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NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS •• TUESDAY, TUESDAY, • Tuesday, • TUESDAY, JANUARY JANUARY March MAY24, 17, 5, 1, 2013 2012 • VANGUARD
VANGUARD • Tuesday, March 5, 2013 • News
Crime blotter for Feb. 22–28 Stephanie Tshappat Vanguard Staff
Feb. 22 Hit and run Fourth Avenue Building parking garage Officer Jon Buck took a report from a faculty member who was the victim of a hitand-run accident that occurred on Feb. 19, at 9:35 a.m., in the Fourth Avenue Building parking garage.
Theft Science Research and Teaching Center At 5:18 p.m., Officer David Baker took a report from a male subject who was unable to find his wallet. The victim believes he left his wallet in the first floor men’s bathroom of the SRTC building at noon. The victim noticed his wallet was missing at 4 p.m. and returned to the SRTC to look for it but found it was gone.
Feb. 23 Exclusion Broadway Housing Building At 1:18 a.m., Officer Schuurmans responded to Broadway residence hall after a report of a male subject masturbating on the second floor. Officer Schuurmans contacted nonstudent Elton L. Whittaker and determined no crime had been committed. Whittaker was issued an exclusion for creating an uncomfortable environment.
Car prowl University Place Hotel Officer Buck and Officer Gary Smeltzer responded to University Place Hotel for a report of a vehicle break-in that occurred between 4 p.m. on Feb. 22 and 9 a.m. on Feb. 23. The rear driver side window was broken, and miscellaneous items totaling $102 in value were reported missing.
Exclusion University Pointe Officer Chose and Officer Denae Murphy responded to University Pointe at 4 p.m. at the request of University Pointe security for a welfare check on a male subject who was passed out in the lobby. Nonstudent Jason Torgerson was issued an exclusion. University Pointe security said University Pointe considers the area of the lobby west of the sliding glass doors to be owned by PSU.
Feb. 24 Trespass arrest Parking Structure One At 1:26 a.m., a male subject fled from Officer Schuurmans in Parking Structure One, and after a short pursuit on foot, nonstudent Bradley N. Wright was taken into custody for trespassing. It was determined that Wright was using binoculars to look into the windows of the Broadway, University Pointe and Ondine residence halls.
Feb. 25 Warrant arrest Parking Structure Three At 8 a.m., Officer Chose contacted student Travis Murdock, who was parked in Parking Structure Three, exhibiting suspicious behavior and without a valid parking permit. Murdock was found to have an outstanding warrant for theft and was arrested.
Trespass Extended Studies Building parking lot At 3 p.m. in the southwest corner of the XSB parking lot, Officer Chose and Officer Murphy contacted nonstudent Gregory Hightower for drinking beer with nonstudents Mario Fuentes and Shima Haydarzadehsadrabadi. Hightower was issued an exclusion, Fuentes had a valid exclusion and was cited for trespass, and Haydarzadehsadrabadi claimed to have not been drinking.
Feb. 26 Disturbance Center for Student Health and Counseling At 3:15 p.m., Officer Baker and Officer Brian Rominger responded to a report of an aggravated and uncooperative student who refused to leave SHAC. The student claimed he had been treated unfairly by SHAC staff and had been asked to leave by Dr. Mark Bajorek. Bajorek gave information to file a formal complaint and asked the student to leave because of his aggressive behavior.
Marijuana incident Parking Structure One At 11:20 p.m., Officer Chris Fischer contacted nonstudent John Vo, nonstudent Sabath Lim, nonstudent Wattena Myers and nonstudent Trien Nguyen in a vehicle on the roof of Parking Structure One. All subjects admitted to smoking marijuana, and two glass pipes and a small amount of marijuana were confiscated.
Feb. 27 Marijuana incident University Honors Building Officer Rominger and Officer Baker contacted nonstudents smoking marijuana on the north side of the University Honors Building. One subject was an unidentified white adult female; the other subjects, Michael J. Jorgensen, Jacob M. Birdwell and Victoria M. Sevin, were issued exclusions.
Feb. 28 Vehicle break-in University Center Building At 4:47 p.m., Officer Rominger received a report from a student whose backpack, containing two textbooks, had been stolen from his vehicle while it was parked at the University Center Building. The rear left passenger window was broken.
