FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 117
Event of the day Education and LGBT Students A presentation by Stephanie McBride as part of PSU Pride Week When: 1 p.m. Where: Smith Memorial Student Union, room 258
WWW.DAILYVANGUARD.COM • FREE
INSIDE OPINION
An unusual morning delivery Files of 200-plus personnel found outside Vanguard ad office
Boys will be boys Fight clubs in middle school PAGE 3
Vinh Tran Vanguard staff
ARTS
Riding the soul strain Reeble Jar feeds the audience with a buffet of funkiness pAgE 5
Fresh leftovers from soul’s old kitchen Ratatat’s new record, LP4, is their best yet pAgE 6 Between a prince and a pauper Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a suprisingly decent action/ adventure film PAGE 7
NEWS PSU writers honored in Kellogg awards Co-founder of Poetry in Motion delivers keynote speech pAgE 8
SPORTS
Drew Martig/Portland State Vanguard
Misplaced files: Over 200 personnel files were found in SMSU on Monday, May 17.
State budget shortfall will impact PSU $577.1 million shortfall could mean 9 percent reduction in funds to OUS Virginia Vickery Vanguard staff
A secure center Campus Rec tightens policy on ASRC entry PAGE 10 Move to a new beat Zumba classes offer fitness and fun PAGE 10
Due to a dismal state budget forecast, Portland State could face a $5 million reduction in its budget allocation from the state General Fund over the next year. Governor Ted Kulongoski announced on Tuesday that Oregon’s most recent revenue forecast for the 2009–11 biennium is down by $560 million from the March forecast, largely due to lower-than-expected personal income tax collections. Yesterday, however, state officials announced that revenue from cigarette taxes was overstated in the forecast by $14.5 million. With that taken into account, the total budget shortfall for the two-year budget period, which will end in mid-2011, amounts to $577.1 million.
PSU President Wim Wiewel said the governor has asked universities to brace for an approximately 9 percent decrease in their General Fund budget allocation between now and June 30, 2011. “For PSU, the financial impact over that time period will be approximately $5 million,” Wiewel said in an e-mail sent to all of PSU on Tuesday. When contacted for comment on the potential impacts of the budget shortfall, PSU’s Financial Controller Dee Wendler said the administration doesn’t know anything more about the potential impact to PSU at this time. Lindsay Desrochers , vice president of Finance and Administration, could not be reached for comment. According to Wiewel’s e-mail, the Department of Administrative Services—a state agency—would issue detailed instructions this week providing more specifics about the budget reduction plans. In an open letter on Tuesday, Kulongoski said that layoffs and reductions in services in
Identity theft is a serious concern for people living in the 21st century. However, despite one’s attempt to protect his or her identities, it is oftentimes easy for others to gain access to private information. At Portland State, the opportunity for identity theft may be just be around the corner, sitting in a box outside the Vanguard advertising office in Smith Memorial Student Union. Such was the case when Ann Roman, the Vanguard’s advertising adviser, showed up to work at 8 a.m. on Monday, May 17. According to Roman, a 10 inch by 10 inch by 5 inch carton was found outside of her office that contained over 200 files of PSU employees, faculty and graduate students. An anonymous person delivered the box with a typed letter expressing frustration at PSU’s lack of regard for personnel information that contains social security numbers, home addresses, time sheets and letters of offers, according to the letter. “Management continues to sweep this stuff under the carpet… as though it’s no big deal and no harm done,” the letter reads. “All these people should be informed of the lack of security and the potential
general fund programs will be unavoidable. He will be directing all agencies where layoffs are likely to explore options—such as additional furlough days or reduced workweeks—to try to minimize such layoffs. He goes on to say that the current freeze on step pay increases for management, executive service and unrepresented employees will remain in effect. “Further, I will ask our labor organizations to follow suit,” he said. “By so doing, we can help to save jobs and preserve services.” Weiwel points out that, in the governor’s letter, he does not specify how these steps will impact OUS institutions. “I am as distressed as I know all of you are by this unfortunate news,” Wiewel said in the e-mail. “The last two years have been very challenging and it is clear that we are not yet out of the woods.” The budget forecasts are conducted tri-yearly in March, June and December. The June forecast for General Fund revenues for 2009–11 is $12,683.9 million, which represents a decrease of $511 million from the March 2010 forecast, according to the revenue forecast report. These figures do not take into account the $14.5 million over-estimation of cigarette tax revenue. Nearly all of the decrease for the
for their identity to have been compromised.” Roman was instructed to deliver the box immediately to the vice provost for Student Affairs Jackie Balzer. As of now, the box has been sealed up and is sitting in the office of Cathy LaTourette, director of Human Resources, waiting to be inventoried. Several questions remain, such as how and why the box—which contains potentially sensitive information about PSU employees— was left out in the open. Roman’s office is located in a traffic-heavy area in the SMSU lobby. This hallway receives not only PSU students, but also outside guests, construction workers and occasional transients. Perhaps even more alarming is that, according to the letter, the box was first found outside an elevator in Science Building One. This was not the first time an incident such as this one has occurred. “[PSU] has boxes like this one all over the campus,” the letter read. “Sitting in nooks and crannies, closets and hallways.” Cathy LaTourette, associate vice president for Human Resources, said she is surprised and finds the incident highly unusual and unacceptable. She said that the first order of business is to go through the files in the box and notify all persons whose information may have been compromised by the incident. “We’re going to have an investigation and track down everyone and send them a letter
PERSONNEL continued on page nine
June forecast is attributed to lowerthan-expected personal income tax collections during the current tax season and a small decrease for the 2011 fiscal year. Kulongoski said that more and more Oregonians are unemployed or underemployed and are thus continuing to turn to the state for assistance, though there will now be less money to meet their needs. The unemployment rate in Oregon as of April was above 10 percent where it has been for the last fifteen months, according to the forecast summery. According to the report, such figures are not unusual in an economic climate like the present one because unemployment tends to be a lagging indicator of economic activity. According to the revenue forecast, the Office of Economic Analysis predicts a total increase of 1.5 percent in employment for the second quarter of 2010 and positive job growth through the rest of the year. However, the forecast also states “the growth is too weak to overcome the yearly average decline.” Despite the shortfall and weak employment figures, the revenue forecast says, “The good news is consensus that the recession in the U.S. and Oregon is over. The cloudy news is the strength of this recovery and the prospects of the job market.”