Author: Robert Seitzinger

Hot wings are tasty. Hot wings go great with beer. Hot wings are about as primal a food as modern cuisine offers man, satisfying his innate desire to gnash his teeth into the skin of another mammal and chow down on its flesh straight off the bone.

What a year 1983 was! Technology was everywhere. Microsoft Word was released and Return of the Jedi made it to theaters. But the most important event of that year was the debut of the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan, bundled with the original Mario Bros. Some 25 years later, Mario’s mustachioed mug reigns supreme as the mascot of video games with a library in the dozens, spanning from adventure and sports games to puzzlers and educational titles. That impressive resume secures Mario’s place in the hearts of gamers everywhere, and thanks are due to him for leading the evolution of video games from a nerdy, sub-social pastime into a cultural phenomenon enjoyed by millions.

The Portland State chapter of the American Association of University Professors has declared an impasse in its ongoing salary dispute with the PSU administration, a move that puts full-time faculty one step closer to a potential strike. The PSU-AAUP Executive Council met with its collective bargaining team Thursday amid stalled negotiations to declare the impasse. Now, both the AAUP and the PSU administration have seven days to submit their final offers to a state mediator who will then make the offers public. After a 30-day “cooling off” period, the university can submit its final offer if no resolution is reached. The faculty would then have the right to strike.

Jim Jackson is a Portland State student with degenerative eye disease, a condition that progressively worsens his eyesight as time goes by. Because of his condition, he needs to use special technology and adapted textbooks in order to keep up with his class work–technology that is often scarce around campus, he said, and books that require extra steps to order.

Ahh … spring is here. Breathe in the sweet air of freshly cut grass. Feel the light breeze tingle across your face. Got that out of your system? Good. Now shut the damn windows, pick up your controller and turn on the TV. Video games will give you all the exercise you need.

When news of the compilation of Final Fantasy VII was first announced, joy tickled Square Enix fans’ hearts. What could possibly be better than a whole series of games based around the events of what is arguably the greatest role-playing game in history? That question remains unanswered. Instead, mediocrity reigned and fans were disappointed. Crisis Core, a recently released FFVII prequel on the PlayStation Portable, ends the trend of shittiness.

After almost a year of searching, the Portland State Presidential Search Committee has chosen the top three candidates from many looking to be the next PSU president. The PSU community will have a chance to meet each of the candidates over the next two weeks. The first candidate will visit campus this Wednesday, with the other two coming next week.

Sustainability is a hot topic of conversation across Portland, but Deborah Tolman is doing more than talking about the “green” lifestyle–she’s helping lead the way. It’s been over a year since Tolman, a professor of environmental sciences at PSU, started work on The Tolman Guide to Green Living in Portland. Now it is finished and she is currently distributing copies for free.

“So then Captain Olimar barely got back to the stage, grabbed a Home Run Bat and sent Jigglypuff’s pink ass rocketing off the screen! It was awesome!” That sentence would have been cracked-out video gamer gibberish before Super Smash Bros. Brawl hit shelves last weekend. But now, it’s a distinct possibility. Brawl is the third title in the series, which spans a wide swath of Nintendo franchises to bring characters, battle stages and power-ups all together in one game.

The term is wrapping up, and with a student evaluation on your desk, your chance to sound off about your professor is here. You have filled in the bubbles and–love or hate your instructor–you have made your opinions clear. But where do those anonymous pieces of paper go after they leave the classroom?