Sea lion massacre
Masters of arts
Columbia River salmon “saved” from natural predator
Portland art students ready to show off
ARTS: PAGE 8
OPINION: PAGE 5
INDEX NEWS OPINION ARTS SPORTS
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TUESDAY, MAY 24TH, 2011
ASPSU president-elect addresses prior arrest at press conference Adam Rahmlow says he hopes to be judged by his actions when he takes office on June 1 Erick Bengel Vanguard staff
ASPSU president-elect Adam Rahmlow held a press conference yesterday at noon in the Smith Memorial Student Union’s Browsing Lounge to address Friday’s Vanguard article detailing his arrest last summer and the charges attending them. On August 7, 2010, Rahmlow was arrested outside Dixie Tavern in Northwest Portland. Officers charged him with disorderly conduct, harassment, interfering with a peace officer, resisting arrest and attempted assault of a police RAHMLOW ON PAGE 7
Celebrating diversity in PSU’s Park Blocks Annual Roots Festival to be held tomorrow Miranda Schmidt Vanguard staff
The Roots Festival, an annual event hosted by the Portland State Multicultural Center in partnership with Diversity and Multicultural Student Services and the Educational Activities Speakers Board, will take place on May 25 in the South Park Blocks. The Roots Festival celebrates diversity through music and art and will include a wide range of performances, from hip hop artists, spoken word poets, singers and a range of speakers. Artists will also be selling their work and painting murals. There will be food vendors and a raffle. Snow cones, cotton candy and popcorn will be served.
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“There is no financial crisis at PSU,” expert says Dr. Howard Bunsis critically examines 2010 Oregon University System audit Joshua Hunt Vanguard staff
Portland State University is overestimating expenses, underestimating revenue and overpaying administrators says a financial expert after analyzing the 2010 Oregon University System audit. Dr. Howard Bunsis, a professor of accounting at Eastern Michigan University, presented a financial audit of Portland State and the OUS on Friday, May 20, in the Academic and Student Recreation Center. The presentation, organized by PSU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, offered the 2010 OUS financial audit as the best evidence that academic cuts at PSU are unnecessary. “Both the OUS and PSU are in solid financial condition,” Dr. Bunsis said. “That may surprise you, but that claim is really incontrovertible.” The audit was performed by KPMG, one of the four largest global financial auditing services. Bunsis stressed the importance of audits in assessing the financial health of an institution. “Budgets are plans of what may occur,” Bunsis said. “Audited financial statements report what actually occurred.”
ADAM WICKHAM/VANGUARD STAFF
Finances: After interpreting the 2010 OUS audit, Dr. Howard Bunsis argues that budget cuts at PSU are unneccessary.
According to the audit, PSU reported a profit of $30 million in 2010, leaving it with reserves in excess of $60 million. This $60 million in unrestricted assets was reported just one year after the PSU-AAUP agreed to voluntary pay cuts for PSU faculty. According to OUS figures, PSU reported profits of 7.2 percent in 2007, 6.3 percent in 2008, 5.3 percent in 2009 and 7.1 percent in 2010.
“The profit margin for PSU in 2010 was 7.1 percent,” Bunsis said. “Wal-Mart doesn’t make that much, but in 2010, PSU did. Congratulations. This is evidence that the 2009 furlough was unnecessary. It’s also evidence that cuts to academic programs are not necessary at PSU, and that the administration is straying AUDIT ON PAGE 3
ASPSU gathers tuition hike testimonies Students reflect on how a 9.2 percent increase would affect education
ROOTS ON PAGE 3
Sons of Abraham unite for peace
Katrina Petrovich Vanguard Staff
ASPSU has collected student testimonies that document the ways in which Portland State students believe the proposed 9.2 percent tuition increase will affect them. ASPSU plans to take the testimonies to Salem when it lobbies the Oregon State Legislature for increased funding for higher education. According to ASPSU Communications Director Brandon Harris, the student testimonies were collected because ASPSU wanted to include students in the policy process that governs their education. He said that the ASPSU-gathered testimonies will be presented to the Legislature during public hearings, as evidence for the need to continue funding for higher education. According to Harris, ASPSU provided three methods for student input and testimony submission: paper forms, online statements and even a Facebook “question,” but little interest
Portland’s religious leaders share an evening of interfaith dialogue at PSU Erick Bengel Vanguard staff
A rabbi, a reverend and a Muslim brother met on Thursday, May 19, before a modest but attentive nondenominational audience in Portland State’s Urban Center to engage in a crosscultural interfaith dialogue. The event, titled “Rebuilding from Ground Zero: A Conversation with Faith-Based Leaders on Religion and Race,” was hosted by Portland’s Leadership Fellows Alumni Association, a nonprofit organization formed in 1999 that trains underprivileged people of color to be leaders in their workplaces and communities. karl kuchs/VANGUARD STAFF
FAITH ON PAGE 7
Student testimony: ASPSU Communications Director Brandon Harris has been helped collect student testimonies.
TUITION ON PAGE 3