Oregon MESA Receives $216,000 Grant for Invention Education
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INDEX An everyday love story NEWS............................2 FREE ARTS...............................6 The Vanguard is published every Tuesday and Thursday Academy Award-winner Ernest Borgnine to ARTS & CULTURE OPINION.........................10 appear for screening of the film Marty PAGE SIX SPORTS..........................14 PPSUVANGUARD.COMSUVANGUARD.COM PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHED SINCE 1946 PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHED SINCE 1946 TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012 • VOL. 66 NO. 45 New PSU Oregon MESA receives $216,000 Entrepreneurial Center hits the grant for invention education ground running Lemelson Foundation grant to Executive Director Shelley help MESA expand Gunton aims to help students turn ideas into reality programs across SaM LLOYD Oregon VANGUARD STAFF AUSTEN RUZICka The Portland State University Center for VANGUARD STAFF Innovation and Entrepreneurship has a single staff member: Executive Director Shelley Gunton. regon Mathematics, Engineering, But with extensive experience in growing busi- Science and Achievement recently nesses from ideas, Gunton knows how to get O received a $216,000 grant from the things off the ground, and her sights are set on Portland-based Lemelson Foundation to ex- launching the new center, which will act as a pand its focus on invention education. MESA hub for students, faculty, staff and anyone seek- programs provide early pathways for the next— ing to start a business. and future—generation of engineers and scien- Gunton, who has been involved in the field tists, giving support and tools to Oregon middle of entrepreneurship extensively since 2005, and high school students. Its programs teach stepped into her role as executive director of the students in the early stages of their educational COURTESY OF DAVID CORONADO/OREGON MESA MESA Day Ockley Green School students showcase their wind energy designs to judges. new center on Feb. 1. While the center is still in careers about degrees that could help them pur- its planning stages and has no physical location sue work in the engineering and science fields. as of now, Gunton has big plans for the latest This most recent grant from Lemelson is Invention education focuses on the practical David Coronado, executive director of Oregon addition to PSU’s expanding entrepreneurial actually the third grant awarded to Oregon application of science, engineering and math- MESA, said that school doesn’t adequately efforts. Her goal for the center is to make it a MESA and will support expanding its curri- ematical concepts. Programs that encourage it, teach invention education to students. “Schools place where students can grow their ideas into cula to other schools in the state, creating new like Oregon MESA, allow students to develop focus on content education, which is important, real businesses and jobs. invention-based programs that solve global solutions for real-world problems. but does not give space for students to be cre- “There’s a real electricity that’s created when issues, training new teachers and mentors and “Invention can create change, and it is at the ative,” he said. “Creativity is important. When people get together and start working on new funding the annual MESA day competition. root of economic well being and the quality we lose that edge in creativity, innovation dies. and exciting things,” Gunton said. “The CIE The grant, which will be dispersed over the of life enjoyed in the developed world today,” If you look at the biggest inventors, they were will act as a catalyst to help make this happen.” next three years, will also be used to develop wrote Erin Tochen, program officer at the As an experienced entrepreneur herself, new curricula each year. Lemelson Foundation, in an email. SEE MESA GRANT ON PAGE 5 Gunton knows that the job environment of the present day is such that being an entre- preneur is less of a risk and more of a viable option. She believes that it is a valuable career path for students, given that it will provide TriMet to release them with business knowledge and the abil- ity to generate ideas. And Gunton isn’t alone in her sentiments. “I think it’s good that the university is in- final budget proposal structing students not just how to get a job, but if they want, how to make their own job,” said computer engineering junior Erik Wright. Gunton believes the new center will pro- in mid-April vide infrastructure and resource coordina- tion, which will help support students in their missions to become entrepreneurs. Above all, Transportation agency “The full budget has not been re- she believes in giving students the opportunity still working to fill leased yet,” said Mary Fetsch, Tri- to do what they want in terms of their businesses