Portland State Magazine Fall 2013

4 PORTLAND STATE MAGAZINE FALL 2013 Park Blocks Traditional marriage safe LONG BEFORE the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions supporting same- sex marriage, opponents argued that allowing gays and lesbians to marry would discourage straight couples from tying the knot. Not so according to research by Alexis Dinno, assistant professor in PSU’s School of Community Health. She and fellow researcher Chelsea Whitney looked at 20 years of marriage statistics throughout the United States and found no decline in opposite-sex marriage in states that passed laws allowing same-sex marriage. “Concerns about potential harm to the rate of opposite-sex marriage resulting from same-sex marriage laws are not borne out by this research,” she says. From the Park Blocks to Pill Hill The guidance that Portland State’s pre-med advising program provides for aspiring physicians is getting results at Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine. One out of four of it’s incoming 2013 medical students attended Portland State—a figure that has held steady for seven years. In addition, three PSU pre-med students received full scholarships to OHSU in 2013. Portland State not only guides students, it provides medical school prerequisite courses. Photo by Marta Drevniak.