Daily Vanguard May 6, 2010

Page 1

THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 103

Event of the day Have you chosen your Senior Capstone course yet? If not, come to the Capstone fair this afternoon where you can meet with Capstone instructors and learn about Capstone courses for this summer and the next academic year When: 11 a.m. Where: SMSU, rooms 327–329

WWW.DAILYVANGUARD.COM • FREE

INSIDE Arts

Oregon Supreme Court to visit PSU Attorneys will present oral arguments before justices, audience can ask questions

Sisterhood and a trail of broken dreams The Gray Sisters successfully presents a saga of family drama PAGE 4

Finding intrigue in simplicity Two Northwest artists share gallery space to exhibit their newest work PAGE 4

Only the tip of the iceberg Aan releases the first official album tonight at Holocene PAGE 5

Sports Our new cricket club Cricket club approved, bringing the world’s second most popular game to PSU PAGE 6 From the court to the field

Senior basketball player Julius Thomas takes a shot at the football field PAGE 6

Corie Charnley Vanguard staff

For the first time in Portland State’s history, the Oregon Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments on campus as part of its public outreach program. “The Oregon Supreme Court does what they call a traveling road show,” said Andrew Bridge, president of PSU’s chapter of the National Criminal Justice Honor Society, Alpha Phi Sigma, and co-chair of Pi Sigma Alpha, PSU’s chapter of the national Political Science Honor Society. The oral arguments that will be heard consist of four pending criminal cases that have been condensed into two sessions, according to Ashley McClain, president of PSU’s Pre-Law Society. “This is part of the Court’s outreach efforts to demystify the work that the highest court does,” she said. During the oral arguments, the prosecution and defense attorneys will present the cases to the justices. In turn, the justices will respond with questions to each of the attorneys, according to Bridge. “The justices have actually been gracious enough to allow audience members to ask them questions,”

he said. “They will answer questions about their line of reasoning and points of interest in law.” Bridge was informed about the program after Robert Durham, an associate justice of the OSC, spoke to the Political Science Honor Society in December. He then reached out to McClain about the possibility of such an event happening at PSU. McClain expressed interest, and the event ultimately became a collaboration between the PLS, the Criminal Justice Honor Society and the Political Science Honor Society, according to Bridge. Though this is the first time the OSC will hear oral arguments at PSU, it has visited other universities in the Oregon University System, McClain said. “It will be a great opportunity, not just for law students, but for all students who want to see how the OSC operates,” she said. While working out the technicalities of the event, Bridge and McClain met challenges when reserving rooms. As a result, they contacted student Christopher Proudfoot and ASPSU President-Elect Katie Markey. “We took care of the technicalities and made sure that all of the requirements were met,” Markey said. “But [Bridge and McClain] put all of the really hard work into it.” According to Proudfoot, who is also a member of the Smith Memorial Student Union Advisory Board,

the special requirements included a secure room and a space for the justices to speak in private. Markey, who takes office in June, hopes that she can help bring the OSC back to campus next year. “I would love to see [the Court] come back,” she said. “I will lend as much support as possible.” The justices will hear the first set of cases at 9 a.m., in room 327 Smith Memorial Student Union, but visitors are encouraged to arrive

at 8:30 a.m. Once the first session begins, audience members will not be allowed in-and-out access until the break. The second set of cases will be heard at 10:30 a.m. Chief Justice Paul De Muniz, an alumnus of PSU, will be present at the event, according to Bridge. “I am really excited and I’m hoping that we have a huge turnout,” McClain said. Information about the cases can be found at www.ccjhonors.com.

Adam Wickham/Portland State Vanguard

Students bringing OSC to PSU: Ashley McClain and Andrew Bridge worked to bring the historic event.

Faculty members receive pay restoration AAUP bargaining agreement restores faculty salary to 2009 level Amy Staples Vanguard staff

After five months of receiving pay decreases, the PSU faculty have had their 2009 salaries restored. The American Association of University Professors is the faculty union at PSU that negotiated the contract change; 97 percent of voters voted in favor of ratifying the agreement that restored the salaries. Michele Gamburd, vice president of collective bargaining for AAUP and a professor of anthropology, said members were notified on April 20. “The PSU-AAUP bargaining team is pleased that we were able, at the bargaining table, to get salaries restored as of April 1 to their September 2009 levels,” Gamburd said. Wording in the original contract left the door open for either party—AAUP, PSU or PSU’s administration—to request reopening the contract by March 31, 2010 to revisit faculty pay. Gamburd said that PSU wanted to bargain with a worst-case financial situation in mind in

case Measures 66 and 67 did not pass, or if there was no increase in enrollment. Though they ultimately passed, "If those measures failed we would have had a second round of cuts,” Gamburd said. The university does not allow for enrollment increases to be considered for bargaining, according to Gamburd. It creates a cushion for the university to consider the worst financial outlook. Faculty members received pay cuts because, in early 2009, Oregon’s dismal state budget forced all state agencies to make budget cuts. According to Phil Lesch, executive director of AAUP at PSU, Governor Ted Kulongoski asked all state employees to decrease their budgets by 4.6 percent. “Bargaining agencies across the state took a cut,” Lesch said. The Letter of Agreement 4 in the AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement for Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2011 states that, in the event of better-than-projected financial conditions at PSU, faculty salaries will be restored to 2009 levels. Because there has been a 7 percent increase in enrollment, the university has roughly $7 million that was not accounted for in the budget. According to Gamburd, a 1 percent

increase in enrollment translates to about $1 million. Once enrollment increases over 3.6 percent, 30 percent of anything over that automatically goes to financial aid. In addition to the faculty pay “snap back,” the reopener agreement also allocates $1 million to several venues on campus that improve working conditions and university welfare, Gamburd said. “We are currently finalizing details on how to disburse these funds,” she said. “We finished bargaining in September but it takes a while to ratify the agreement.” Once faculty members voted, human resources had to work out the payroll details. As a result, faculty pay decreases began Nov. 1 and continued until April 1, according to Gamburd. “The administration was very firm that faculty not receive a raise at a time when so many people are out of work,” she said. Some faculty members who are not part of AAUP are also returning to 2009 salaries, including department chairs, according to Gamburd. However, deans and other executives above department chairs are not being restored to 2009 levels. Next year PSU-AAUP and the administration will begin negotiations for the 2011–13 contract.

“It is better to begin negotiations in 2011 from this position than from a position of ongoing salary reductions,” Gamburd said. Bargaining will begin in March 2011, where both the AAUP and the administration will open articles for discussion, she said. “If [the article that dictates faculty salary] gets opened, and presumably it will,” Gamburd said, “then we will discuss compensation issues in light of the Oregon state budget, enrollment growth and other campus budgetary considerations.”

How will the $1 million be disbursed? The reopener agreement allocated $1 million to: - $400,000 one-time support to the library - $200,000 toward computing (computers and software) - $200,000 toward faculty travel - $200,000 toward professional development


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Daily Vanguard May 6, 2010 by Portland State Vanguard - Issuu