WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 61
Event of the day Have you joined any exercise groups in the new Student Rec Center yet? ShimmyPhat Fitness combines exercise and belly dancing for students who want to tone their bodies while learning flirty dance moves. When: Arrive by 5:45 p.m., starts at 6:15 p.m. Where: ASRC, room 440/441
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INSIDE NEWS M.E.Ch.A rallies for immigration reform Members call on Sen. Wyden to support DREAM Act PAGE 3
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What women want Ariel Gore explores happiness through a woman’s eyes PAGE 4
John Hall
Photo courtesy of PSU
PSU econ professor accused student of trying to incite violence and of spying Vanguard staff
OPINION
Adam Wickham/Portland State Vanguard
Professor banned from teaching following verbal confrontation Virginia Vickery and Theodora Karatzas
Do as the romans do When in Rome reminds us not to steal coins from the fountain of love PAGE 5
Zachary Bucharest
A tenured Portland State economics professor is currently suspended from teaching after he publicly accused a student during a class lecture of being an FBI informant and of trying to sell guns to students. Professor John Hall, during his 2 p.m. “Economics 445/545: Comparative Economic Systems” class on Jan. 14th, verbally harangued student Zachary
Bucharest for nearly half an hour, according to students in the class. Hall, who has taught at PSU for 24 years, began the class with a lecture relevant to the course material but about halfway through the two-hour long class, he began to describe his experiences with law enforcement in other countries including Eastern Europe, according to a student who wished to remain anonymous. Hall claimed to have been surveilled at times throughout his life and then told the class that an FBI informant and agent provocateur was in their midst. Hall said this person served as a sniper in the Israeli army and called him a killer with access to a personal arsenal.
He then pointed at Bucharest and identified him as the informant in question, according to the unnamed student. Bucharest, a student at PSU since the fall of 2006 and the current chief of staff for ASPSU, sat silently throughout the ordeal, according to students in the class. Hall accused Bucharest of trying to organize students to participate in violent acts against the university, according to the unnamed student. Hall also said he believed that Bucharest is at times armed while on campus. He then put a letter on the document projector that he wrote to the FBI’s Portland Field Office. In the letter, Hall claims to
know Bucharest’s identity as an agent. He then handed Bucharest a copy of the letter and told him to give it to his superiors. After a time of silence, Bucharest got up and said that some of Hall’s claims about his military background were true, but that other claims the professor made were not. Bucharest left the classroom after being told by Hall to leave and not to come back to PSU, according to students. In an e-mail to students in the class on Jan. 17, economics department chair Randall A. Bluffstone said that he was aware of Thursday’s incident.
HALL continued on page two
Executive director of SHAC to retire Mary Beth Collins will leave PSU after 30 years
Eating for a cause Local food, local benefit PAGE 6
Carrie Johnston Vanguard staff
Paying the cost of being the boss Wage inequalities apparent even in our public university system PAGE 6
Adam Wickham/Portland State Vanguard
Mary Beth Collins: She began at SHAC as a part-time social worker, retires as executive director.
Student Center for Health and Counseling Executive Director Mary Beth Collins is retiring after a 30-year career that established her as a favorite amongst students and colleagues. SHAC, an integrated counseling center and medical clinic, was relocated in 2005 to 1880 SW ixth Ave., University Center Building, Suite 200. Collins has served as the executive director for five years and was interim director for four years. She is proud of the highquality services SHAC provides and is happy that all the health services are in the same building, a project
she spearheaded starting in 2003. “I will be very sad to see her go,” said Jessica Cole, SHAC assistant director. “She thinks so compassionately about human behavior, in a way that reminds you that the patients are just human.” Cole, who started as a receptionist and worked her way up to assistant director, has worked with Collins for 10 years. She commends Collins’ ability to acknowledge other people’s good work while promoting their growth and leadership. “For more than 30 years, Mary Beth has paid for the lion’s share of staff birthday cakes, Christmas parties, baby showers and graduation presents out of her own purse,” said Mark Bajorek, a SHAC consulting physician who has
SHAC continued on page two