LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Progress and clarification

Thanks for the attention to our Exito! initiative in your May 17 front-page article [“Students seek results from Exito program,” May17]. Let me clarify a few misconceptions expressed by some of the students quoted in the article.

La Casa Latina, the cultural and support center for Latino and Latina students, opens June 8 in Smith Memorial Student Union. It has taken time to commission and complete the student artwork that will be prominently featured in the center. In the meantime, PSU has moved forward with $150,000 in Equal Access Scholarships, and the nonprofit PSU Foundation also is raising private money for more scholarships. We are awarding $100,000 annually to academic departments to help hire diverse faculty members.

Admissions has hired a new bilingual counselor, produced Spanish-language brochures, sponsors bilingual college nights and conducts bilingual family and student orientation sessions. The Bridges program also helps Latino and first-generation and ethnically diverse students transition to college. Other programs include Gaining Awareness and Networking for Academic Success (GANAS) and a year-long series of social and cultural events, outreach and support activities for students and their families. These are just some of increasing efforts to expand opportunities not only for Latinos but all underrepresented groups at Portland State.

Exito means success in Spanish, and the benefits that come from the success of these students will be shared by everyone at the university and across Oregon.

Jilma Meneses, Chief Diversity Officer

Portland State University

Witness to the trial

I went to part of Adam’s trial and the police lied. It was clear. That is why the jury only convicted him of resisting arrest. Which begs the question—arrest for what? I personally like him better for fighting back when he was assaulted, which is what it feels like when a cop grabs you and throws you down.

The cop who arrested him said that he was being belligerent (or something to that effect) when he was being processed. There was a video of that, and it turns out she was lying. It was clearly shown in the video that he was being cooperative while being processed. I just think resisting arrest is a cop-made-up offense, when a person is innocent of other charges and that is the only one that sticks.

Trish Binder