Posts tagged ‘Portland’
May 18
Guns On Campus?
Right now, there’s about 9 guns for every 10 Americans. With the recent mass shootings across the country, the Oregon University System is moving to preemptively transform campus security officers into full-blown “sworn police”—and that means they’ll be armed with handguns.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. Having guns on a college campus doesn’t seem safe to me, no matter who has them. Last October, a kid at the University of Southern Alabama was shot dead on campus by a public safety officer. Read more
Why WE Love PSU
They say, Portland is one of the best metropolitan cities to live with one of the highest happiness index. What is better than living in a happy, sustainable city while obtaining your education? I can honestly say I love PSU, from the authentic culture, to the community development program, to the great people I have met.
I know I’m not the only one with Viking pride, so I decided to ask some of my peers what they thought about PSU!
“I love that PSU is so diverse. It gave me the opportunity to learn and grow through various individuals and their different cultural beliefs as well as share my own cultural knowledge of being Hawaiian.”
- Ka’ila See, Health Studies/Health Science Major
My Fashion Secret: Thrifting
Portland is known for the “hipster” look; our clothes are either outrageous or we have no fashion sense at all. I don’t know if it’s the weather or my limited student budget, but I will fully admit I never really put too much thought into my outfits. But I have become more enthusiastic about a particular type of shopping, known as thrifting.
It is almost like a hobby, a simple thrill to find clothes cheaper than at a typical department store. The items could be new or secondhand. Sometimes I’m able to find deals for brand name clothing (not that it really matters) — as long as it’s catchy, vintage-y, different, it is worth it for a third or even a fourth of its original price.
Read more
Searching for the right haircut
For the longest time, my father cut my hair growing up. My two younger brothers and I never went to a barber shop to get the job done. And this job is complicated to say the least. Around 16 or 17, my father just didn’t have the same precision as before and my hair was just too difficult to cut. Soon after, my father simply retired, if you will, from cutting my hair and my brother’s as well. I was confident that if my father could cut my hair, anyone else with experience could do it just as well. Read more
Work has increased but support has not.
I don’t visit the Multicultural Center, Casa Latina or the Diversity and Multicultural Student Services offices as much as I used to. But in the past few weeks, I have been stopping by, and I’ve noticed an increase in the number of Latino and students of color using these resources. The number of programs and events has grown just as well. However, as I visited each place, I felt like an outsider to some degree.
When Casa Latina opened, I believed it would develop community among students. When I was part of that growing community a couple years ago, I could see small but solid steps towards the needs of the students. However, I should point out that I lived on campus at that time. I moved to Oregon City this past summer. Since then, I have been out of what is going on, who is new to the community, how are the needs of the students being addressed and ultimately why must this work continue?
Perhaps, I have distanced myself too much without even knowing. However, I have given much thought as to why I or these places feel different. It seems that these places have become over the years fast paced, overloaded with work, expectations have risen higher, and yet moral obligation and duty is still present among these departments that are undoubtedly understaffed and under supported. My feelings I believe stem from my concerns for the students.
As a student, I feel empowered when I can connect deeply and grow from a program or from an individual. What concerns me is being regarded as just a number rather than a person. It seems that when a department is understaffed, the meaning of their work shifts and becomes more quantitative than qualitative. Students cannot afford to be seen as a number. I hope that this does not unfold within these offices. They are too vital and necessary for the growth and education for students of color and their communities.
Feb 26
It’s the great apartment hunt, Charlie Brown!
As some of you know, I live in the dorms here on campus, and while they are wonderful, my best friend and I have decided to move in together summer term. Unfortunately for us, housing on campus does not have any two-bedroom options available (unless we live at University Pointe, which is too expensive for us) and we don’t want to share a one-bedroom place. Since there is a lack of two-bedroom housing on campus, we are forced to look elsewhere.
For us living downtown is too costly since we have a budget of around of $1,000-$1,100 in rent per month, while we like the convenience of living in Portland, square footage increases dramatically outside of downtown. Portland is too costly for the average college student.
Thus far our search has included the Lake Oswego and Beaverton areas, where we’ve looked at apartments and townhouses. These areas are our preference and while we’ve had some luck, we are by no means finished looking. We have a couple months till we have to move, and plan to do plenty of visits and research to find the perfect place! I’ll miss the convenience of living on campus, but saving a couple hundred dollars a month on rent will more than make up for the extra commute time!
Confessions of an Insomniac
I turn my head to glance at the clock on the bright screen of my smart phone. It is a little past midnight. I think, “Okay, I’ll get exactly 7 hours, if I fall asleep. Right now.” Exhausted, I roll over again and attempt to find the most comfortable position. I even flip my pillow to the “cold side.”
I’ve found myself going through this episode throughout my life, but it has hit me especially hard during my college years. I’ve come to realize my thoughts are like a black hole at night: never-ending with no solutions.
During the day, I am stacked with classes from the morning till late afternoon, then a night class once a week. In between all this, I have an internship, student activities, and study time in the library. I even go to the gym at least a couple times a week, not just to get exercise, but to purposely drain myself.
My mind, which is annoyingly active, sprints through the usual topics before I fall asleep—family, friends, relationships, school. The topics that haunt me are the “what ifs” of life, the unpredictable future. Ugh, now my anxiety levels are going up.
I visualize myself planted in the middle of a Hawaiian beach, relaxed by the waves. Failed attempt. All right, time to count sheep.
Exasperated, I wake up to write in my personal blog.
Now, it’s 3 a.m.
My ultimate remedy for this problem?
Go to the kitchen to fix myself a 4th meal.
Social Networking or Social Awkwardness?
“It’s not official until it’s on Facebook.” That statement is somewhat, semi-, kinda true.
Social networking has been the “grapevine” of this generation. Information is so visible—we know whose birthday it is, who’s in a “complicated” relationship, and where everyone is by simply logging into our social network accounts.
But is it social networking or social awkwardness? It’s both. Evidently, the Internet can be used as an efficient tool to communicate. But what are we exactly communicating? Our Internet alter egos or personas? I find myself hanging out with friends and at least one has to take a photo or “check-in” to show the world we are having the time of our lives.
This past year I have run into a few friends whom I talk to or follow on several social networks at school. They usually completely avoid me in person and when I eagerly went over to them to strike up a conversation, I was shot down with one of those conversation stoppers: “Hi.” “Yeah.” “Gotta go.” Is this what conversations have come to? I mean, it is always convenient to converse and even argue behind a computer screen. But social networks never convey facial expressions and body language.
I’m old-fashioned and would rather have a genuine conversation in person than none at all.
