This season’s new recruit NEWS............................2 OPINION.........................4 FREE ARTS & CULTURE............6 Women’s golf signs Washington transfer A Ram Choi The Vanguard is published SPORTS..........................10 SPORTS paGE 12 every Wednesday PSUVANGUARD.COMPSUVANGUARD.COM PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY PSUVANGUARD.COM PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHED SINCE 1946 PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY PUBLISHED SINCE 1946 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 | VOL. 67 NO. 1 MILES SANGUINEttI/VANGUARD STAFF FREE RIDE: Free streetcar passes for PSU students, faculty and staff will be implemented Sept. 1. Free streetcar access KARL KUCHS/VANGUARD STAFF TAYLOR MArtINEK, a tight end for the PSU football team, tackled a cell phone thief June 11. for Portland State PSU signs on as The free passes are scheduled to be saw some vigilante-inspired ex- Portland Streetcar implemented on Sept. 1, coinciding citement as Martinek, on his usual with TriMet and Portland Streetcar’s Tackling justice commute to school, witnessed sponsor elimination of the free rail zone. After Tyler Adams, 18, allegedly steal a the shift, all students and staff will be smart phone from a young wom- DESMOND FULLER able to board the streetcar and use stu- Vikings tight end chases, an and flee near the MAX stop VANGUARD STAFF dent or employee photo identification catches thief at Southwest Fifth Avenue and cards as a valid fare. Morrison Street. This fall, riding the streetcar will be as “We know anecdotally that many ALEX MIERJESKI And on June 11, one victory said “I was standing there, and some easy as showing your student ID. PSU community members cur- VANGUARD STAFF less about his prowess as a foot- girl was standing in front of me, and Portland State will soon become a rently utilize the free rail zone for Taylor Martinek, a tight end for baller than it did about his charac- I just saw some guy come out of no- sponsor of Portland Streetcar, signing short trips in the central city,” said the Portland State Vikings foot- ter as a natural Good Samaritan. where and take her phone right out a five-year contract that will include Ian Stude, PSU transportation ball team, has a knack for besting Late that morning, MAX com- ridership benefits for all students, staff opponents. muters and downtown passersby See TACKLING JUstiCE on page 9 and faculty. See streetCAR ACCESS on page 9 Record-breaking graduating class Portland State demonstrates improvement team cooks up a PSU aims to increase RISING graduation rates political website NUMBERS: through ‘success A record- breaking 6,165 Oregon’s Kitchen Table initiatives’ PSU students The website, which wrapped up its received their website to encourage first public consultation June 22, al- lowed people from all across Oregon IsaaC HotCHKISS diplomas in the public discourse among VANGUARD STAFF 2011–12 school to fill out a carefully designed survey year. state residents asking them to prioritize and detail the Portland State ends another year issues they found most pressing, from with the largest graduating class in RavLEEN KaUR education to energy to the economy. VANGUARD STAFF university history. The survey, which verified that par- Approximately 6,165 PSU students There’s a seat at the virtual kitchen ticipants were Oregon residents but are receiving diplomas from the uni- table waiting for you. protected their anonymity and confi- versity in the 2011–12 academic year. Last month, PSU’s College of Urban dentiality, was designed to be intuitive, Although official numbers will not and Public Affairs teamed up with in-depth and non-partisan. be available until September, PSU elected officials and community orga- The results of the online survey will estimates that 4,400 bachelor’s de- nizations to launch Oregon’s Kitchen be sent to Governor John Kitzhaber’s of- grees, 1,700 master’s and 65 doctor- Table, a public policy project that uses fice, which was involved in generating ates will be awarded by the end of a simple online platform to involve a the questions in the first consultation, this academic year. greater cross-section of Oregonians in to help inform the 2013–15 budget and According to public records from the discussion of issues that matter to the state’s 10-year plan. the Office of Institutional Research them. The project is based around the The first goal of the project is to put and Planning, PSU has graduated a simple idea of coming to the table in the high-quality public research in the record number of students nearly ev- spirit of open discourse. hands of public officials, who help draft ery year since its inception, with only “We want to create a civic appetite,” policy questions that the public weighs minor fluctuations. In addition, the said Wendy Willis, project manager in on, explained