News briefs

Food service forum

Students can voice their feedback about past, present and future food service providers at Portland State during an open forum Wednesday, from 3 p.m.-4 p.m. in Smith Memorial Student Union, Room 327.

The forum was moved from Room 298 to Room 327. PSU Auxiliary Services and soon-to-be food service provider Aramark are looking for feedback about catering for events, meetings and conferences, the retail food court in SMSU, the Meetro coffee house, and athletic and student housing meal programs.

Students who cannot make it to the forum can e-mail any ideas, questions or comments to [email protected].

Aramark will start as PSU’s new food service provider on July 1. Auxiliary Services Director Julie North canceled PSU’s food service contract with provider Sodexho earlier this year. Aramark was the PSU food service provider from 1999 to 2005, but lost out to Sodexho in a bid for the PSU contract in 2005.

PSU ended its contract with Sodexho five years before the contract was over because of overpriced food and service mistakes, according to North.

-David Holley

House passes plain language bill

A new bill mandating that state agencies use plain language in public communications was passed in the Oregon House of Representatives last week. Plain language is defined as using short sentences and simple words and layouts, minimizing confusion in government documents.

Sponsored by Rep. Chuck Riley (D-Hillsboro), House Bill 2702 proposes that Gov. Ted Kulongoski choose a government agency to come up with a plan to ensure that public documents are written in an easy-to-understand style, to be implemented state-wide by Nov. 1.

The bill is long overdue and should pass, Riley said. The plain language bill will be moving to the state Senate in the coming weeks of the state legislative session.

-Steve Haske

Domestic partner bill passes House

Oregon’s gays and lesbians would win the benefits of marriage and protections against discrimination under landmark bills approved Tuesday by the Oregon House.

The two measures go to the Senate, where they are expected to win approval and be forwarded to Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a strong supporter who plans to sign both. Kulongoski called House passage of the bills “a great day for Oregon.”

With dozens of gay rights activists looking on from the upper galleries, the two measures won the unanimous endorsement of the House’s majority Democrats, with a few Republicans adding support.

One would enable same-sex couples to enter into contractual relationships that grant them the same benefits offered to married couples under state law. The bill refers to the relationships as “domestic partnerships.”

The other bill would ban discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgendered people in employment, housing and access to public accommodations.

-Brad Cain, Associated Press

Self-extinguishing cigarette bill signed into law

A bill requiring that cigarettes sold in Oregon be self-extinguishing was signed into law Tuesday.

It requires them to have a specially ribbed surface that restricts the burning of tobacco when they’re not being puffed on. The requirement takes effect Jan. 1, but officials said some fire-safe cigarettes started going on sale Tuesday.

From 1999 to 2005, cigarettes caused 8,824 fires resulting in 37 deaths, 185 injuries and over $32 million in direct property loss in Oregon.

Eight other states and Canada require cigarettes to be fire-safe, according to the Coalition of Fire-Safe Cigarettes. According to the organization, cigarettes are the leading cause of fatalities in U.S. home fires, responsible for 700 to 900 deaths a year.

-The Associated Press