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For the first time, Oregon’s large nonprofit sector has received the analytic attention it deserves.

On May 1, Oregon’s $13 billion nonprofit sector was splayed and dissected in a 38-page document highlighting the sector’s strengths, weaknesses and impacts on the state’s overall economy and society. This inaugural document was the result of a collaborative partnership between the Nonprofit Association of Oregon and Portland State’s Institute for Nonprofit Management.

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Kristine Nelson, professor and dean emerita at Portland State’s School of Social Work, passed away on April 22 after a long struggle with cancer.

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.

In 2010, an anonymous donor gifted a box of old and fragile documents to the Northwest News Network, and shortly thereafter researchers discovered that the documents provided details on hundreds of deceased Chinese immigrant workers. Recently, Oregon State University digitally archived the collection, which dates back to the mid-20th century, and placed the entire collection online. The physical copies are currently being held at Portland State in special collections. The disinterment documents are in Chinese and are still in the process of being translated to English.

In late March, Portland State’s American Marketing Association chapter returned victorious from the 34th Annual International Collegiate Conference, placing in multiple conference categories and winning a $1,000 cash prize for the organization. The conference, which took place in New Orleans March 22–25, gave the small PSU team the chance to show off its skills.

Portland State’s School of Extended Studies laid off 16 employees last week in an administrative decision as part of a 4 percent budget cut implemented throughout the university. The university said the goal of the cuts is to decrease spending while maintaining academic programs and services for students. “These cuts will produce $1.5 million annual savings (in salaries and services/supplies). By making strategic budget reductions such as these, the university protects its core academic and student services from larger cuts,” PSU Director of Communications Scott Gallagher said.

On April 27, President Barack Obama signed an executive order that requires colleges and universities to inform all veterans of the exact costs of their education upon enrollment. Additionally, the order requires Veteran’s Affairs and the Department of Defense to investigate and eliminate any fraudulent scholarships or programs offered to veterans, to provide a centralized complaint system for veterans to voice their displeasures with abusive enrollment practices and to establish greater restrictions on aggressive recruiting of veterans by university officials.

Joshua Booren’s daughter was born with a rare chromosomal disorder: Trisomy 5p. “It affects the body from head to foot, including a severe mental disability,” Booren said. “When she was born, the doctors gave her a prognosis of one year,” he continued. “She is now nine years old and a wonderful part of our family.”

With TriMet’s approaching fiscal year well within sight, public transit users are forced to prepare themselves for the drastic systemic changes included within the agency’s budget proposal to close a $12 million gap.