Opinion

Honest Tea set up shop at PSU, but they didn’t leave anyone to guard the cash box. With no one to hold them accountable for paying, PSU students overwhelmingly chose to pay for their tea.

Originally a social experiment to test how honest Americans are, the Honest Tea corporation has branched into testing how honest universities are. Their “tea shop,” located in the South Park Blocks, consisted of tea advertised at $1 and a cash box where students could decide whether to pay or not.

Oregon very nearly had the distinction of being the first state in the United States to bring a Twitter-based libel lawsuit to court.

No, you didn’t just misread that. In what must be one of the strangest cases in Oregon history, a Tigard doctor attempted to sue a Portland blogger for a blog post and tweet referencing a reprimand he received in 2001 for a violation of the Medical Practices Act.

Mind reading.

The phrase itself sounds like something out of a science fiction or fantasy story, doesn’t it? For many, it is as far removed from reality as the concept of magic or precognition. Insight and deduction make it into a parlor game, joked about and easily dismissed.

A world without Steve Jobs.

It’s an odd prospect for many. The loss of the entrepreneurial genius with an affection for black sweaters and jeans has weighed heavily in discussion these past few weeks, and understandably so. It seems so strange that someone who represented so much to so many could die so young.

Does Condoleezza Rice strike you as a good representative for the PSU Foundation?

That’s the question on many minds since the announcement that Rice would be the keynote speaker at the 12th Annual Simon Benson Awards on Oct. 19. The awards, named after Portland’s own Simon Benson, celebrate those who strive to pioneer philanthropy in Oregon and put on as a fundraiser for the PSU Foundation. Former keynote speakers have included Magic Johnson, Bob Dole, and Queen Noor of Jordan. Now joining their ranks, Rice has sparked a great deal of controversy.

Last month, Portland State launched its completely revamped website. The sleek new interface was not what any students were expecting.

And to say that it is unpopular is an understatement. Students are frustrated over how difficult the redesign has made navigating the site. With the removal of a majority of the drop-down menus that made the site so user-friendly before, finding the correct page has become increasingly difficult. Worse yet, the change came as a complete surprise to most students looking to find resources for the upcoming school year.

As of Sept. 28, concealed firearms are permitted on any of the seven public university campuses in Oregon. A three-judge panel in the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that a ban on guns throughout the Oregon University System is unlawful and against citizens’ second amendment rights—the right to bear arms. This ruling gives any permit-carrying gun owner the legal right to bring his or her weapon onto PSU and other Oregon campuses as long as it remains concealed. As expected, this alteration has been met with much controversy and concern statewide.