Navigating the academic maze
It was a typically cold, dark and wet Oregon winter night when I ran into my old college buddy Jim outside a small Mexican restaurant in Roseburg. I was just leaving as he was stepping through the...
View ArticleAccessing your professors
On a campus of roughly 30,000 students, it’s easy to feel lost among the vast number of people seeking higher education. This is especially true when many of us are non-traditional students with jobs,...
View ArticleThe true value of an education
I was recently reflecting on my time at community college, specifically thinking about the vast number of people who begin their higher education journey and never finish it. Of all the people whom I...
View ArticleTutoring: A vital component to success
Let’s talk tutoring. I’ve been a tutor at the college level for three years. Full disclosure, I do not tutor for Portland State, but rather I tutored at a community college. And I’m not a graduate...
View ArticleTutoring and midterms go hand-in-hand
Last week I wrote about the benefits of tutoring, and this week I’m going to pontificate a bit more on that subject, due to the fact that it’s near and dear to my heart. With midterms coming up it’s...
View ArticleThe time has come for more campus housing options
I’m lucky enough to live in campus housing, a place with good neighbors, an awesome resident assistant, and access to the entire campus right from my doorstep. Others don’t have such luxury. A...
View ArticleStaying silent: a respectful choice
I sit in a local restaurant, sipping a drink while waiting for a colleague to arrive. A couple tables away, two individuals are discussing a certain crime that was allegedly committed near campus...
View ArticleTake a break
Midterms done. Finals approaching. Stress levels increasing. This is par for the course when it comes to college life. Just as students get used to some semblance of a routine, something comes along to...
View ArticleAn open letter to Kate Brown
Dear Kate Brown, I hope this letter finds you well and that you are settling into your new duties as Oregon’s 38th governor with the calm determination that has made you such a wonderful addition to...
View ArticleMake nighttime reflective gear mandatory for bicycle riders
Soon Oregon may take the somewhat unique step and require, by legislative fiat, that all bicycle riders wear reflective clothing at night. As Portland becomes increasingly bicycle-centric, it may be...
View ArticleProfessors: Racists need not apply
Years ago, right out of high school, I took several automotive repair classes at my local community college. One particular instructor was notorious for his sexist and racist remarks, and while I knew...
View ArticleDemocracy for Portland State
Why should you, dear reader, vote? We are about to become acolytes to that almighty shrine of democracy: the ballot box. The polls for the Associated Students of Portland State University elections...
View ArticleChildcare needed: A campus-wide problem
I’ve been thinking lately about the needs of students that have children. Returning to school after one becomes a parent presents a whole new level of frustrations, worries, expenses and anxieties....
View ArticleThe California drought: Say goodbye to cheap produce
What’s the dumbest idea you’ve ever heard? Pet rocks, maybe? The anti-vaccination movement? Or how about growing rice in the desert? California has recently implemented mandatory water restrictions due...
View ArticleThe MAX Orange Line: Better late than never
TriMet and the city of Portland have been trying to build a MAX light rail line to Milwaukie since the 1970s. In the mid-90s, a plan was presented to the public that would have created a MAX line from...
View ArticleParking “permits”: A license to steal
Surely I can’t be the first to point out that the parking situation on the Portland State campus is not only terrible, but seems to be made actively worse by the powers that be at PSU. I’m not talking...
View ArticleLegalized pot: more good than bad
Marijuana is being legalized in Oregon. I spent a good long while asking myself if this was a good thing or a bad thing. My initial reaction was that it’s a bad thing. When I was growing up, I knew a...
View ArticlePSU’s desperation and the $100 million that never showed up
Portland State President Wim Wiewel has a lot of egg on his face after the recent cause célèbre regarding a Portland citizen’s fake promise of a $100 million donation to PSU. The university isn’t...
View ArticlePaying students to play sports: A bad idea for everyone
Let’s say, for the sake of this column, that you, dear reader, are a currently enrolled college student. If that’s the case, you’re likely strapped for cash and struggling on some level to make ends...
View ArticleViolence comes home
My typing is a little slow today. My hands, my arms—they’re heavy, like a great weight is pressing down on them, slowing their productivity. I’m having trouble seeing the screen through a constant...
View ArticleCapstones: not as bad as they seem
When I first arrived at Portland State, I was a bit taken aback by the University Studies requirements. As a transfer student, I wasn’t required to subject myself to the freshman and sophomore inquiry...
View ArticleGrief and healing go hand in hand
It’s been 30 days. Thirty days since my former school, my friends and my community were transformed by one single act of unimaginable violence. The shooting at Umpqua Community College left not only...
View ArticleProtest, debate with caution and rationality
So often, free speech is interpreted as “the right for someone to say what I want to hear, in a manner that I approve of.” Let me give a couple of recent examples. There have been two major college...
View ArticleDon’t feel like attending a Vikings game? You’re not the only one
Five thousand people saw Casey strike out that day in Mudville. Five thousand people cheered on their small-town team, despite the ups and downs of nine innings, only to leave disappointed. Despite...
View ArticleRepublican Party Woes
Donald Trump was the front-runner in the campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, as of Jan. 5. Let’s stop and think about that for a minute. A xenophobic, racist demagogue with no...
View ArticleRepublicans: Do your job!
I would like to suggest that, for the next 11 months, President Obama veto every single bill that lands on his desk. He should make it clear that he wants the next president to make the decisions on...
View ArticleSchrödinger’s housing crisis
Economics is in many ways like meteorology: Being wrong in one’s predictions is considered par for the course. However, economics has the added element of requiring a basic understanding of sociology...
View ArticleCollege ends, life begins
The room is dark, subdued, the weak lighting comes only from partially obscured wall sconces. em>La Wally performed by Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez is playing softly from a stereo system tucked in...
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