Editorial: The price of solicitation

As students hustled to classes during the first two weeks of winter term, a familiar theme was evident in several locations: the abundance of people on campus that are not students.

This is something that students, faculty and staff have all come to put up with at Portland State. For years we have dodged the questions and persistent nature of those who choose the streets and sidewalks around PSU to solicit for their cause.

Whether it’s Greenpeace, religious zealots or peddlers trying to make a buck off of products that at least appear homegrown, we usually employ some sort of elusive behavior to free ourselves from being tied down in conversation or spending money.

While this has always been an issue, winter term brought a new wave of promoters to our community, although the product that they were peddling was anything but fresh.

A self-proclaimed “super fast mobile Internet” company made its presence clear at several locations with tents, tables, salespeople and, of course, great deals.

The hawkers claim that Clear’s “fast Internet” would help students do better in school throws caution to both the fact that PSU has a sufficient and free wireless network, and that campuses are a place for learning and not a place for people that have little or no interest in our education process.

The closer that the university gets to looking and feeling like the rest of the world in which we live, a world most surely full of all types of advertising, the further away we may get from the traditional educational process and the values implied.

It seems that those who control so much of that space on the Portland State campus—space that we traditionally place a high value on—are those seeking to profit from students and actually provide little to no educational benefit in return.

The collective effect of these far-reaching efforts is that students put up a wall between themselves and the rest of the world when strolling around campus. And that wall prevents students from hearing both the good and bad.

Not all those who seek your attention in the Park Blocks or on the streets adjacent to campus have only profit in mind.

Consider that everyday a loyal Street Roots vendor sits in front of Smith holding his newspaper and barely making a peep. He is not going to ask you whether you’re “cool” or “have a minute for the environment” but is probably more worthy of your attention.

There are likely many Portland State students who would read Street Roots but never give this vendor or the product a chance to convince them.

And there are others that are just as worthy of your time and attention, but it is the collective effect of those groups with no interest in your well-being or education that scare students away. 

Maybe it is student government attempting to register voters for an upcoming election. Or maybe it is a student group trying to recruit supporters for a protest. Or maybe it is an on-campus fraternity that needs your help raising money for a good cause.

But our ever-growing apathy toward all groups only nullifies the voice of those who actually campaign on our campus’ public pavement for a decent cause.