Page 2
September 23, 2015
Protest over Armed Police
Fall term opens
with tensions
on PSU campus
O livia O livia
T he P ortland O bserver
Nearly 100 students and com-
munity members protested Port-
land State University’s convo-
cation ceremonies and held a
rally outside on Monday as fall
term gets underway because of a
controversial decision made last
spring to arm the university’s
campus security force.
The many students, staff, grad-
uates, neighbors, and even faculty
showed they will protest and fight
the decision which will be imple-
mented over the next three years
at a estimated cost of $1.5 million.
Alyssa Pagan, an activist and
PSU student said the protesters
were standing in solidarity with
the Black Lives Matter movement
against police brutality.
Olivia Pace, the student who
organized the protest, accused
PSU President Wim Wiewel and
the school’s Board of Trustees of
ignoring their pleas.
“This is not over,” said David
Martinez, the college’s student
government vice president, point-
ing to an incoming class that is 40
percent people of color. “Portland
State needs to be a campus that is
safe for people, where students
will not experience harassment
just because they are black or
Week
in
Review
The
Defending Planned
Parenthood
by
J. V ahid B rown
Portland State University student and activist Alyssa Pagan
addresses a crowd of protesters on campus during a rally Monday
protesting the arming its security force.
photo courtesy of
brown.”
PSU Director of Communi-
cations Scott Gallagher said the
protesters did not represent most
of the students and defended a de-
cision that came after a more than
two year long process of public
outreach.
“They’re a vocal minority, but
they don’t represent the 30,000
students at Portland State,” said
Gallagher. “There was a taskforce
made up of faculty, staff and stu-
dents, and they helped make this
recommendation.”
Gallagher said arming campus
security allows the PSU com-
Established 1970
P ublisher : Mark Washington, Sr.
E ditor : Michael Leighton
E xecutive D irector : Rakeem Washington
A dvertising M anager : Leonard Latin
Office Manager/Classifieds: Lucinda Baldwin
C reative D irector : Paul Neufeldt
R eporter /P hotographer : Olivia Olivia
munity respond more quickly to
problems on campus and clarifies
issues regarding jurisdiction with
Portland Police. “Having our own
force means we don’t have to wait
to respond to many of our campus
issues – we can send our officers
in directly and not worry about ju-
risdiction.”
Gallagher added he supported
the students’ rights to voice their
concerns.
The students protesting a mili-
tarized campus said they would be
meeting again to decide how best
to organize and continue to put
pressure on the university.
House
Speak-
er Tina Kotek
abruptly cancelled
a hearing about
Planned Parent-
hood and how it
disposes of abort-
ed fetuses Monday. The Portland
Democrat accused Republicans
of bringing “D.C.-style games to
the Oregon House. I am a strong
supporter of Planned Parenthood
and have seen zero evidence to
support the allegations that their
opponents have drummed up in
recent weeks,” Kotek said.
Homeless Camp on Notice
The Oregon Department of Trans-
portation has given campers who
have been using a public lot on
North Greeley Avenue until Thurs-
day to start clearing out. Several
nonprofits have offered assistance
and are trying to find a solution
for the growing number of home-
less people who are camping with
tents and make-shift shelters, but
it is unclear where the group will
go next.
Cooking Starts House Fire
Firefighters responded Saturday
night to a house fire on Northeast
Rodney Avenue. One 80-year-old
resident was taken to Emanu-
el Hospital and treated for small
burns and minor smoke inhala-
tion. The fire started in the kitch-
en with an oil fire and left dam-
ages estimated at $100,000.
Roosevelt High School Fire
Fire crews responded to a two-
alarm fire at Roosevelt High
School in north Portland Sunday.
Authorities report that the flames
were contained to a materials pile
adjacent to a stage in the school’s
gym. There were no victims and
school opened regularly Monday.
Man’s Wheelchair Stolen
A north Portland man who relies
on his wheelchair to get around
said Monday that he is now con-
fined to his home after someone
stole the wheelchair from his front
porch. David Rinella said the chair
disappeared sometime Saturday
night from his home in the Univer-
sity Park neighborhood.
Bicycle Commuting Record
Portlanders set a record for bike
commuting in 2014, with 7.2
percent of commuters choosing
to bike to work, according to new
figures published by the Census
Bureau. An estimated 23,347
Portlanders commuted to work
by bike in 2014, an increase of
27 percent, or 5,010 commuters
from the year before.
Battle for Living Wages
A petition to bring the statewide
minimum wage up to $15 an
hour secured a ballot title this
week. Organizers from Orego-
nians for 15 and 15 Now Oregon
say they need to collect to 88,000
valid signatures by July 1 in or-
der to qualify for the November
2016 ballot.
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