Spring 2021 Inbox

Spring 2021

LOVING AND ... NOT LOVING THE FALL ISSUE

Your Fall 2020 issue was so informative and enlightening that it persuaded me to write to you for the first time. I appreciated the “One Year, Many Points of View” Inbox article with its many historical and personal perspectives. Of particular interest to me, as a retired educator and PSU alumnus, were the graduating students highlighted in “The Class of COVID-19.” This article portrayed the struggles and strengths of these young graduates in their unique voices. The Alumni Life and the Looking Back articles defined the possibilities of the future for PSU and its graduates. Thank you for an enlightening, joyous read. —Linda Strode ’92

Thank you for an enlightening, joyous read.

The left-leaning bias [of the Fall 2020 issue] was overwhelming. Katy Swordfisk writes “Data Science Provides Election Protection.” We must recognize in 2016 the Democratic Party chalked up Trump’s electoral victory to Russian meddling. Later, Scholle McFarland highlights Joseph Blake Jr.’s participation in activism for Black Lives Matter [in “The Class of COVID-19”] and Christina Rojas highlights local Democratic candidates [in “From Portland State to Public Office”]. Of the candidates Rojas cites, five are Democrats, two are Republicans, and one is nonpartisan. These inclusions are not representative of my own politics, nor are they representative of the American public at large. I’ve veered away from the liberalism of my college days and have embraced the holistic conservatism of individuals such as Dr. E. Michael Jones, the editorial board of The American Conservative Magazine, and, gasp, voted for President Donald J. Trump, as did nearly 72 million Americans, with 40% of votes from Oregon voters. Most importantly, editor Scholle McFarland and the Portland State Alumni Association need to recognize pushing a hard-left agenda, including Black Lives Matter, will not resonate with conservative alumni readers (read “donors”) such as myself. —Mark Abell ’11

I am ashamed of this school and your biased liberal views. I think you’re part of the problem of the demise of our beautiful City of Roses. —Marlene Singlehurst ’62

MORE SECRETS TO SHARE

I’d like to share some of the work surrounding Portland State’s 15th-century codex [featured in “Hands-on History”]. On Jan. 13, two student-led organizations, the History Club and the PSU chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, hosted a webinar, “Witch-hunting, Dog men and a World Chronicle: Research- ing a 500-Year-Old Codex at PSU,” in which a panel of graduate and undergraduate students shared their findings with 75 attendees. The students’ work caught the attention of a colleague in Germany, whose own students are researching a book from the same period, opening the way for future collaboration and sharing of information. Once we resume face-to-face teaching, I hope to launch another practicum, as the codex has by no means revealed all its secrets! —Prof. John Ott, chair, History Department

MEMORIES OF 1970

I was a student on the PSU campus in May of 1970, and as a Vietnam-era veteran and a member of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, I participated in the protests those days on campus. I vividly remember what was obviously an undercover police car with two officers in it sitting curbside all day on campus, oblivious to the “Stop the War” sign balanced on their rear bumper that some student had placed there. Although I was a veteran, I never experienced any disrespect because of it. I was asked by one of my professors to speak to the downtown Portland Rotary Club (which I did) about why I was opposed to the war, which by then I had realized had no end game and the “domino theory” on which it was based had been discredited. I traveled in uniform many times during my time of service and was never treated disrespectfully. In addition, I was never thanked for my service, which I am afforded on an almost daily basis now. I believe a lot of stories about service members being treated disrespectfully, however ugly they sound, never happened. It was a momentous time in our country’s history, much like recent times, that will be long remembered. It was a privilege to be a part of those times. —Steven F. Scanlin MSW ’71

It was a privilege to be a part of those times.