Willis. The project also retention rate for full-time, first-time of the website and director of the Pol- aims to help the governor’s office and freshman is also on the rise this year, icy Consensus Initiative. “We want Oregonians feel more connected as increasing 2.2 percent to 72.2 percent. to make it easy for people from all they discuss the issues at stake. walks of life, including students, to participate.” See RECORD GRADUation on page 2 COURTESY OF TRANG LE See OREGON’S TABLE on page 9 2 Vanguard • Wednesday, june 27, 2012 • neWs NE NENEWWWS S S NE • •• WTUESDAY TUESDAYWEDNESDAY,S • TUESDAY, ,J JANUARYANUARY J,UNE MAY 24, 27,17, 1, 2012 • VANGUARD 3 EDITOR: DEEDA SCHROEDER [email protected] NEWS 503-725-5690 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF [email protected] Erick Bengel the modules create a lack of Since these classrooms will will make taking the bus or natural daylight within these serve as prototypes to test per- MAX too expensive or incon- NEWS EDITOR [email protected] classrooms, and low ceilings formance, monitoring and re- venient,” Stude said. Deeda Schroeder make modules unappealing search will be carried out by TriMet budget ax falls, PSU However, despite these over- to the eye. PSU students in the architec- all increases in price, TriMet OPINION EDITOR [email protected] “We must do better for our ture and engineering programs. has put measures in place to en- Meredith Meier kids,” Leite said. “They [the prototypes] will sure that students will receive To address the issues with serve as test laboratories as less of a financial burden dur- ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR commuters to pay the price [email protected] current modules and to look well as a unique opportunity ing these increases. The PSU Joseph Mantecon for healthier alternatives, for students to be involved in Service cuts, rely on those particular bus administration has been able to SPORTS EDITOR Leite and Palleroni decided to real-world, hands-on service to elimination of free lines,” Stude said. negotiate a better deal for their [email protected] hold a symposium in March our communities,” Leite said. “For some, these changes students than they were antici- Cory Mimms 2010, along with the Ameri- The Department of Archi- rail zones coming could make taking the bus or pating, given estimations. can Institute of Architects of tecture and Green Building light rail to PSU too incon- “TriMet was sensitive to COPY CHIEF SAM LLOYD Emily Gravlin Portland, which hosted a one- Lab teamed up this spring VANGUARD STAFF venient and/or expensive, the fact that a large price day community charrette that with multiple partners to leading to a change in their increase to the student transit PRODUCTION MANAGER Elizabeth Thompson included PSU, University of create the design plans, in- This fall, students, faculty and commute choice. Our hope is pass would be difficult for stu- Oregon, Oregon school dis- cluding the Institute for Sus- staff at Portland State who that we won’t see too many stu- dents to handle and as a result PHOTO EDITOR trict officials, modular manu- tainable Solutions, State of commute to campus using dents and employees shift to we were able to negotiate for a Kayla Nguyen COURTESY OF BLAZER IndustRIES facturers and many sorts of Oregon Building Codes Divi- TriMet will be feeling the commuting by car to campus, more gradual rate increase for THINK GREEN: A rendering of the Smart Academic Green Environment modular classroom. VIDEO EDITOR teachers and professionals. sion, Portland Public Schools pinch of higher prices. as our supply of parking is lim- the student FlexPass. We esti- Jann Messer After the symposium the and local portable manufac- Thanks to a $12 million defi- ited and our aim is to reduce mate that next year’s FlexPass ONLINE community group was eventually award- turer Blazer Industries, Inc. cit to be carried over into the those types of trips whenever will be $205 per term, which manager ed status as an official Oregon Blazer will build the class- 2012–13 fiscal year, a slew of possible,” Stude said. is a $15 increase over last year, Kali Simmons Raising the bar on Solutions project and allowed rooms this summer with cuts have been made to help TriMet’s current adult rate but significantly less than our them to create partnerships donated materials and labor. balance next year’s budget. for a temporary ride stands original estimate of $225,” CALENDAR EDITOR within the community to “We were invited to partici- These include employee layoffs at either $2.10 for a two-zone Stude said. Kali Simmons make the project a reality. pate in an AIA Activism in Ar- and service cuts, elimination fare or $2.40 for an all-zone “Additionally, PSU has ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITOR Two national distributors chitecture Symposium at PSU of fare zones, a new flat rate fare.