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Portland State University Tuesday, April 2, 2013 | vol. 67 no. 47
Senate and judicial board clash continues
Oregon’s higher education leaders ponder change
Whitney Beyer associate news editor
The Associated Students of Portland State University student elections are just around the corner, but a continuing disagreement about whether orientations for prospective candidates should be mandatory may halt the elections process. A senate resolution introduced March 13 that overturned the judicial board’s previous ruling to remove mandatory orientations from the constitution was passed at a judicial board hearing during finals week on March 21. ASPSU Communications Director Anthony Stine said the resolution maintains that orientations will indeed be mandatory for prospective candidates, noting that to the best of his knowledge orientations have always been required. After the hearing, members of the ASPSU executive branch urged the judicial board to not object to the senate’s resolution in a collection of memorandums addressed to the justices, most of which cited senate support far beyond the necessary two-thirds majority. “[T]he mandatory orientations are the first steps in hiring someone for the whole year, where there will be meetings,” ASPSU Metropolitan Affairs Director Linda Hoppes wrote in her March 21 See ASPSU on page 2
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Emily Mclain, executive director of the Oregon Student Association, speaks at the Portland City Club’s Friday Forum.
Changes in structure and authority topped speakers’ agendas Kaela O’Brien Vanguard Staff
Major reforms to Oregon’s higher education model are under discussion, and the outcome will affect students, faculty and administration. On Friday, the recently appointed chancellor of the Oregon University System, Dr. Melody Rose, along with three other leaders, discussed issues now facing Oregon’s educators at the Portland City Club’s Friday Forum at the Governor Hotel. “Education is a crisis and, for the first time, adults are less educated
than their parents,” Rose said. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber has put together a plan to address many of the problems he sees. His 40-40-20 plan, which aims to increase the number of Oregonians completing education beyond high school, has specific goals: that by the year 2025, 40 percent of Oregonians will have completed a bachelor’s degree or higher, 40 percent will have completed their associate’s degree or another certificate and the remaining 20 percent will have their high school diplomas. Rose pointed out that there are other obstacles students face while trying to complete their education. “Today, the average student is poorer, borrowing more and
working harder,” Rose said, noting that student loan debt is now outpacing credit card debt. These factors have caused the normal length of college completion to stretch from four years to five and a half, she said. “The key is that we need to get more students through faster,” Rose said. “We have to start doing things differently to get better outcomes. Our system should reflect reality.” Among many options, Rose suggested an increase in the integration of online and hybrid classes as well as dual credit for proficiency, which would allow students to get some of their college work completed while in high school. Ben Cannon, Kitzhaber’s education adviser, also spoke Friday about
how best to prepare to meet goals set by 40-40-20. Cannon said two structural changes being discussed in the Legislature could go hand in hand with achieving those goals. Senate Bill 270 seeks to establish institutional boards at the University of Oregon, Portland State and possibly Oregon Health and Science University. “The institutional boards create more local autonomy and greater opportunity for student involvement and ownership at a campusspecific level,” Cannon said. Senate Bill 242 would allow for the creation of a single state board, See Higher ed on page 5
Fathers group brings families together PSU Dads Group launched Ravleen Kaur Vanguard Staff
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Joel Shempert and his daughter Niamh are regulars at the Dads Group, which meets weekly at the Resource Center for Students with Children.
Three-year-old Glory plays with a dollhouse in the Resource Center for Students with Children, a space that is bountiful with board games, blocks and toys. Her father, Erick Castillo, watches her from a sofa, beaming as she offers him a miniature toilet toy. Every week, a group of students who are fathers meets to touch base, network with their kids and relax. “There’s a huge demographic [of fathers] on campus. We want a push to tell the faculty that the demographics
are changing,” said Castillo, a father of two who is majoring in social sciences. In mid-March, the dads and their children took advantage of sunny skies and played outside. “And that’s one thing we were talking about, how there are differences in the way we grew up versus how kids are growing up [now, in terms of ] how much they get to play outside,” Castillo said. “We live in a fear-based society, but it is important to give kids an avenue to be outside.” Joel Shempert, an arts and letters major who regularly attends group meetings, concurred. “What I really want is for my daughter to have a community of kids to play with,” Shempert said. See DADS on page 5