Viking_Yearbook_71

Ex Student Body President Three years ago I came to Po rtland State and found a pl ace much larger than anything I had d irectly exper ienced before. When I first came here I was one of those students who had a locker in a building and went to classes regularly and d idn't read anyth ing and took tests and got A's. Portland State is very open to new people getting in on activities. I found that most of the people I met who were involved in things at school were willing to let somebody join them rather than shut somebody out. So I started to get a little bit involved in this university. I moved near campus, ran a Wednesday Forum, and was on a student activities board . In a few months I got to know most of the students involved in what we now call institutional politics- working with or against the faculty and administration . . . I got into student government, not in an elected position but more as a hanger-on political strategist and behind-the -scenes type of person. I had the opportunity to become vice -president, then student body president, when my predecessor in office left for what may have been better or worse things outside of Portland State . I made my goal in office the establ ishment of a new form of student government, which we now have. Student government has the abi Iity and power to speak for students publicly to the great embarrassment of the enemies of student interest. It can get good people working on faculty committees on curr iculum and academic affairs. Student government also can exert quite a bit of influence over student fee money . I think these things that student government does are very necessary . If they are not done the decisions will still be made, made without students and, chances are, against them . I th ink it's ridiculous to assume that any form of government, let alone a student government, is going to be representative. I think it's rid iculous to assume a representative body is ever going to do anything. What can accomplish things is a group of people who learn to do what they can, who get a hold of levers of power to influence, who get some support behind them and work very effectively from within an organization on behalf of their people, in this case, the students. So I think on the whole there is something good to be said for a student government type of organization . I'm no longer student body president, in part because I resigned and in part because I saw to it that that office was abolished. There is no student body president anymore . We do have something to replace the office. We have a petition election sort of thing where essentially anyone who wants to be a student senator, who is willing to do a little bit of work, can be one . The result of this is that all the nuts , leaders, and a good bunch of people who support all student political positions end up being senators. Some of the better of these people get elected to the executive committee of the senate. I think the committee has done a good job of getting people into faculty organizations, dealing with budgetary problems, State Board of Higher Education problems, and public relations problems. And I think they' ve done a better job because they haven't had one individual , as student body president, who is always asked to speak for all the students about every issue . I think that's what's wrong with having a student body president. That's why it hurts students . And that's why I worked to get rid of the office. Freshman I'm a freshman . My major is pre-nursing. I plan to spend two years at Portland State and then go to the University of Oregon's school of nursing. I'm 18. I'm taking mainly general courses : history , math, chemistry, and P.E. I took a class in the background of nursing which turned out to be a kind of farce . During freshman orientation they gave us little brochures on all sorts of school activities, like Earth House and STAG (Student Tutor Action Group) . I reread the material and decided that I'd call these organizations and find out more. I joined STAG about a month after school started . The main goal of the program is for students to get out and get associated on a one-to-one basis with kids that are having problems adjusting to school. The kids are first to sixth graders. I have a first grader. His name is Tommy, and he's a real gas to be with. One of Tommy's problems is that he doesn't have a father. Another problem is that, for his age, Tommy has underdeveloped muscles. He has trouble on the horizontal ladder and monkey bars. So we've been practicing. He tries to do chin-ups but he can't. I live in student housing. My sister had the apartment previous to me. She graduated and decided to move out. I moved in a week after she left. Luckily, I could afford the place because I had worked through the summer. When I moved in the apartment it was nice, if you like basic blue throughout. I took some time and decided on something to do with the thing and came up with what I have, which is butcher paper and burlap on the walls. My sister helped me. We put in quite a bit of work on it to begin with. The apartment is $63.50 a month . Now I have a roommate and we split the rent. I like living here . It's close to school. 39