Horses, healthcare, Wim Weivel, and you

On your future! (Or lack thereof.)

So the time has come again to publish the illustrious Rearguard for thousands of happy go lucky PSU students to enjoy. At least they will be happy until they read about their possible future. Things are depressing. To illustrate the situation, ex-Rearguard editor Josh Gross will tell you how much fun it is to be out of school and job hunting in America today. Hate to ruin it for you, but it doesn’t look good. Is this just pessimism? No it’s not. We’ll call it cynicism maybe. But it’s a reasonable reaction; things are not looking good for the old US of A. And while the Rearguard hopes that the States can bounce back, it has been thinking a lot about learning Mandarin. Seriously, no offense to our neighbors to the south, but we are fast becoming Canada’s Mexico. This country may not be completely doomed, but once you get used to living in a first-world country it’s hard to make the change. Surely America will make a nice Costa Rica level country sometime in the future.

So if a degree from Portland State doesn’t score you a sweet job in the real world and you can’t find someone from a better country who is willing to marry you – just remember: you can always live in the Smith Student Union with all the other homeless people. Good luck young people!

On Healthcare

Good news though, because when you’re out in the world without a job it’s okay because you probably won’t live that long when without access to healthcare. Just make sure you state in your will that you want your remains to be left somewhere in a cheap shallow grave so your family doesn’t have to foot the bill. The Rearguard, for the sheer joy of it, will be beating the dead healthcare horse a few more times this month. Luckily we’re trying to think outside the box. Adam will tell you his modest proposal on how to deal with the issue, and Jesse will give you a peek into his experiences with state-run healthcare in the form of the VA hospital.

It seems that the whole argument will be moot as soon as either America goes out of business, and asking the government for healthcare becomes comparable to asking your old job for a paycheck. Or, two, the ocean levels rise, flood the cities, and the only acceptable currency will be dry socks. The Rearguard will be stocking up.

On Wim Wievel and the ASPSU

Or what you might recognize better as the president of PSU, and the student government. Student government is a tough cookie. One’s natural inclination is to treat them the same way most people treated them in high school. Quietly hate them while wondering if their parties were any good (no pun intended). It seemed like nothing but a popularity contest. Unfortunately the election process hasn’t changed much, the numbers of voters read more like an unpopular dork’s facebook friends list than statistics associated with elections. Anthony explains how few students it actually took to get them in office. He also interviews Dr. Wim Weivel and gets the word on the relationship between them and the administration.

It has often been the job of Portland State publications to tear down and talk shit about student government. It is part of the play that goes on here; everyone pretends that this is the real world and that by dissecting and lambasting the student government they fill their role, much like publications in the real world do when they critique elected officials. Critiquing those in power should be limited to their actions, not their demeanor. They need to be held accountable to their mistakes, not dismissed out of hand. The type of people that run for office are not always the same people you think are cool, but the students of PSU should pay attention to what they are doing, and at least respect the fact that they are doing it. God knows the Rearguard doesn’t want the job. Do you?

So thank you once again for picking up your beloved Rearguard. Where we never get tired of trying to inform, or at least entertain PSU students while they go to the bathroom either with, or on, this wonderful paper.