PSu Magazine Winter 2002

school people are filtering their educa– tion through so many different life experiences." That's why Otto Ezkely comes to PSU. A retired tailor, Ezkely says that at 77, he needs the stimulation he finds in his art history class. "I want to survive my retirement," he says between bites of his sandwich in the cafeteria. "I need to keep my mind working. There are all kinds here. When you are my age, and you are tol– erated by the kids, it's a good sign." But the very characteristics which make PSU the right school for Ezkely, also make it the school of choice for Madiha Sulpan. S ulpan is in some ways a very typical PSU freshman. A recent high school grad, the 19-year-old busi– ness major says she picked PSU because it was close to her home. However, she is also concerned about the things that set her apart from other students. As a Muslim woman, one of her priorities is to attend a school in which she can wear her headscarf without being harassed. "I feel comfortable here," she says. "I think PSU is the most diverse school in Oregon, and I like that. They also have a very good business school and that's important to me, too." Laura Campos fills the typical PSU 14 PSU MAGAZINE WINTER 2002 student nitch on the other side of the spectrum from Sulpan. Campos is 48, working on her second degree, having earned her first in liberal arts at Reed. This one is in art, but she's not sure where she in in the process. She lives eight blocks from campus, which means she doesn't have to drive. It is, she says, her gift to the planet and the rest of us. She is drawn to PSU because of her interest in urban renewal and social causes. It is a place, she says, which fuels her sense of commitment to her Native American heritage. "I have always been drawn to women's issues," she says. "I have always worked for social justice." PSU strikes Campos as the ideal environment to do that. She finds the student mix stimulating and the oppor– tunities irresistible. She recently peti– tioned the administration to move Dignity Village, the tent community for Portland's homeless, to the campus, but the administration turned her down. "You have to keep trying," she says. "I think the mission of this University to serve the community is tremen– dously important, and I want to be a part of it." D (Merlin Douglass, a Portland freelance writer, wrote the article "Outpost: Middle East" in the spring 2001 PSU Magazine.) When they were born ■ ■ ■ The average PSU student is 28 and female. When she was born in 1973: • G. Gordon Liddy and James W. McCord, Jr., were convicted of plotting to spy on the Democratic Party in the Watergate break-in. • Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned under a cloud, accused of taking kickbacks from government contractors. • Members of the American Indian Movement occupied an obscure reservation in South Dakota called Wounded Knee for 71 days. • American Graffiti, The Exorcist, and Last Tango in Paris all premiered in theaters. • General Augusto Pinochet seized power from the elected socialist government of Salvador Allende in Chile; Allende was killed. • The United States withdrew from Vietnam. • Stanford University scientists developed the basic language needed for the Internet. • Monica Lewinsky was born. 18-year-old freshmen were born in 1983, when: • President Ronald Reagan intro– duced his "Star Wars" plan. • A terrorist explosion killed 23 7 U.S. Marines in Beirut. • U.S. Marines invaded Grenada. • Sally Ride became the first U.S. woman astronaut in space aboard the Challenger. • The Mac was introduced. • The Big Chill, Flashdance, and National Lampoon's Vacation played at the nation's theaters. • Recording TV programs on VCRs became legal. • Dallas was the most popular show on television. • Michael Jackson's Beat it took the Grammy for record of the year. • The compact disk was invented.