Daily Vanguard May 11, 2010

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Event of the day

TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 105

Are you concerned about/interested in the possible restructuring of the Oregon University System? Attend the all-campus forum this afternoon. Speakers will be followed by a Q-and-A session. When: 2 p.m. Where: SMSU, room 327

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INSIDE OPINION Who’s the Boss? In-fighting between City Hall and PPB fosters distrust, confusion Page 3 Guest Opinion Hunting helps wildlife, society Page 3

NEWS

Student raises awareness of global health conditions Meman, founder of The Journey to Heal Kurdistan, to speak tomorrow PAGE 5

ARTS

Ultimate fighting Super Street Fighter IV is the pinnacle incarnation of Capcom’s latest PAGE 6 Finding the universal in the particular Profile Theatre delivers a moving performance of The Young Man From Atlanta Page 7

SPORTS

Table Tennis Club scouts for new talent Two-time Olympian agrees to coach team PAGE 10

Bonds on the ballot, deadline next Tuesday Measures 68 and 69 would allow universities to use bonds for renovation Carrie Johnston Vanguard staff

Measures 68 and 69, appearing on the ballots due in on May 18, are legislatively referred constitutional amendments aiming to allow schools to use bond funds to pay for the renovation of existing buildings. Currently, the Oregon constitution prohibits state universities from using low-cost bonds to buy existing buildings. For PSU campus, where expansion often requires the purchase of existing buildings, allowance for the higher education system to use the lowest-cost financing would keep costs low. The result of a “Yes” vote on Measure 68 would allow the state to issue bonds to match voter-approved school district bonds for school capital costs, and dedicates lottery funds for matching funds and repayment. The result of a “No” vote on Measure 68 would retain the current law, which prohibits the state and restricts local districts from issuing bonds to pay for school capital costs (acquisition, construction,

repair and improvement of existing facilities). A “Yes” vote on Measure 69 would allow state authority to issue the lowest cost bonds to finance projects for the benefit of community colleges and public universities. A “No” vote on measure 69 rejects changes to the state’s authority to issue lowest cost bonds to finance community college and university facility projects. ASPSU President-elect Katie Markey said, “Measures 68 and 69 deal with bonding...and bonds are really confusing.” Despite the confusing nature of the measures, Markey expects a large student voter response. “We didn’t run a big registration drive this term because so many students already registered to vote— about 2,755 in fall term and 60 more this term,” Markley said. According to the Daily Astorian newspaper, “[Measure 69] is most relevant to Portland State University, which is in the middle of a city, but it might well be used by other institutions.” These two ballot measures referred by the Oregon Legislature are the least talked-about elements on the May ballot due to their relatively benign nature.

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PSU softball wins division title Robert Britt/Portland State Vanguard Archive

Series sweep over Seattle puts PSU in PCSC Championship Series James MacKenzie Vanguard staff

With a four-game sweep of the Seattle Redhawks over the weekend, Portland State punched its ticket for the inaugural Pacific Coast Softball Conference Championship Series against the Coastal Division’s Saint Mary’s College. While the Vikings were quick to clinch their spot in the tournament by sweeping Saturday’s doubleheader against Seattle 4-1 and 1-0, it was

the PSU seniors combining to hit 10 for 22 in Sunday’s doubleheader that carried the Vikings to 6-3 and 7-3 victories on senior day. “It’s a good feeling, but it’s a little too early to celebrate,” said head coach Tobin Echo-Hawk. “We still have to win outright to make it worth it, so we’re really excited, but we’re trying to focus on next weekend.” The Vikings quickly slammed the door on Seattle on Saturday, as dominant pitching performances by freshman Anna Bertrand and junior Nichole Latham left little work to the Vikings offense. Bertrand, whose freshman season has been as

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Police riot of ‘70 still echoes today Today is the 40th anniversary of PSU anti-war protest in response to Kent State Courtney Graham Vanguard staff

The Kent State Massacre, which shocked the nation on May 4, 1970, sparked a movement at universities nationwide, including at Portland State, to force a decision on the Vietnam War. During a peaceful student protest on May 11—40 years ago today—police attempted to violently disperse crowds on the South Park Blocks.

Even before the deaths at Kent State, the political climate at PSU was tense, and students seemed to be waiting for the climactic moment that would gain critical mass and make a broader statement. As early as November 1969, PSU students were protesting and blockading military recruitment, as well as beginning to speak out against the U.S. Army’s forays into Cambodia and Laos, as a result of its involvement in Vietnam. “It was an awful time in many ways,” said David Horowitz, an associate professor of history at the time. “The government had lost control of itself.”

All photos courtesy of Tom Geil

Clash on the Park Blocks: Peaceful protesters at PSU were violently attacked by police.

In the eyes of those individuals involved in protest, Horowitz said there was “no other way to impact public policy but to be disruptive in the confines of nonviolence and civil disobedience.” “Nobody thought we were going to stop the war,” he said. During the week following the Kent State shootings, PSU became part of a movement, alongside 400 other universities, which temporarily shut down campuses across the nation in protest of the war and the government’s reaction to dissent. “By 1970 young people had been actively protesting this war on a mass scale for six years in every way peacefully possible, only to wake up on April 30, 1970 and see Nixon on

TV announcing that he was invading Cambodia,” said Doug Weiskopf, a 1970 graduate of PSU. Only a few days later, on May 4, it was reported that the Ohio National Guard had shot 11 students at Kent State University, killing four of them, according to Weiskopf. “All hell broke loose across the country, including Portland,” he said. “Kent State created a sense of emergency and people felt they had to do something about it.” At PSU, students occupied the university on Wednesday night, May 6, and remained in the Smith Center—now known as Smith Memorial Student Union—through Friday, May 8, the same day of

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