FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 75
Event of the day The Black Bag Speakers Series is hosting a panel discussion to celebrate 40 years of the Black Studies Department at PSU. It is free for students to attend. When: 5:45 p.m. Where: The Billy Webb Elks Lodge, 6 N Tillamook St.
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INSIDE OPINION
Task force examines ways in which PSU and OHSU can partner up Vinh Tran Vanguard staff
Regret can be trendy Tattoos aren’t for everyone PAGE 4
ARTS
Two tons of fun Two Ton Boa comes back from the shadows to play Portland PAGE 5 Going tribal New Enter Shikari makes a call to action PAGE 5
Dance-tastic Miracles Club plays tonight at Rotture PAGE 10
SPORTS
Collaboration is a key component to most academic research—the hours are long and the expertise needed is complex. Administrators, faculty, staff and students at Portland State and Oregon Health and Science University recently established a joint task force of 18 members representing academic, research and administrative constituencies. The committee is charged with the task of identifying and analyzing options for a closer collaboration between the two universities. Though the task force was established in October 2009, the idea of the two campuses working closely has been around since at least 2003, when Rep. Mitch Greenlick put forth a measure suggesting a merger for PSU and OHSU. The idea received little support at the time. However, Greenlick tried again during the 2005, 2007 and 2009 legislative sessions. At the 2009 session, the bill did not pass in the House, but it lead to a discussion between PSU President Wim Wiewel and OHSU President Joe Robertson. “A lot has changed since [2003],” said Roy Koch, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. “We have two new presidents who both see that since the two
Lindsay Desrochers discusses PSU’s financial future with students Vanguard staff
NEWS Reclaiming the underground University considering a remodel of the SMSU subbasement PAGE 8 Fledgling transgender student group Founder hopes to create a safe place for students PAGE 9
From Marquam Hill to the Park Blocks universities are located in Portland, and have complementary academic programs to each other, there’s a potential for benefits to do things together that we might not be able to do individually.” Koch said that in the past, research programs at PSU were not as strong as they are now and that over the years, PSU’s area of focus has become similar to OHSU’s. Koch points to the newly established MBA in Health Care, a joint program between PSU and OHSU as an example of the colliding missions of the two universities.
Sean Green, PSU’s student representative on the task force who is working towards a master’s in public administration, said collaboration has little to do with saving money, pointing to a 2007 report commissioned by the Oregon University System showing that even if the two schools were to merge, there would be no monetary savings. Green said the group will look at a variety of ways for the two universities to work together, but not necessarily to merge into one institution, as originally proposed by Greenlick.
“Some examples of increased collaboration include offering more degrees and more classes, and more access to research and internship opportunities for students,” Green said. For instance, OHSU graduate students may want the opportunity to have an assistant teaching position at PSU, Green said. Rachel Pilliod, student representative on the task force for OHSU, said a merger is at the far end of the range of options they’re looking at.
OHSU continued on page eight
PSU finances: past, present and future Corie Charnley
Big Sky Indoor Track and Field Championships Vikings compete for gold medals at conference championships PAGEs 6–7
Rodrigo Melgarejo/Portland State Vanguard
OHSU
On Wednesday, Portland State students were invited to attend a financial forum entitled “PSU’s Financial Futures Framework.” The presentation, led by Vice President of Finance and Administration Lindsay Desrochers, provided the financial history of PSU, as well as its future trajectory in regards to state funding and financial aid. This was only the first talk in what administrators hope will be a series of informational sessions. “The goal here is to have you walk out of this room feeling like you really understand better what the overall [ financial] picture is for [PSU], and how we got to where we are today, and how it affects you as students,” Desrochers said to the audience of about 30. Desrochers began the presentation with an analysis of PSU’s past and current financial standing. According to Desrochers, PSU had around 15,000 students in 1989–90, but has now grown to 28,000 students.
“From 1989–90 to 2010, [PSU] has grown, and our dollars have grown. The issue is that our dollars haven’t grown fast enough to keep up with the growth,” she said. Desrochers said that state funding has not been increased to match PSU’s student body growth. “[Tuition and fees] have had to take up the slack because the state, frankly, has not done its duty to this public institution,” Desrochers said. She said that resident PSU students are paying $6,300 per term this year. In 1989, resident students were paying only $2,600 per term. Desrochers explained that the Resource Allocation Model, adopted in 1999 by the Oregon University System, is used to appropriate state funds to different campuses within the system. While the state funded about 90 percent of the RAM in 1999, today the state is funding the model at 50 percent. In addition, Desrochers said PSU receives too little financial aid. Currently, the university’s total grant aid is $54 million, most of which comes from federal support. According to Desrochers, the Oregon’s state grant program is in jeopardy. “We have far too little financial aid available to our students, I don’t think I’ll get much disagreement about that,”
Desrochers said. “We have grown financial aid, but not to the level that we need to grow to match the growth and tuition and the fees that are now upon [PSU students].” Aside from the rising cost of tuition, decreasing state funding and insufficient financial aid, Desrochers also pointed out the below-average salary for faculty, as well as the declining percentage of tenured and tenure-track professors. “The trajectory beyond [the current] international financial crisis is that, very shortly, maybe 10 percent of our support will come from the state in the next 10 years,” she said. The presentation was followed by a Q-and-A session. Students addressed several issues regarding PSU’s current financial situation, including concerns about the university’s white paper and its possibility of financial restructure into a public corporation model. “70 percent of [PSU’s] support is coming from student tuition and it will creep up some more the next year,” Desrochers said. “The question is, how do we zero in on this question about financial aid, how do we assist students who we don’t want to lose to this system.” Desrochers said that PSU needs to reevaluate its relationship to the state and consider if it makes sense for the
university to remain a state agency, given the costs associated with it. “The fact is the university can’t sit here and just keep hoping that the state is going to allocate money that it doesn’t have or the room to be able to allocate it,” she said.
Aaron Leopold/Portland State Vanguard
Desrochers: Educating students on
PSU finance.