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ESTABLISHED 1946
FR IDAY, NOVEMBER 1 2 T H, 20 1 0
VO L. 65 NO. 21
PSUVANGUARD.COM
ASPSU pushes for gender-neutral bathrooms on campus Initiative is part of student government’s gender-inclusive spaces campaign
Several new tenure-track faculty members will begin in fall of 2011 ALISON BARNWELL VANGUARD STAFF
JESSE HANSEN VANGUARD STAFF
A
fter spending some time on the back-burner in recent months due to the time constraints of the Vote OR Vote Campaign, ASPSU is now moving forward with a new initiative that aims to implement gender-neutral bathrooms around Portland State’s campus. Many facilities on PSU’s campus already contain single occupancy, gender-neutral bathrooms. As of now, there are 17 single-occupancy restrooms on campus, though many are located in businesses that are not affiliated with the university. For many of PSU’s transgender students, this is a serious problem. According to Cat McGraw, the Queer Resource Center coordinator, students with unconventional gender representations—such as those who are androgynous or transsexual— have reported being harassed in restrooms, being asked to leave or often times even being forcefully escorted from the restroom. “Many students here on campus have reported holding their restroom needs until after class so they have time to utilize these gender neutral restrooms,” McGraw said. “This isn’t conducive with a healthy learning environment.” Because the QRC was only incorporated as a PSU department in July of this year, McGraw said that few statistics have been obtained in regards to incidences in which transgender students face discrimination or harassment on campus. However, many students have admitted to receiving threats off campus. In 2007, the Oregon Student Equal Rights
More tenure-track faculty at PSU
SAGE WARNER/VANGUARD STAFF
Gender-neutral: PSU's transgender students have reported being harrassed in the restrooms on campus.
“Many students here on campus have reported holding their restroom needs until after class so they have time to utilize these gender neutral restrooms." CAT MCGRAW
Alliance (OSERA), an affiliate of the Oregon Student Association, conducted a study in order to better understand homosexual and transgender students in the context of higher education. The study found that 75 percent of homosexual students consider a school’s climate as a key in their college selection process. Unfortunately, it also discovered that these students drop out of school at three times the rate of heterosexual students. ASPSU ON PAGE 7
Portland State’s student population has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, and the increased enrollment and dollars means that many departments will be able to hire more tenure-track professors. Next fall, 12 to 15 new tenure-track faculty members will be working at PSU, according to Marvin Kaiser, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Most of the major departments on campus have submitted proposals to be part of the “conversion process”—the university’s transition from holding a large number of adjunct and fixed-term faculty members to attracting more tenure track professors. According to Kaiser, some of the departments that will be hiring new professors are math, psychology, communications, English and biology. The School of Social Work will also receive more tenure professors. “We have more proposals than we have money,” he said. Roy Koch, provost and vice president of academic affairs, emphasized that the conversion process won’t oust any current faculty members. “This is a re-allocation of funds, not a transfer of people. We’re not replacing anyone…it is not our intention to put anybody out of a job,” he said, despite rumors among current faculty members that their positions may be at stake. The funds to hire the new tenure track faculty will come from the Dean’s Office, the various departments submitting proposals and from the revenue generated by student population growth. Last year, 360 of PSU’s 671 faculty—professors, associate professors, assistant professors and instructors—were tenure track. This TENURE ON PAGE 7
Bedbugs are back near PSU Tenants of the Vue apartment complex are forced to move out RYAN DEMING VANGUARD STAFF
New York City has been in the news a lot lately for the bedbug infestations in various highrise buildings. Now, tenants at the Vue Apartments on Portland State’s campus are reporting bedbug bites. “It’s super-humiliating to me,” said Mary Eng, a previous tenant of the Vue who was forced to move out of her apartment because of bedbugs. Eng and her mother moved into two adjacent apartment units in the Vue at the end of June 2010. Eng said she wanted to live close to her 67-year-old mother in order to take care of her, reconnect with her and attend PSU at the same time. “The first week we didn’t know what it was,” Eng said, referring to the little bites that started
to appear on her and her mother’s body. When she found out the bites were caused by bedbugs, she was in shock. Eng and her mother lived with bedbugs for months, and were forced to throw away many of their possessions. Finally, in early November, the two moved out of the apartment complex. Eng is a student of paralegal studies at PSU and has been using her blog to spread the word about the bedbug problem in the Vue and to “translate” the complex maze that is law pertaining to bedbugs. Eng said that the Vue should have made her and her mother aware of the bedbug situation upon move-in. According to Eng, because tenants were not made aware of the existing problem, the Vue cannot legally take money for tenants’ leases. Eng’s story is not an unfamiliar one at PSU; the Park Plaza apartments have had a history of bedbug problems as well. Both the Vue and Park Plaza are managed by Riverstone Resi-
dential and are not campus housing. While the bedbug situation in the Vue has yet to result in any immediate life-threatening situations, the occurence in Park Plaza last year did. According to an article published by KGW on Jan. 19, the girlfriend of a PSU student was admitted to the emergency room because of bedbug bites she received. Later, doctors realized she was allergic to the bites. According to Mike Lieseld, a representative of the City of Portland Neighborhood Inspector, the organization received a complaint of bedbugs, mold and rodent infestation in Park Plaza in early December of 2009. In September, the neighborhood inspector also received a complaint about similar bedbug problems in the Vue. However, due to scheduling conflicts, the organization was not able to gain access to any of the infested units to make an official inspection. BEDBUGS ON PAGE 7
SAGE WARNER/VANGUARD STAFF
Bedbugs return: Several tenants have reported bedbugs in the Vue Apartments.