In short

Public safety forum tomorrow asks for input

Students and Portland State community members can to speak their mind and learn more about the Campus Public Safety department on Wednesday in what will be the second in a series of “Meet the Chief Forums.”

The forum will be held from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. tomorrow in Smith Memorial Student Union, room 258. Students can bring any specific questions or share any concerns they may have at the meeting.

Campus Public Safety Chief Michael Soto instituted the meetings last month to make himself more available to the student body, he told the Vanguard last month.

“I don’t want students to think that I am inaccessible, and this is also a way of receiving feedback from students about the campus officers’ conduct and professionalism,” he said.

The next forum is scheduled for June 18.

–Stover E. Harger III

Driver fatality stats show need to buckle-up

WASHINGTON (AP)-More than two-thirds of young drivers and passengers killed in nighttime car crashes weren’t wearing seat belts-deadly proof of what can happen when young people don’t “click it”. Though seat belt use is rising slightly nationwide, fatality figures published Monday offered a somber contrast as law enforcement launched its annual pre-Memorial Day drive to persuade Americans to buckle up.

Total belt use rose to 82 percent last year-from 81 percent in 2006-the government said. Twelve states had rates of 90 percent or better, led by Hawaii and Washington. Only three were below 70 percent: Arkansas, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

Sixty-eight percent of drivers and passengers between the ages of 16 and 20 who were killed in car crashes at night in 2006 were unbuckled, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. During daytime, 57 percent of the young motorists and passengers who were killed were not wearing seat belts.

That portion of the study focused on 2006 data and did not evaluate other years.

Oregon voter turnout eclipses 2004 totals

With the Oregon primary election hitting the state today, Oregonians are returning their ballots in large numbers-especially Democratic voters.

Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury said that as of Monday afternoon, more than 440,000 Oregon Democrats had returned their ballots, or about 51 percent of the total number of registered Democrats. About 246,000 Republicans-or 37 percent of registered GOP voters-had turned theirs in by the same time.

Combined with a 19 percent turnout by nonaffiliated voters, total turnout for all voters is about 38 percent so far-well ahead of the 33 percent turnout at this point of the May 2004 presidential primary.

“It’s thrilling to be involved in something that has so many people excited,” Bradbury said.

–Associated Press