How was your spring break and what was different about it compared to past spring breaks?
Imagine there’s no Facebook
Facebook, the wind seems to whisper, isn’t cool anymore. Upstarts like Snapchat and Tumblr—websites that appeal more to today’s youth— are seizing coveted turf from the world’s biggest social network. In its annual company report, released this February, Facebook acknowledged having trouble luring teens into its net.
Spring fever and sunshine
Now that we’ve made it through winter term and are barreling into spring, it’s not uncommon for students to start feeling less than enthused about sitting in stuffy classrooms when just outside there are blue skies, soft breezes and food carts soaking up the sun.
A difficult thing to accept
Last Sunday, my bookshelf broke, and I ran out of my apartment and sobbed in the stairwell of a parking structure for half an hour. It’s not a joke. It’s not hyperbole. It was me at my breaking point. This is going to be my last article for the Vanguard. My editor let me decide what I should write—science? legislation? women’s rights?—and I eventually decided that my last submission should be more than that.
P(ushover)-Town
We agree that our city is far and away the world’s greatest. Paris of the Cascades; gateway to the Willamette Valley’s tight-plotted orchards and sprawling vineyards; land of milk and honey and high-gravity Imperial Pale Ale: Portlanders live nestled in one of the most charmed corners of planet Earth.
Tough commutes
When it comes down to it, I really don’t have a whole lot to complain about. Sure, there are rising tuition costs, weird weather, sometimes the show I want to go to is sold out—the list goes on. However, these complaints are small and relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things (apart from the tuition costs, and I’m sure I’m not alone in that). However, one thing that I find to be a valid complaint is the rising cost of public transit.
Scouts’ (dis)honor
It’s Girl Scout Cookies season. And as we approach finals week, a lot of my friends have received boxes of cookies as gifts. Not because the cookies are fantastic (though they are), but because conservative groups have recently taken aim at the Girl Scouts of America. Still, the organization has held its ground. And what they support, what they stand for, makes me love them
Oregon’s tuition equity bill on its way to passing
A tuition equity bill is on its way to the Oregon Senate, and if legislators do what’s right, it should pass. The bill seeks to offer in-state college tuition to undocumented high school graduates who currently face out-of-state rates regardless of how long they’ve lived in Oregon. Portland State President Wim Wiewel is all for it, but it’s a controversial idea—a similar bill failed in 2011.
Not very neighborly
In a stunning turn of events, a private Christian school made a sexist decision. The San Diego Christian College fired Financial Aid Specialist Teri James after she revealed she was pregnant. Because of a binding “community covenant” she signed when she was hired that asked her not to engage in premarital sex, the school considered itself justified in terminating her employment.
Watch what you say
The language you speak could make a huge difference in your future. Keith Chen, a behavioral economist at Yale University, has developed a controversial theory linking language to health-related decision-making, spending habits and the ability to save for the future.
The future of HIV
Preventative steps are key when it comes to taking care of your health. Checking in with your body, with doctors, family, et cetera, can sometimes be the first step toward healing or possibly catching a potentially life-threatening disease in its early stages.