I would like to respond to Jim Knoll’s letter [in the Fall Inbox] that falsely charged Vietnam War protesters as spitting upon veterans and singling them out as “Neanderthal relics.” On the contrary, our protest group worked closely with the Vietnam Veterans Against the War (VVAW) during the May 1970 PSU student strike and the summer protests against President Nixon coming to Portland as the keynote speaker at the American Legion Convention, which Nixon ultimately canceled due to the threat of large marches. Former U.S. Marine Sgt. Mike McCusker of the VVAW was our media spokesman for the planned protests. —Doug Weiskopf ’71

Read the virtual print edition of the Fall 2020 Portland State Magazine or download a PDF.

THE INSPIRING MIRIAM MCKEE

Martin Ross’ letter (“The Difference One Instructor Can Make”) really sent me back with a flood of memories. I was an 18-year-old freshman in 1968 and had no idea of what I wanted to major in. I signed up for Tom Benson’s Geology 101 class and, like Martin, ended up in Miriam McKee’s lab. Living with my parents and commuting to PSC, the College was a lonely place for me. Mimi made me feel right at home. She was my first teacher that treated me as an adult. Always telling great adventurous stories of her career in exploration geology, she was always positive, humorous, friendly, unpretentious and supportive. She also often invited us students to her home for Friday night social gatherings. Because of her, I became a geology major, went on to get a master’s in economic geology from the University of Idaho School of Mines, and had a career in the mining industry. —Glen Kirkpatrick ’72

IMAGINING A MORE AFFORDABLE EDUCATION

There can be no social justice without an affordable university education. I know this goal can be met because I graduated from PSU with a bachelor’s degree in 1966 without any debt and without scholarships. Here’s an example of how it can be done: Convert into today’s dollars the cost of tuition and fees for an undergraduate degree at PSU, beginning in 1961. Then convert into today’s dollars the cost of rent for four years in the Park Blocks area, beginning in the fall of 1961. Then compare the fall 1961 through spring 1965 budgets to the most recent budgets. Search for the areas where costs have increased much more than justified by inflation and growth. Cut tuition and fees, as well as housing costs, so they are comparable with the 1961-65 era, adjusted for inflation, of course. Should you adopt this modest proposal, please let me know. It’s about time that the wealth at PSU was redistributed. —Jeff Watkins ’66 MA ’70

THE HIGH PRICE OF TEXTBOOKS

Across the country, people are choosing between meals and textbooks, just like I did my first year at PSU. Textbook prices are out of hand, and renting, buybacks, and financial aid aren’t effectively addressing the problem. The average price of a science textbook is $250, and has risen by 800% in the last 30 years. When students try to use a buyback program, they often get little to nothing back and can’t afford the next term’s books. When students chose to rent books, any small damage can make it so that on top of the renting fee, they also have to buy the book. This has caused 65% of students to opt out of getting a required textbook for a class [according to a report by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group]. We need grants and support systems for teachers to allow them to switch to open resource textbooks, so that everyone has access to education no matter their financial status. Portland State needs to expand its Open Education Initiative. —Kai O’Dell, student

Student at registrar, counting out money — This photo by Viking Yearbook photographer Dan Long ’69 appeared in the Oregonian in September 1967 with the caption: “‘$331...$332...$333...and that’s my tuition for the fall quarter at Portland State College,’ quips Alan Cherney, undergraduate student from California. Cherney paid tuition in $1 bills during Friday registration at the college.” (Oregonian Publishing Co.)

CORRECTIONS

All of the students mentioned in the story “First Cohort of Students With Intellectual Disabilities Graduates” have intellectual disabilities, but only Rachel Esteve has Down syndrome.

In “Robots, Reimagined,” the correct source of Alex Hunt’s grant is the National Science Foundation.

The story “From Portland State to Public Office” neglected to include Brandee Dudzic ’16 MS ’19, who lost her bid for Columbia County Board of Commissioners, position 1; and Zach Hudson MEd ’05, who now represents District 49 in the Oregon House of Representatives.

We want to hear from you! Send your letters and comments by email to psumag@pdx.edu or by mail to Portland State Magazine, University Communications, P.O. Box 751, Portland OR 97207-0751. We reserve the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit them for clarity, accuracy and length.