Bad approach to journalism
I do not know how involved you were specifically in the front-page publication of the article on Adam Rahmlow’s arrest—but I would like to express my extreme disappointment. This was not an act of mature, unbiased journalism, this was obviously a personal attack by people who were upset over the election results.
This is a minor offense with little evidence that happened nearly a year ago, so why was this article published three days ago?
I am a current PSU student who has never really read through a whole Vanguard article but has felt relatively guilty about it. I will certainly avoid supporting this newspaper in the future, though I hope this school’s approach to journalism changes in the years to come.
Darrin Chappell
Human ATM machines and wage slaves at PSU
I would like to thank the Vanguard for covering this event [“‘There is no financial crisis at PSU,’ expert says,” May 24]. The administration has engaged in a very successful con. They have conned students by convincing them that there is no other option but to increase tuition and enrollment, giving them less education for more money. They have conned faculty into giving up meaningful raises and agreeing to unpaid furloughs. However, this “crisis” has not stopped the number of administrative positions from increasing, or their salaries for that matter. But the con is officially over. Students and faculty should work together to improve the balance at PSU. Students are not ATM machines and faculty are not wage slaves.
Randy Blazak, Sociology
Responding to inaccurate opinion response
As a PSU student, Native American and member of UISHE, I was offended by the article, “Pinch Your Nose and Run,” by Meaghan Daniels which was published in the March 20 issue of the Vanguard.
Daniels states, “The Asthma and Allergy Foundation notes that the number one cause of anaphylactic reactions treated in emergency rooms in the US stem from food-allergy reactions—with seafood allergies being the most common among the adult population.” This statement is false. Upon looking on The Asthma and Allergy Foundation website concerning food allergies it states, “In adults, the causes (of anaphylactic shock) most often are shellfish.”
So when the author of the Vanguard article writes “seafood allergies,” it is not an accurate statement. The accurate statement would be to say “shellfish,” but this would ruin Daniels entire argument because salmon are not shellfish.
Furthermore the author of the PSU article would have one believe that one can have an allergic reaction and go into anaphylactic shock just by smelling a certain smell, fish, but this is not true.
Nowhere on the site does it say anything about the smell of seafood being potentially deadly to people who are allergic to shellfish, nor seafood. The statement the author makes, “Coleman cannot smell fish or any other seafood or she will go into anaphylactic shock,” is medically and scientifically false.
If this was the case, Ms. Coleman would be running all over campus “plugging her nose.” There is a fish-fry cart that sits caddy corner to where UISHE had their salmon bake everyday. What about the rest of the city and the world, does Ms. Coleman run around plugging her nose everywhere she goes?
I’m sure Meaghan Daniels will claim she meant no offense writing her opinion article but the fact is she cited incorrect facts to make her argument. It’s hard to not feel like this was an attack on the Native American community. Daniels suggesting the salmon bake be held in, “not such a centralized location,” is the type of thing Indigenous people have been dealing with for hundreds of years.
Daniels has one thing right, PSU is a campus that that “consists of over 25,000 people,” but it is also a school that prides its self on its diversity, or I thought it did. The fact that Daniels wrote this says one thing, it is her opinion I suppose, no matter how twisted her “facts” are, BUT the fact that the editor chose to run this attack on a single cultural group is unacceptable. Opinion piece or not, there should be standards.
Gillian Murr
Correction: I’d like to correct a statement I made in the Letter to the editor I wrote 5/27 in regards to the “Pinch Your Nose and Run article. I stated that “going into anaphylactic shock by smelling seafood is medically and scientifically false,” but upon further research outside of Meaghan Daniels listed sources, I have found some evidence of seafood allergy being caused by inhaling smoke in contained areas.
Gillian Murr
UISHE response
As the members and leaders of Portland State University’s United Indian Students in Higher Education, we find it appalling that when Meaghan Daniels wrote the article entitled, “Pinch Your Nose and Run,” she did not make the effort to meet with any of our organization’s members about the specifics of our Annual Salmon Bake.
Throughout the duration of the event there were at least five members present at all times. UISHE members arrived on campus at 6 am and remained in the park blocks until 2:30pm. Daniels had 8.5 hours to speak with representatives of UISHE on the day of the event. She also had the opportunity and access via SALP to contact us through: email, attendance of our office hours, and/or call. She did none of the above.
Daniels did not know if we could accommodate vegans or vegetarians. She had no knowledge of how our non-fish food was prepared. All of our non-fish food was cooked as both a vegan and kosher option. The fish never touched the non-fish food products. Megan Coleman could have eaten the non-fish option.
Daniels’ article singled out UISHE as being a threat to student safety and inclusiveness, while in reality our mission is exactly the opposite. UISHE assists indigenous and non-indigenous peoples in maintaining cultural values, while pursuing their educational goals. UISHE emphasizes the support of healthy lifestyles and the promotion of native self-determination.
We are sympathetic to Megan Coleman’s allergies and we will take this topic into consideration while planning our event next year. UISHE will continue to hold this event, because it is an integral component to indigenous communities of the Northwest.
My main concern with Daniels’ article is the manner in which she used comfort. “Comfort” is not singling out a culturally diverse group of students ONE day out of the entire year during, an attempt to share culture. Most Native American students do not feel comfortable in post-secondary institutions, because of situations like this. We still find it shocking that the Vanguard ran an article attacking us based on only a single student’s opinion in a university “that consists of over 25,000 people.”
We understand that not every person on PSU’s campus is going to like what UISHE does or who we are, but as a staff member of the school paper, Daniels should have at least attempted to get her facts right and include the opinion of more than one student.
United Indian Students in Higher Education