Injury-plagued Vikings to host Hornets
Unraveling an oral history
Men’s basketball returns home Saturday to host Sacramento State
Tonya Jone Miller’s “Threads”
SPORTS: PAGE 12
ARTS: PAGE 8
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FRIDAY, JANUARY 28TH, 2011
Paper or plastic?
PSUVANGUARD.COM
Painting a picture of disinvestment
Students’ blog seeks to raise awareness of plastic bag debate
David Sarasohn chronicles the shameful legacy of higher education in Oregon
Sierra Pannabecker Vanguard staff
Joshua Hunt Vanguard staff
Professor Robert Bremmer has been teaching a multimedia capstone course at Portland State for 10 years. Every term, a new group of seniors contributes to an ongoing blog in the Ecomerge class, which intends to shed light on local ecological issues. The focus for this quarter is disposable grocery bags, and is especially timely as earlier this month Oregon legislators reviewed a bill to ban plastic bags. The blog does not promote a particular stance on hot-button items, but rather seeks to present a wide variety of perspectives on the issue in a public forum, according to Bremmer. “The idea is to always have a topic that makes students grapple with the economic and environmental impact of decisions made by individuals and through policy,” Bremmer said of the course. “It is never black-and-white, but always important.” Houyamon Louie, a third-year social sciences major and student in the class, said that the blog and accompanying website are meant to offer information for anyone that is interested in learning about the “pros and cons of using paper and plastic bags.” Louie enrolled in the course to pursue an in
“I was a historian who fell into bad company and became a journalist,” David Sarasohn told the assembled crowd at Portland State’s Native American Community Center on Wednesday. It’s a background befitting the author of “Failing Grade: Oregon’s Higher Education System Goes Begging,” a book in which he chronicles the last quarter-century of the state’s educational system with remarkable acumen. Sarasohn, an associate editor at The Oregonian, spoke before an audience that included PSU professors, Oregon University System board members, student representatives and a member of the Legislature. His hour-long keynote address focused on the state’s continued policy failures and disinvestment in higher education, as well as the pivotal role that Senate Bill 242 (SB242) could play in putting OUS back on track. The senate bill, which goes before the Legislature in February, would permit OUS to act as an autonomous agency, granting universities greater freedom in spending tuition dollars on staff and infrastructure. “Historically, whenever there have been budget cuts, Oregon has always cut its higher
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Up in smoke University rethinks smoking policies on campus Vinh Tran Vanguard staff
Almost any student at Portland State is aware of the presence of smokers outside campus buildings, particularly in congested areas like Smith Memorial Student Union and Cramer Hall, despite non-smoking signage. And with the University of Oregon’s recent introduction of a tobacco-free campus policy, leaders at PSU are considering implementing a more stringent policy on campus. The work is being carried out by the Healthy Campus Initiative, a group created in spring 2009 under Vice Provost for Student Affairs Jackie Balzer. To be certain, Gwyn Ashcom, a health educator from the Center for Student Health and Counseling and a member of the committee, said that the university currently does not have a “smoke-free” policy, but rather a “restrictive” policy about tobacco use. This means that there SMOKING ON PAGE 7
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Oregon's neglect: David Sarasohn spoke at PSU on Wednesday about Oregon's disinvestment in higher education.
Saudi Arabian, Chinese student population on the rise Growth in international students benefits PSU, local economy Katrina Petrovich Vanguard staff
As global economies boom, the U.S. is experiencing rising rates of international students—particularly Chinese students—at American universities, including Portland State. At PSU, there are roughly 1,860 international students, according to the Oregon University System 2010 Fact Book. This is more than any other campus in the university system. Within the last five years, the U.S. has seen a 45 percent increase in its international student population. There were over 690,000 international students at American universities in the 2009–10 academic year, representing a 2.9 percent increase from the previous year.
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Study abroad: A group of students attend the international student coffee hour, located in the Multicultural Center.
To accommodate the growing number of students, PSU’s Office of International Affairs has hired more student advisers and created a new international student lounge, located in East Hall. Judith Van Dyck, director of International Student and Scholar Services, said the most common countries of origin for international students at
PSU are Saudi Arabia, China, India and Vietnam. This closely resembles data taken throughout the U.S. The IIE Open Doors Report places those same countries within the top 10 most common countries of origin nationwide. IIE also reports that between the 2008–09 INTERNATIONAL ON PAGE 3