Met’s chief media relations officer. and making their ideas into realities. deficit gap Fetsch estimates that a final budget “I am working on a variety of different pro- will be released sometime in mid- KARL KUCHS/VANGUARD STAFF JOSH KELETY Commuting students board MAX at the Academic Student Rec and Center stop. grams that can help students, faculty and staff VANGUARD STAFF April, after the agency reviews the now,” Gunton said. “For example, we’re plan- feedback from the second round ning a ‘Start-Up Weekend’ for Oct. 5–7 that will be As TriMet’s town-hall style public of town-hall style public hearings while cuts in service will still be that has now been increased to $1.2 open to all students, faculty and staff —it’s a crazy, forums and meetings regarding its held throughout March. made, the number of cuts have been million. The most recent proposal high-energy few days of working on business $17 million budget deficit and sub- Feedback from these past events significantly reduced. “About half notes the streamlining of TriMet’s ideas brought to the event by the participants and sequent systemic changes come to will likely be factored into TriMet’s the service cuts have been taken off internal functionality through ad- building out a plan to make them happen.” an end, Portland-area communities final budget proposal and ulti- the table,” Fetsch said. ministrative layoffs and fiscal cuts Gunton suggested that PSU students interest- could soon see how their input fac- mately the actual functioning In order to make up for less ser- in TriMet’s various transit support ed in starting their own businesses sign up for tors into TriMet’s proposed changes. budget. “Additional changes to the vice cuts, TriMet has outlined its departments and programs. the Entrepreneurship Club in order to get up- According to TriMet, it has been proposal will be made based on plans to find revenue gains within Despite the reduction in service to-date information on what the center will be revising its initial budget propos- feedback from hearings and other its own operations. Fetsch said cuts, the elimination of some bus doing. Gunton is in the process of planning the als to incorporate input from the public comments,” Fetsch said. that TriMet is looking at “internal routes and the Free Rail Zone still workspace for the center, and how to use it in Portland and outlying communi- One of the biggest sources of con- efficiencies, including layoffs and stand. The current proposal shows such a way that would provide maximum re- ties, and while the final budget has troversy regarding TriMet’s budget program cuts to close the $12 to $17 the elimination of the Free Rail sources and aid to students. yet to be released, the proposals proposals has been its suggested million shortfall.” The initial pro- Zone would generate $2.7 million have been refined for further anal- service cuts, and recent versions of posal indicated $500,000 would SEE SHELLEY GUNTON ON PAGE 4 ysis and discussion. the budget proposals indicate that come from internal reductions, but SEE TRIMET ON PAGE 5 2 VANGUARD • TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2012 • NEWS NNEEWS WS N E WS• • T T U U•EE S STDAYDAYUES, ,DAYJ JAANUNU, AARYARYPRI L24, 17, 3, 2012 • VANGUARD 3 EDITOR: VANESSA WENDLAND [email protected] NEWS 503-725-5690 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF [email protected] Joshua Hunt NEWS EDITOR [email protected] Vanessa Wendland ASPSU considers Current structure and proposed Growth stunted for nation’s first ‘living building’ OPINION EDITOR [email protected] changes provided by ASPSU committee Joseph Mantecon lar building,” Gregory said. “The project team is really ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR [email protected] restructuring “PSU remains deeply com- continuing the process of Erick Bengel mitted to being a living evaluating what the options SPORTS EDITOR laboratory for sustainability are for private sector fund- [email protected] Vision and Reform Committee initiatives and continues to ing, so what that would look Randall Theil proposal could be on the May need the sustainability re- like and what amounts and COPY CHIEF search, faculty office and the timing is still something Kathryn Banks 2012 ballot classroom spaces that the the team is still working on,” building would have brought Uhlman said. “The project PRODUCTION MANAGER to PSU,” Gregory said. “So we team is going to continue Ben Patterson GIOvaNNA MARRONE VANGUARD STAFF constituencies under the cur- remain interested in finding to look at what options are PHOTO EDITOR rent system can be a mess for a way to meet those needs. available in the private sector Adam Wickham Citing low retention rates and various reasons,” he said. Any solution will need to be and what we can do to work ONLINE EDITOR communication barriers with- Powell pointed to reasons cost effective and sensible for to