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Wiewel Stepping Down

He stayed four years too long. I'll remember him by the move of Administration from Cramer Hall and the heart of PSU over to 4th and Market, a long ways away from the school and faculty. He embodies the incorporation of higher education.
 
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Usually, PSU presidents stay a decade. I think WW's wave of improvements have reached their crescendo and it is time for a new energetic successor. I hope this new president is well-chosen. I've been happy with the progress realized under Ramaley (originator), Berstine (negotiator) and Wiewell (social welfare worker).

Under Wiewell's tenure, we asked for a new basketball arena and it is now being constructed. He has quite a number credits to his time here. I think his being a sociologist and a northern European was very good for Portland State's progress. He has developed the university quite well. Since the 1980's, PSU has hired its presidents very well. The next president will, in all likelihood, follow in with this same pattern of hiring excellence.

Is he corporatizing it? If so, it could serve as a good economic model of efficiency. Let's hope the university does not lose its humanity in its relationship to its stakeholders. Of course, every president is going to have some pecadillos.

Unfortunately, being on the campus mall, the new arena can only be a 3,000 seat version (fire safety), but it is good for a campus mall setting. We alums will at least have that fairly soon that in addition to our old reliable gym. Let's be grateful for that. The big arena we envisioned is still someone else's: The Moda Center, a rental.

So, while the Viking Pavilion project is certainly an upgrade, we also recognize that it is not the full-blown university athletics arena we had envisioned. For purposes of comparison, Gill Colesium holds nearly 10,000 (9,600). Our project will hold about 30 percent of that. Still, a significant improvement is that our athletics department will be under a single roof. And no one questions the still great potential this university has academically and athletically.

Is there a line on who will be the next young blood president to shake things up to the next level? to build on the shoulders of the last three successful presidents?
 

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