Event of the day
FRIDAY, MARCH 5, 2010 • PORTLAND STATE UNIVERSITY • VOLUME 64, ISSUE 79
The Foreign Language Department’s Scandinavian Sampler kicks off tonight. See Page 7 for more info. When: 7:30 p.m. Where: Cramer Hall, room 124
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INSIDE OPINION
Students gathered in the park to demand more funding for higher education Stacy Austin Vanguard staff
Live by the gun, die by the gun Both Campbell and police are accountable in shooting PAGE 3
ARTS
Underland is not wonderland Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland leaves little to be in awe of PAGE 4
A few hundred students gathered yesterday at 1 p.m. in the South Park Blocks at Portland State for the National Day of Action to Defend Education. Students at hundreds of other campuses across the country participated in the day of action in some way, according to www.defendeducation.org. At PSU, 11 different groups, including the ASPSU Executive Branch, Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, Students for Unity and Northwest Student Coalition, sponsored the student walkout. Live music was played by Piñata, David Rovics and the Powder Keg marching band. The rally ended mid-afternoon with a group march from the Park Blocks to Southwest Market Street and Sixth Avenue, then down Southwest College Street and through Smith Memorial Student Union and Neuberger Hall. Student leaders, musicians and professors spoke to the crowd about the need to keep education accessible. The crowd held signs that read things such as “keep PSU affordable” and “Wim’s restructure plan equals higher tuition.”
ACTION continued on page six One year of quality music Mississippi Studios catches steam as they attack their second year PAGE 5
Advocacy group takes stance on proposed financial restructure Vanguard staff
SPORTS
March of the Vikings Vikings seek third straight postseason title, but enter as No. 6 seed PAGE 8
Across the nation: Students gathered many places today demanding greater affordability.
All photos by Marni Cohen/Portland State Vanguard
OSA opposes restructure Recovering from accusations Tamara K. Kennedy
The healthy whore Shrimp, lentils and a smutty-name sauce make this dish an easy win PAGE 5
National day of action
Though most seem to agree that higher education in Oregon needs more funding, how to fix the problem is cause for disagreement. The Oregon Student Association, an advocacy group representing over 100,000 students in public universities across the state, has formulated a stance and a document of guiding principals in opposition to the proposed financial restructuring of several Oregon University System schools. “Right now, we feel there is a problem but we don’t think restructuring is the best way to fix the system,” said Katie Markey, ASPSU interim legislative affairs director and board delegate.
Katie Markey
Liana Shewey/Portland State Vanguard
The OSA’s stance and guiding principals on the proposed financial restructure are that it: - Supports the setting of tuition and fees by the State Board of Higher Education and in the Oregon Legislature - Opposes the deregulation of the statewide governance structure currently fulfilled by the State Board - Opposes a public corporation model such as the one proposed in the Frohnmayer Report or any close derivative - Supports securing a permanent state-funding source for post secondary education other than student tuition and fees - Supports a minimum state funding level for all postsecondary schools - Supports a truly public mission in Oregon that ensures access to post secondary education for all people in Oregon regardless of financial ability “As talks continue we can move and develop with them and we can revise our stances as more information regarding restructuring is available,” Markey said. The ASPSU Senate will likely review the OSA’s stance and take some sort of action in response. “There have been no proposals as of yet to solve this problem in Oregon or at Portland State, but discussions have begun and ASPSU is making sure that students will be represented throughout these talks,” said ASPSU Senator Selina Poulsen.
Student leaders defend Bucharest, named by professor as an FBI agent Virginia Vickery Vanguard staff
Since tenured economics professor John Hall accused student Zaki Bucharest of being an undercover FBI agent and provocateur during his class, white supremacy groups have threatened Bucharest’s family and he has received racist and violent harassment on his public social networking profiles. During the Jan. 14 incident, Hall, who has taught at Portland State for 24 years, veered off course during a class lecture and leveled the accusations at Bucharest. He went on to say that Bucharest is dangerous and a threat to the student body. Friends of Bucharest and many student leaders on campus say these accusations are false. They have begun to organize a campaign to publicly defend him from the claims made by Hall. “He’s probably one of the most intelligent, outspoken students for students’ rights, and thank god he’s on my staff,” said ASPSU President Jonathan Sanford, for whom Bucharest works as chief of staff. Sanford stated in an open letter that on Feb. 12, members of a
white supremacy group located Bucharest’s two young children in California and threatened violence against them. Since the incident with Hall was made public, numerous racist comments threatening violence against Jewish people have been posted on a YouTube account presumed to belong to Bucharest, though he denies that the account belongs to him but rather to a person he knows. “I am deeply concerned by the reports of anti-Semitism that have been leveled at my good friend, Zaki Bucharest. I hope that the administration is taking this case very seriously because of the intensity of threats and hate filled words,” said Rudy Soto, former ASPSU president, a current student at PSU and candidate for City Council.
Support from within A letter released in midFebruary signed by ASPSU leaders, other student leaders and friends of Bucharest reads: “Having worked closely with Bucharest professionally and personally, I can testify that he is not a dangerous agent provocateur, nor is he employed by any federal or private mercenary agency.” Hall went on in the lecture to accuse Bucharest, a 30-year-old
DEFENSE continued on page six