Portland State Magazine Spring 2019

6 PARK BLOCKS NEARLY 500,000 Oregonians are at risk of being uncounted in the 2020 Census because they live with one or more non-U.S. citizens, according to a study conducted by Jason Jurjevich, acting director of PSU’s Population Research Center. Jurjevich, who was recently appointed to the Oregon Complete Count Committee by Gov. Kate Brown, performed the study partially in response to the White House administration’s attempt to include a citizenship question on the 2020 Census. Asking respondents to report citizenship could reduce participation among already hard-to-count populations, including children, people of color, renters and immigrants, according to former U.S. Census Director John Thompson. The census is required to count everyone. Census may undercount Oregonians AS ASTRONAUTS aboard the International Space Station perform experiments in zero-g, the Portland State students who helped design them are watching from a lab on campus through a live video feed. The NASA communications lab—one of the few in the United States—is under the direction of mechanical engineering professor Mark Weislogel, pictured here (left) with then-student Brentley Wiles. NASA has funded $4.2 million in research at PSU over the past 17 years. During that time, astronauts on the space station have conducted more than 100 PSU-designed experiments, some of which could one day unlock the secrets to long-range space travel. “Portland State is totally unique in the country in the kind of work we’re doing,” says Weislogel. From campus to space