Class profile: ‘Sports and Entertainment Management’ Gwen Shaw Vanguard staff
Students may neglect to think about what their professors did before coming to Portland State or what they do outside of teaching, but given the scholastic diversity of PSU’s faculty, there’s no doubt many professors have interesting stories and rich experiences they can pass on to their students. J.E. Isaac is a case in point. Currently an adjunct professor in the School of Business Administration, Isaac carries a diverse resume of accomplishments achieved prior to landing at PSU. After Isaac finished undergraduate school at the University of Kentucky, he pursued law school at the Florida State University College of Law. Upon completion, Isaac practiced law in Florida for three years before making the decision to move to a new city. “I circled three cities on the map of the U.S.: Seattle, Denver and Portland,” Isaac said. “I went to visit all three, and I had a friend that lived here and showed me around, and I just fell in love with it here.” Isaac moved to Portland and practiced law in the area for a couple of years before he decided it was time to do something more creative. With no previous management knowledge, he began managing a local band, Quarterflash. After hooking up the band with Geffen Records, they went platinum and became internationally known. Eight years in the music industry went by before Isaac felt the need for another change. In 1988, he was given the opportunity to work with Paul Allen, who had just bought the Portland Trail Blazers and was in the process of transforming the team from a sports franchise to a full-service sports entertainment company. Allen was looking to build an arena because, at the time, the Memorial Coliseum was the smallest and third-oldest arena in the NBA and lacked the modern amenities necessary to fully monetize the franchise. Isaac was brought in to begin work on the Rose Garden Arena project. Hired as director of game operations and merchandising, Isaac said he immediately worked to establish a new retail arm that included a store downtown and others around the state. “I demonstrated that I was good at doing due diligence on businesses and developing them, and that led to my promotion to vice president of business development,” he said. Isaac continued to climb the ladder, becoming vice president of business affairs and then senior vice president of business affairs. In addition to his work with the Blazers,
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J.E. isaac will bring his diverse experiences to the classroom next term. Isaac also held positions in Allen’s other companies, including the Seattle Seahawks. After 24 years with the team, Isaac left in the summer of 2011 to take a long vacation. “I needed it,” he said. “It was really a grueling pace and workload that I had while I was with the Blazers.” Despite the need for a break, Isaac said he wasn’t ready for retirement. “I wanted to use the knowledge, expertise and connections that I had built up over 30 years of working in sports entertainment in Portland. So I took a job consulting,” he said. Isaac was asked to design and teach a course in sports and entertainment in the summer of 2010 and found he thoroughly enjoyed it. Now Isaac spends his time teaching the course at PSU while maintaining his job as a consultant. “It gives me the freedom to travel, which I like to do. But still feel like I’m giving back and staying firm on things,” he said. “It’s just been really fun.” The course that Isaac teaches at PSU is called “Sports and Entertainment Management,” and as the title suggests, it’s about the sports and entertainment industry. Isaac said that most sports franchises nowadays are far more than just a football team or a basketball team. They often own and control their own venue, as well as their own food and beverage company, and put on concerts and events outside of sporting games. “They are really full-service sports entertainment companies,” Isaac explained. “This class is designed to allow students to understand how that industry works and also to point out opportunities for them to be a part of that.” In addition to the experience Isaac brings, students in
the class are also exposed to an array of guest speakers, including people in high-profile positions like the chief operating officer of the Portland Timbers, the former chief operating officer of the Trail Blazers and the president of the Winterhawks. “I try to bring in people who are longtime executives. I want to give the students opportunities to hear from people with experience beyond mine,” Isaac said. Isaac incorporates a lot of multimedia into his lessons and tries to make it as interesting for the students as possible. Students get to go on a field trip that changes from term to term that showcases what it’s really like to be a part of the field. The class involves a lot of discussion and a final project that helps students understand real-life sports and entertainment. Two years ago, during the NBA lockout, Isaac was able to split his class into two groups, the owners and the players, and had them negotiate their own deals. “I’m extremely impressed with the student body at PSU. I don’t know if this is true in other schools, but in the school of business the students are older, and they already have been in or are currently in the workforce, and they are going to school for the right reasons,” Isaac said. “They are there to learn and to advance their careers. They pay attention, they work hard. Most of the students here are serious students, and they’ve just been a pleasure to work with.” The class will be offered next term and is primarily for upper division and graduate business students, but qualified students from outside the School of Business Administration will be considered on a case-by-case basis, space permitting. If interested, contact Isaac at jisaac@pdx.edu.
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philanthropy from page 1
Mayor charlie hales speaks about the many ways to give at the Hands-on Philanthropy launch party on Thursday.
