Viking_Yearbook_68

I I 126 Mike Smith is a senior in English and Psychology. He represented Portland State College as a member of the Col– lege Bowl team on television. In his spare time Mike writes poetry and the following is one of his free lance articles for the Vanguard. William Butler Yeats has said it is his poem " Easter, 1916": All changed, changed utterly: A terrible beauty is born. Yeats, of course, was speaking of the changes manifest in his acquaintances as the Irish revolution was stirring. Port– land State students could use the same words to describe the transformations of their college- past, present and fu– ture. Those who have attended P.S .C. for five years or more could best notice the change. As late as 1962, P.S.C. consisted of a mere four buildings surrounded by a tree-lined residential area dotted with small shops extending from the West Hills almost to the river. Row on row of turn-of-the-century housing, some drab, much ornate, many family homes and apartments of varying ethnic groups, especially Jewish. Chil– dren and dogs were abundant in the Park Blocks near what was then Shattuck Grade School. More importantly, many of the boarding houses, homes and apartments near college were open to students- and they were cheap. P.S.C. , then unloved by the state leg– islature, was loved by its students for one major factor: it was a good , cheap place to go to college. Students could live quite comfortably sans automobile, for less than $70 per month . Rooms with private bath and kitchen could be found for $35, and entire seven-room houses, admittedly run down, could be rented for $40 to $60. No parking meters then; always someplace to move if you got kicked out of your place by an irate landlord. And you didn't have to get up till 8:45 for your 9 a.m. class. Those who stayed long in the P.S.C. neighborhood learned where the action was. A large, somewhat bohemian col– ony flourished in Cable Alley, and in a renowned community dwelling on up– per Hall Street known as The Village. The roots of Portland hippiedom can be traced here. Pot, Peyote and LSD were in vogue, or at least given a try here by some long before the public or the police became concerned about hallucinogens. For those less radical, many other types of living experience were avail– able, from squalid boarding rooms to the tidiest of apartments overlooking the park blocks. Fraternities were able to provide cheap living facilities and good times, though they often had to move after the times got too good. Those who stayed long found , if they wanted to, intellectual companionship, scholarly isolation, tavern philosophis– ing, a good part time job, a lover, a self– discovery- all independent of the col– lege, yet all facilitated by its proximity. By allowing no easy barrier to exist between that which was learned in class and that which went on in the commu– nity, the P.S.C. environment afforded students a unique experience in living. Some even got a degree.