Pentagon should allow women to join their comrades on the front lines
Are women likely to compromise military missions? Probably not. So why grant them fewer opportunities for career advancement on the basis of their sex?
Et tu, TriMet?
Another day, another price hike
Another memoir, another sordid affair, another intern.
Mimi Alford is the latest woman to claim an extra-marital affair with former president John F. Kennedy. At 19, she served as an intern at the White House and, according to her new book, Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and Its Aftermath, they engaged in an 18-month relationship.
Guns blazin’
New legislation takes aim at unsafe firearm policies
University students throughout Oregon, as a result of Senate Bill 1550, may find themselves stowing their guns under mattresses once more. The proposed bill would eliminate “affirmative defense exempting concealed handgun licensees from crime applicable to possession of firearm or other instrumental used as dangerous weapon, while on school grounds.”
Editorial: What has ASPSU done for you lately?
ASPSU’s recent rally in the park blocks was just the latest demonstration of how far your student government has strayed from making any kind of real impact for the students of Portland State.
Mindful eating
Take a moment to stop talking and eat
Watching people scarf down a burger on the MAX, quickly maneuver through the cafeteria line to grab a bagel and coffee “to go” or slurp a cup o’ noodles on the way to class makes one wonder how well the thinking, loving and sleeping are going.
Transcending a ‘transgression’
Girl Scouts face opposition from traditionalists over accepting a transgender child
The name Girl Scouts brings to mind all sorts of images, from camaraderie and togetherness to cookies and the cute little girls who sell them. One aspect of the Girl Scouts that often gets overlooked by those with no connection to the organization is its inclusiveness, especially in the face of redefining gender.
Anonymous and hacktivism
Nameless, faceless social activism in the Internet age
Do you remember the poem from V for Vendetta? “Remember, remember, the fifth of November, the gunpowder treason and plot. I know of no reason the gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.”
It was a rallying cry against fascism, censorship and injustice. It used the Guy Fawkes incident in 1604 England, in which a group of conspirators were caught trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate King James I, to protest tyrannical government.
Progressive reform
End of No Child Left Behind may be in sight
Last week, President Barack Obama gave 10 states the OK to scrap No Child Left Behind, one of the most unsuccessful and unpopular educational mandates in U.S. history.
NCLB was one of the first proposals George W. Bush put through Congress during his first term as president. The bill received overwhelming bipartisan support and was passed without many problems.
Determining destiny
Activism in America
Activism applies to many forms of politically motivated speech, whether it is boycotting industrial meat practices or signing a petition shared through Facebook.
‘John schools’ teaching unpleasant truths
Are students learning their lessons?
So, it’s the world’s oldest profession. Therefore, it must be the world’s oldest argument. What to do about prostitution? You’d think that, by now, we’d have come up with some answers to this centuries-old question. But, if anything, the conversation continues to get more muddy and complicated. So complicated that now we have schools about it!
Get loud, get gay, get active
Washington passes same-sex legislature and Prop 8 is overruled—but what about Oregon?
The past week has been a tumultuous one for gay rights. That’s right, folks; a bill allowing gay marriage was passed in Washington State and a federal appeals court ruled California’s much hated and heavily protested Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional.