Aldridge wants to be longtime Blazer PortlandTribune — SEE SPORTS, B8 THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2014 • TWICE CHOSEN THE NATION’S BEST N ONDAILY PAPER • WWW.PORTLANDTRIBUNE.COM • PUBLISHED THURSDAY PSU gets ■ Time, money and important research may be lost a lesson without enough participants enrolled in studies in tough labor talks Budget shortfall TRIBUNE PHOTO: JONATHAN HOUSE reduced, but faculty TriMet is now considering the offi cial name for the transit strike still looms bridge under construction across the Willamette River. By STEVE LAW The Tribune Portland State University Bridge should be basking in glory af- ter earning U.S. News & World Report accolades as one of the top 10 “up and com- names ing” national universities two years in a row. But looming budget cuts have soured relations between PSU whittled administrators and faculty and spread angst among students and staff. to four “We are all unsettled this year,” says Leslie Mc- Duniway, Cascadia, “We are all Bride, presid- TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER ONSTOTT unsettled ing offi cer of In most clinical trials, volunteer participants have a fi fty percent chance of getting the experimental therapy and a 50 percent chance Tillicum, Wy’east this year. the PSU Facul- of getting a placebo, a deterrent experts say, to many potential volunteers. OHSU Professor of Neurology and Behavioral Neuroscience ty Senate. “The Dr. Barry Oken studies the placebo effect. make the short list The president has said Portland By JIM REDDEN president State has got The Tribune has said to make some CLINICAL Portland big changes.” TRIALS Whoop Whoop didn’t State has President PATIENTS BALK make the cut. Neither did Wim Wiewel STYMIED former Mayor Bud Clark, got to make announced in who coined the phrase. November that Matt Groening failed to some big PSU faced a STORY BY make the grade, as did any of changes.” $15 million PETER KORN his popular budget short- AT ‘EXPERIMENTS’ cartoon char- — Leslie McBride, presiding offi cer fall. Adminis- acters, in- “We trators then osie Henderson wanted to say cluding Hom- of the PSU Faculty asked depart- yes. She’d been told she had a Only six percent of clinical trials er and Lisa selected Senate ment heads to highly aggressive form of breast are completed on time. Simpson. these names submit budget- Jcancer that was already at an ■ Eighty percent of trials are delayed at Even such because cut lists equal- advanced stage. She’d been told that least one month because of low enrollment. iconic words ing 8 percent of their spending, she could volunteer for a clinical trial ■ In 1997, on average, 5,582 patients as Portland- they refl ect a signal that entire programs that would offer her the best care for were studied for each new drug application. ia, Stump- aspects of would be eliminated. her cancer, and possibly more in the In 2007, only 2,186 participants were town, Rose involved in development of each new drug. The faculty are “up in arms,” form of the trial’s experimental chemo- City and Rip this region’s ■ A March 2008 survey showed that 94 says Mary King, an economics therapy agent. percent of Americans had never been City aren’t on unique professor who leads the She knew that signing up for the trial informed by their doctors of research the list. They history and 1,250-strong PSU chapter of the meant she could contribute scientifi c studies in which they might participate. are all among American Association of Univer- knowledge that would help other breast thousands of values.” sity Professors. “They are as cancer patients in the future.”I thought names sub- — Chet Orloff, close to a strike as I might have I would choose science,” says Hender- mitted by the Oregon Historical seen in my academic career.” son, who is executive director of a Port- tent and professional,” but oddly dis- public, but Society director Scott Gallagher, PSU commu- land public health nonprofi t. connected from the fact that she was a rejected by emeritus nications director, says labor re- Henderson agreed to participate in woman told she might be facing a death the commit- lations are contentious because the preliminary screening, including a sentence. And agreeing to fully partici- tee charged the university faces a budget biopsy, as well as bone and liver scans, pate in the trial would have meant the with proposing the fi nalists for defi cit. which would determine if her cancer clinical investigator for the trial would the new TriMet transit bridge After months of futile negotia- met the clinical criteria for the trial. become her oncologist. under construction over the tions on a new faculty union con- That experience put an end to Hender- Even knowing the trial’s experimen- Willamette River. tract, both sides narrowed their son’s participation. tal therapy might help save her life, And, yes, Willamette Bridge differences over salary during a “I didn’t feel cared for,” she says. “I Henderson opted out. Eventually, con- was rejected, too. Monday mediation session, King felt experimented on.” ventional chemotherapy did eliminate The Portland-Milwaukie says. The union planned to keep Prior to learning about the trial, Hen- her tumor and her prognosis has bright- Light Rail Bridge Naming Com- up the heat on the university be- derson had one visit with a chemother- ened considerably. But her brief partici- mittee unveiled four names to fore the next mediation session apy oncologist who works with the pation in a clinical trial left Henderson be submitted to TriMet for the Jan. 27, including campus pro- Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon TRIBUNE PHOTOS: JAIME VALDEZ wishing the physicians and scientists fi nal selection this week: tests and an ad in the Vanguard Health & Science University. She says Josie Henderson decided not to join a who conduct experiments involving ■ THE ABIGAIL SCOTT DUNIWAY student newspaper criticizing he treated her with compassion and clinical trial for breast cancer because she people rethink their approaches. TRANSIT BRIDGE. Duniway (1834- empathy. The clinical trial investiga- didn’t feel comfortable giving her care over 1915) was known as “the See PSU / Page 7 tors, on the other hand, were “compe- to researchers. See TRIALS / Page 2 See BRIDGE / Page 10 After initial discomfort, race talks forge on Conversations about equity create ripple effect transforming culture in schools, city Parents say policy By JENNIFER ANDERSON terms are the preferred lingo The Tribune these days when it comes to talk- fails in practice ing about equity at Portland Pub- Listen up, white people: The lic Schools. fi rst step toward ending rac- Paula Dennis, King’s black co- PPS defends equity ism is to admit you are white. facilitator, knew it would be hard “Admit that you for attendees to get work as some have a race,” says comfortable saying Linea King, who is Courageous “white people.” So question its impact white. “We can’t talk Conversations she had them say it a about race, see race, few times out loud, By JENNIFER ANDERSON until we see ourselves as racial in unison. “White people, white The Tribune beings.” people, white people.” King, a trained racial equity An awkward moment, but that Seven years ago, people at specialist and former Portland was the point. In fact, the facilita- Portland Public Schools hard- Public Schools teacher, spoke to a tors began by listing a few dis- ly talked about race at all. crowd at Jefferson High School claimers: the presentation would Now it is everywhere: Race TRIBUNE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ on Jan. 7 as part of a series of fa- be uncomfortable. There would Talks, Focus on Diversity and Donna Maxey draws a sign for TRIBUNE PHOTO: JAIME VALDEZ cilitated dialogues called Race be stories and even jokes about Courageous Conversations in her next event. Race Talks is held Linea King prepares to speak at the recent Race Talks 2 presentation Talks 2. race. There would be talk about every school building, board every second Tuesday at the at Jefferson High School. King and Paula Dennis, both trained racial The crowd of 50 people was stereotypes of black and white room and administrative offi ce. Kennedy School; Race Talks 2 is equity specialists, gave a talk called “Five Things White People and about evenly split between white held every fi rst Tuesday at People of Color Can Do to Fix the Racial Divide.” people and people of color. Those See CONVERSATIONS / Page 5 See PARENTS / Page 4 Jefferson. “Pamplin Media Group’s pledge is to Portland Tribune CREATIVITY SPROUTS deliver balanced news that refl ects the FROM FERTILE GROUND stories of our communities. Thank you Inside — SEE LIFE, PAGE B1 for reading our newspapers.” — DR. ROBERT B. PAMPLIN JR. OWNER & NEIGHBOR A2 NEWS The Portland Tribune Thursday, January 16, 2014 Trials: ‘Growing skepticism of science,’ doc says ■ called off, and the loss of im- From page 1 portant science. Low recruitment is especial- “I believe in science,” Hen- ly vexing in cancer research, derson says. “I work in public says Dr. Tomasz Beer, an on- health. I wanted to participate cologist and cancer researcher in this study. It was the right at OHSU. Beer says that only thing to do for science, for about three to fi ve out of every loved ones and other women 100 adult cancer patients par- who might some- ticipate in trials. day get this dis- He says most can- ease, and for my “We’ve failed to cer patients should Cancer patient own health. But I join a trial at some Josie Henderson needed to be create a system point in their treat- says she found a cared for as much ment.