Compiling resolutions each year is always somewhat painful, as they highlight the things that we should be doing, but are not, or things that we are not doing as well as we could.
Portland State University could, no doubt, create a slew of resolutions each year, and we have compiled a list of possible suggestions for the university to consider for 2002.
I, Portland State University, do hereby resolve to:
* Join a real gym. As the Vanguard has reported before, the Stott Center pales in comparison to the fitness facilities at other comparable Oregon schools. For students to get consistent, adequate services at a gym, they will have to go somewhere else.
* Learn how to tell time. Has anyone ever seen two clocks at Portland State that actually tell the same time? Students are lucky if they run across a clock that is anywhere close to the correct time.
* Add parking structures 4, 5, 6…? As plans to expand Parking Structure Three become a reality, students are left wondering if Portland State will ever have adequate parking. While the two-floor addition to Parking Structure Three will be somewhat of an improvement, rumors are that most, if not all, of the structure will be closed during construction. Where does the university expect those cars to be parked in the meantime?
* Improve recycling on campus. Other than the cafeteria, recycling bins for cans, bottles and other recyclables are a rare site.
* Pay more attention to the arts. Apparently, to assist with budget cuts, the university has revoked financial support of the ever-popular PIPFest, which brings to the area a wide array of artistic acts, from music to dance to spoken word. Does anyone else feel that the arts are already the largest neglected field of study at Portland State?
* Stop exploiting the extreme poverty of our teaching assistants. Being a teaching assistant is a great opportunity, both for experience and for financial benefit. It is, for most students, an opportunity they can little afford to miss. This fact makes TAs easy prey for professors who assume a teaching assistant is their personal secretary, too.
* Actually attend a sporting event. At the average Viking football game, there are between 4,000 and 8,000 Viking supporters. This is out of a potential audience of over 20,000 students, in addition to alumni, friends and family. We hope that our Vikings are also receiving the support of our faculty, staff and especially our administration.
* Send thank you cards to facilities, the custodial staff and the lawn maintenance crew for keeping us clean, warm and beautiful.
* Start paying attention and supporting our student activist. Portland State, believe it or not, has several active groups of student activists. While some are officially organized and others are brought together by urgent causes, they all have something to say and deserve to be heard.
* Buy the entire faculty and staff watches, since they clearly can’t afford them on their salaries. Even after the ink dries on the new two-year faculty contract, faculty salaries in Oregon are 19.5 percent lower than the national faculty average. This move will have another, added benefit: instructors may, for the first time, know what time it really is, be on time to class and let their students out at the scheduled times.