland State this week, presenting both a lecture and a workshop exploring this issue.
Approximately 500 students, faculty, staff and community members rallied in the South Park Blocks against economic injustice in higher education on Nov. 16, 2011. They marched through downtown shouting cries of “Schools for students, not for profits,” and “Whose school? Our school.” That afternoon, close to 100 individuals stood in the rain for hours determining basic procedures of the general assembly, such as consensus versus majority rules on passing issues. The following week, close to 40 concerned PSU affiliates sat on the stage in Smith Memorial Student Union’s North Park room, setting agendas and demand points.