Hands-on launch party raises more than $20K for class Forrester works as a consultant and strategist for Strategik Solutions and spends time plugging away at the grassroots level for nonprofit organizations. He also canvassed for Portland Mayor Charlie Hales during his campaign. But even with such a packed resume, Forrester’s inspiration came from a botched attempt to raise money while visiting, ironically, a high school course designed to teach students how to distribute donated money—just like Forrester’s course aims to do. “I thought, you know, I was young, they were young, they are going to give me money for sure, and then they asked me a ton of hard questions, and I was like…oh no. This was harder than I thought it was going to be,” he said. “They didn’t give me a dime, but I remember thinking what a cool idea [that class] was.” With the help of Ben Anderson-Nathe, Forrester’s faculty advisor, the course was officially submitted for inclusion in the Chiron program. Next, Forrester realized he had to use his professional
network to see if he could raise a pool of money for his class to work with. But that plan was derailed after a chance meeting with the director of the Harold and Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation, who in turn introduced Forrester to Arlene Schnitzer. Schnitzer offered a $10,000 donation—if Forrester could find another $10,000 to match it. “When I call people up and say…I’m looking for a match to meet the Schnitzer Foundation[’s], they are like, ‘Oh! Arlene is invested in this? OK, let’s hear more,’” he said. “It’s a stamp of approval but also a real symbol of how much they supported the idea.” Forrester’s plan was to break the match donations down into a series of $1,000 donations from business leaders and philanthropists in the Portland community. One such donation came from Bill Dickey of Morel Ink. “I’ve met [Forrester] a few times before and spotted him as an up-and-comer,” Dickey said. “But I could tell he was invested in this—he was asking all the right questions.”
Forrester spearheaded his final donations on Thursday, hosting a launch party for Hands-On Philanthropy at the Picnic House. Peppered throughout the crowd of 60 were committed investors such as Dickey, Forrester’s faculty advisors and potential donors ready to hear Forrester’s pitch. Hales was also present and spoke to the potential donors on Forrester’s behalf. “The great thing about Portland is that here you aren’t who you are when you got off the boat. You are what you choose to do,” Hales said. “And I’m just so excited that someone here is taking his idea he scribbled off the back of a napkin or something, and has made it real, in his community, in his neighborhood, in his school.” By the end of that night, donations were still rolling in. More than $20,000 was raised for Forrester’s class, all of which would go into the pool for students to use, as PSU waived the usual registration fee for Chiron coursework to be listed in the academic bulletin. Ultimately, Forrester and those who donated hope this
trimet from page 1
TriMet spokeswoman refutes ATU allegations
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Max trains and the Portland streetcar intersect at PSU’s Urban Plaza. The ATU is concerned about this “blackout area.” This story comes amid other safety concerns surrounding public transportation and underlines a struggle between TriMet and the ATU. The news of the blackout zone follows concerns about the safety of TriMet’s buses and rail systems. A recent YouTube video revealed a MAX train traveling down Interstate 84 at highway speeds with its doors open. Addressing these concerns, the ATU issued a statement that said, “TriMet workers say that open doors on traveling trains are just the tip of the iceberg… Management has been alerted repeatedly to dangerous problems on the light rail system, yet has failed to take action.” Hansen is quoted in the document expressing concern for worker and public safety. “Our workers are afraid that a passenger, a member of the public or one of their co-workers is going to be injured or killed. It’s that simple.”
The statement also indicated that transit workers have provided a list of railcar doors “seriously in need of an overhaul. “The mechanics are worried about the serious damage that could occur if one of these 90-pound doors falls, especially if it happens when the train is moving,” Hansen said in the statement. “Anyone can look at the Type 2 and 3 cars and see that the doors are sagging. That’s a clear sign of potential failure.” Roberta Altstadt, a spokeswoman for TriMet, issued a response to KOIN news refuting these claims. “As part of an ongoing campaign to discredit TriMet, the ATU alleged that the MAX system is unsafe. These allegations questioning the safety of the MAX system are absolutely false. “The allegations are meant to deflect attention from contract negotiations.
“TriMet has repeatedly asked the ATU leadership to come to the table to negotiate excessive health care costs and other contract loopholes. They have refused to do so. “TriMet’s dedicated safety team and union mechanics, operators, controllers and field staff work every day to ensure the system—both bus and MAX—is safe for TM riders and their fellow employees,” Altstadt said. Regardless of the circumstances, Hansen said the ATU is dedicated to making TriMet and the public aware of safety issues so they can both practice proper safety procedures. “We’re willing to educate,” Hansen said. “It’s about moving forward.” The Amalgamated Transit Union has created a website, transitvoice.org, where commuters and citizens can stay updated on the issues and voice their concerns.
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course will help to illustrate that philanthropy is not limited to how much money any one person can give out of their own pockets. Instead, learning what Hales called “habits of the heart” can help facilitate an understanding that giving can be done in many different ways, whether
you are the one giving the money or you are the one offering a helping hand. Even with the groundwork laid, Forrester was quick to note that the bulk of the work is still ahead. “It’s an amazing feeling to have so many people— community leaders, friends,
students, colleagues—come together all in one place to support you in turning a vision into reality. But this is just the beginning; the real fun starts on the first day of class,” he said. The course begins April 1 and can be found on the course schedule at pdx.edu.