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Students Color Up the City

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UP students participate in The Color Run at PIR

By Amanda Blas ,  Staff Writer blas13@up.edu

From THE BEACON

I’ll be honest and admit that I hate running. I dread doing it for exercise and there is no way you will ever get me to do it just for fun. So imagine my surprise when I came across a 5K that made me actually want to run. That’s right: the Portland Color Run got this anti-runner to move her feet for five kilometers, and with a smile and some laughs, too.

The Color Run is definitely not a 5K set on making the best run time. Instead, it is all about having a good time and supporting a good cause. In this case, the run supported Child Aid, an organization that works with indigenous people in some of Latin America’s poorest communities to create opportunity and alleviate poverty. Running, painting and giving to charity: do you need any more reason to go for a run? Not really, if you ask me.

Just like everyone else who showed up for the Color Run, I started as a blank slate. In other words, I was wearing a white shirt that was just waiting to be painted on. But while I decided to be the “runner next door” and just wear a white shirt and running pants, some people decided to be a little more creative, with wedding dresses and tutus being popular outfits of choice. Most 5K runners would never be caught dead with such attire. But for the Color Run, color is encouraged, and these outfits were definitely welcome.

After waiting for a few waves to go by—yes, there were that many runners—we finally got to cross the starting line. [Read more…] about Students Color Up the City

Who Have We Become?

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By Kate Stringer ,  Staff Writer stringer14@up.edu

From THE BEACON

Their hair was bigger, their student loans were smaller and Facebook didn’t distract them from their homework. Welcome to life at UP twenty years ago.

University of Portland isn’t what it used to be, and that’s not just because we have a gutted library. Students have been evolving over the years, and these changes have not gone unnoticed by faculty and staff. Paul Myers, Director of Health Services, has been studying how students have changed in the last 19 years and said everything from the way students interact to how they use technology has shifted.

Despite the changing face of the UP college student, Myers said that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” [Read more…] about Who Have We Become?

Students show off ocean creature research

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By Hannah Kintner ,  Staff Writer kintner13@up.edu

From THE BEACON

So you spent your summer at the beach? So did seniors Tim Luethke and Matt Ortman, but they got to bring the beach back to school with them.

Over the summer, Luethke and Ortman worked with biology professor Tara Maginnis as Crab Lab interns. Crab Lab is a research programMaginnis started where students can study animal limb regeneration and animal behaviors.

The lab was set up last year and mainly focused on crab research. The program was expanded this year when Luethke and Ortman took it upon themselves to create miniature ecosystems in each of the holding tanks so they can take their research to a new level. [Read more…] about Students show off ocean creature research

Students rock out to the sound of their own beat

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By Amanda Blas ,  Staff Writer blas13@up.edu

From THE BEACON

Meet the bands that are rocking The Bluff

Focus Motel  

Take two UP students, a couple of Portland State graduates and a love for the band Radiohead and you have the band Focus Motel.“Aside from music, we also love going out and getting pancakes late at night,” junior George Brockett, keyboard and vocals, said.Made up of Brockett, UP grad student Gordon Ashby and PSU graduates Jeremy Ward and Matt Tabor, Focus Motel was formed last August. The band evolved from Brocket, Ashby and Ward’s original band, Fallen Parrot, which played a different style of music.“We decided to start a new kind of project,” Brockett said.Brockett describes Focus Motel as a balance between guitar andsynth, which refers to algorithm-generated electronic tones played through a keyboard.“It’s a dance rock kind of thing,” Brockett said. “But we definitely try to make it as musical as possible.”Focus Motel’s unique sound can be attributed to its wide range of musical influences. They pull keyboard influences from electropop band Lali Puna, vocal influences from the alternative rock band The Pixies and some guitar influences from singer and songwriter St. Vincent.

“It’s a nice hodgepodge of influences, but I think we’re all on the same page when it comes to influences,” Brockett said. “It comes together nicely.” [Read more…] about Students rock out to the sound of their own beat

VoteUP takes on campaign finance reform

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On Constitution Day, UP’s political science department discussed the role money plays in politics

By Hannah Kintner ,  Staff Writer Kintner13@up.edu

Political Science professor William Curtis speaks about Campaign Finance Reform at Vote UP’s constition day event. The lecture discussed a controversial supreme court case about campaign spending.

Voter registration,informative political discussion and a cake adorned with the American flag marked the 225th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution at the University of Portland on Monday.

The political science department hosted the second Vote UP event titled “The Constitution and the Election” in St. Mary’s lounge. Political science professors William Curtis and Gary Malechacollaborated to inform students about the issues and history of campaign finance reform, the political effort to change the role of money in politics.

Curtis spoke about the details of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, a 2010 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, as well as the technicalities of campaign finance reform, the key issue of the case.

[Read more…] about VoteUP takes on campaign finance reform

Six UP Students Awarded Fullbright Scholarships

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Congratulations to the following students who were recently awarded Fullbright Scholarships!

  • Jason Hortsh (Mathematics), German English Teaching Assistantship
  • Jessica Marsh (Psychology), German English Teaching Assistantship
  • Bianca McCluskey (German Studies), German English Teaching Assistantship
  • Kurt Berning (Finance), UK Graduate School
  • Jennifer Brannan (Civil Engineering), India Full Grant
  • Chris Lew (Biochemistry), Spain English Teaching Assistantship

History Journal Wins Top Award

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Northwest Passages, the Department of History’s student journal, has again been awarded First Prize in the 2011 Gerald D. Nash History Journal competition, sponsored by Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society.  This year’s award is the third time for the journal to take top prize, and it marks the fifth year in a row that the journal has won either first or second prize.  Published in the spring each year since 2000, each edition of the journal includes several senior theses as well as a diverse sample of smaller papers completed in history courses offered throughout the academic year.  The writings are selected by the editorial team which is staffed entirely by students.