Inaugural softball season underway
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Portland State University Portland State University Thursday, Feb. 7, 2013 | vol. 67 no. 36
Education Students pitch top ideas in Korea reform on legislative agenda Institutional boards, tuition equity and Oregon Opportunity Grant discussed Isaac Hotchkiss Vanguard staff
The Oregon legislature opened for business on Monday, and Gov. John Kitzhaber is expected to implement sweeping educational reforms. The reforms are part of the Oregon 40-40-20 goal to see 40 percent of Oregonians with a four-year degree by 2025. Because of the weighty and unprecedented nature of the reforms, many Portland State and Oregon University System administrators are unsure exactly how this will happen or what the effects will be. The most important thing students need to know, according to University Communications Director Scott Gallagher, is that what happens in Salem affects them.
Institutional boards One issue that is sure to get play this year is that of institutional boards. Diane Saunders, communications director for OUS, provided some background. Because Oregon universities have received less funding from the legislature every budget cycle for several cycles, interactive ways were sought to solve the problems this created. In 2009, an idea was born: Let universities opt to have their own boards
See legislature on page 3
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Santiago rodriguez, one of the three graduate mechanical and materials engineering students selected to complete in CORE 2013, tinkers with a data acquisition system—a piece of equipment integral to his team’s research. Rodriguez presented on the TrekHaus, a home that is 90 percent more efficient than the average home.
TrekHaus and wind turbine simulations earn gold and silver Duncan Ros Vanguard staff
Three graduate mechanical and materials engineering students returned to Portland victorious in the science of sustainability last week. Nicholas Hamilton, Jeff Lauck and Santiago Rodriguez where chosen to compete in CORE 2013, an international design contest held in Mokpo, South Korea. “We completely forgot about it,” said Rodriguez, who submitted the research with his schoolmates in December for consideration. “But we
found out our material was accepted and left 10 days later.” The trio presented research on wind turbine simulations and the TrekHaus, the first net-zero energy house in Oregon. The students were placed in the gold and silver categories by a panel of judges after competing against 65 teams from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam and the U.S. Hamilton presented on wind turbine simulations and Lauck and Rodriguez gave talks on the TrekHaus project. The TrekHaus—a project that has been a featured story on a KATU television news segment—is 90 percent more efficient than the average home. Phase change material—an energyefficient insulation—was the focus of
Lauck’s research, while Rodriguez focused on equipment efficiency within the household. “I think people in Korea and places like that are much more interested in sustainable practices because there are less resources to work with, especially electricity,” Rodriguez said. The majority of competing teams were undergraduate students from Korea, but exceptions were made for international students in graduate programs. The panel of judges consisted of numerous Korean professors, PSU professor David Sailor (who also served as the graduate students’ advisor) and a professor from Clarkson University in New York.
Other notable projects included a micro-scale hydroelectric generator, energy-saving technology for pumping systems and a machine that converts garbage into a hydrogen fuel cell—potentially capable of powering an electric car. “There was also this thing called an ‘anaerobic digester,’” Lauck said, laughing. The students have yet to publish their material but see the experience abroad as a way to gain valuable contacts and help support the reputation of sustainability at PSU. “It’s really good publicity for PSU and our advisors,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of international students come here, so it’s great for the university.”
New DMSS director expands definition of diversity CeCe Ridder brings pressing issues to light
Cece Ridder, the new Diversity and Multicultural Student Services director, began work in January.
Ravleen Kaur Vanguard staff
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“I am many facets of many things, all to be celebrated,” said CeCe Ridder, the new executive director of PSU’s Diversity and Multicultural Student Services. This philosophy was solidified by her experiences as a multiracial person and is a vision she sees reflected at Portland State. “We all have culture, we all have aspects of who we are,” said Ridder, who began work in January. “I think people think you have to be a person
of color to plug in here, but that is so not true.” Just looking out of her office at the student support lab, Ridder sees students from a range of backgrounds—from first-generation college students to parents supporting families, from students seeking computer and learning support to students wanting to debate social equality. She sees homeless students, middle-class students, and students from urban and rural areas alike. “‘Diversity’ and ‘multicultural’ means everyone,” Ridder said.
See dmss on page 3