What is going on at PSU?
Smith Memorial Student Union is in shambles. Half of the restrooms are under construction and have been closed for months. What’s the hold-up? I installed my master-bathroom last year in less than 10 days, and that included new plumbing, walls and tile. It seems like there are only nine outlets in the building that are available to the hundreds (if not thousands) of PSU students who schlep our laptops around all day and occasionally need to give our batteries some rest. And it seems that the second floor of SMSU needed an extra hallway. One wonders: How many scholarships could have been given for what it cost to add this wonderful new hallway and all this gorgeous glass?
And now, the food court in Smith: What the cluster-fuck happened? Yes, it’s prettier than it was last year, but that’s about all. Long lines, crowded walkways, awkward pay stations, small portions and crappy food. I sure am glad Sodexho is in the house!
Yesterday, I found out that I have to pay Higher One $15 because the checking account I had to open in order to get my financial aid in a timely manner has a zero balance. It’s not overdrawn, I didn’t bounce a check (I don’t even have any checks), I simply don’t have any money in it, never have had any money in it, but that will apparently cost me $15!
As a transfer student with experience at two other universities, I have to wonder at what point do the best interests of the students here become important enough for the powers that be to take us into consideration?
Joel Bruner, PSU Student
Making up the band
Mr. Krow needs to get his facts right [“A grandmother joins a rock ‘n’ roll band,” Oct. 5]. When choosing to lambaste a new band, I would hope that a reviewer would have the integrity to know what s/he is talking about. First: fedora and zoot suit? Try an Irish cap, brown trousers and an olive blazer – far from the padded-shoulders formalwear Krow described. Furthermore, I’ve seen Roaring Lions many times and, yes, they have a lot of variety within their music, hence a rock opera sound. Think Freddie Mercury meets metal with melody. And, though I disagree with the screaming vocals bit, the math rock definition can loosely apply. However, to then attack them for a style of music makes no sense. That’s like attending a Lyle Lovett show and condemning him for his country influence. I would just hope that in the future this publication checks its facts and relays reviews that are based on quality not type of music performed.
Shannon, Vancouver
PSU’s expansion affecting local businesses
I like the idea of all this expansion but there is a downside [“PSU enrollment reaches an all-time high of 25,000,” Oct. 13]. I work for a small company just off campus, and our landlord just made it known that PSU is looking to buy our building. This would essentially put me out of a job because the company would relocate to Vancouver and thus not make it a viable option for me. It’s great that PSU is expanding but I think more focus needs to be put into a little more selective admissions. That would help PSU in many ways, not only by increasing our credibility (as well as the value of a PSU degree) but it would also be a step towards smaller classes and a better atmosphere for all.
Mike DeVietro
Portland
Who will stand up to the Church?
My mother was sexually abused throughout her childhood by her uncle, the pastor of our local Catholic Church [“Ungodly sins,” Oct. 14]. He later presided over the marriage of my parents and thereafter they were compelled to entertain him, my father unwittingly, since my mother never told him of the abuse. Prior to her death, my mother revealed the details of this abuse to her youngest daughter with the understanding that none of this be made known until all involved were dead. This abuse contributed to severe depression and alcoholism in my mother that was treated with electro-shock therapy. She eventually died demented. Over the years, four other priests have inflicted in one way or another sexual assaults on members of our family. This horror has affected our family through three generations. And who in the Church cares? No one.
I agree with everything you have written. But that still leaves me with a hollow feeling, especially as I see these monsters getting away with their sins through loopholes in the law. In my opinion, the only answer is a Congressional investigation of the Catholic Church as a criminal organization under RICO [Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act]. But who among our representatives in Congress has the guts to take on this still powerful entity?
Frank Breen, Michigan
[Ed. Note: the column reference is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Vanguard editorial staff.]
GenX rejects Church
I can say it better, but it would not get printed [“Ungodly sins,” Oct. 14]. The whole story is listed on my web site, and my personal fight with them in my blog. What many do not yet see is that they simply are the largest child sex ring in the history of the world, cynically disguised as "holy" men of God.
God does not rape children, Catholic priests do.
The thing they have not yet figured out is that it is this generation that is lashing back at them that also developed networking, and the internet into what it is today.
They are dealing with GenX, and that is their undoing. It is no longer 1430. Hello?
Get out of my country!
Get out!
Chris Kodger
[Ed. Note: the column reference is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Vanguard editorial staff.]
Turning the other cheek
I was sexually abused by a priest when I was a freshman in college [“Ungodly sins,” Oct. 14]. It was not an experience I wanted. Of course, I blamed myself for a long time. I was the “guilty” party. Eventually, I was able to come to terms with what happened.
But I have to say that this one experience was at total variance with all my other contacts with so many priests, seminarians and nuns. All of them were very honorable in their conduct, very interested in developing our spiritual, moral, and academic potential, and very generous with their time and energy. I realized that the priest who abused me was a rogue. He was so different from all the other clergy I knew.
I remain a committed and practicing Catholic. I always have been able to see the larger picture with the Church. I don’t believe I should judge the Church by its sinners, but rather by its saints because they are the ones who followed the teaching of the Church. And their fruit is very good indeed.
So, despite my bad experience – and now we know, the similar experiences of many others – I think this op-ed piece by Riggs Fulmer is over the top. I don’t find it balanced or fair. The New York Times had an editorial yesterday rightfully taking to task the Church in Los Angeles for its terrible record of protecting children through the decades. It did not use these tragic revelations as an excuse to savage the Church and and its teachings. This article betrays another agenda going on. For example, describing the present pope as an ex-Nazi – a teenager then forced into the Hitler Youth – would be about as accurate as describing me as a willing participant in my sexual abuse. Not factual, and mean-spirited.
Let’s pray for victims and the Church. However belatedly, the Church “gets it” now. The future protection of all children everywhere has to be our priority now. As Aristotle said, “The past, with its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived; but, if faced with courage, it need not be lived again.”
Max N., Greenwich, Conn.
[Ed. Note: the column reference is an opinion column and does not reflect the views of the Vanguard editorial staff.]