Digital Commons Network^™

Assessing The Barriers To Equity In Smart Mobility Systems: A Case Study Of Portland, Oregon, Aaron Golub, Vivian Satterfield, Michael Serritella, Jai Singh, Senna Phillips

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

There is an active debate about the potential costs and benefits of emerging “smart mobility” systems, especially in how they will serve communities already facing transportation challenges. This paper describes the results of an assessment of these equity issues in the context of lower-income areas of Portland, Oregon, based on a mixture of quantitative and qualitative research. The study found that by lowering costs and improving service for public transit, ridesharing and active transportation, smart mobility systems could address many of the needs of transportation disadvantaged communities. Similar to those found in other case studies, significant barriers prevent smart mobility …

Believe Our Stories & Listen: Portland Street Response Survey Report, Greg Townley, Kaia Sand, Thea Kindschuh

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Many advocates, local officials, and people experiencing homelessness agree that Portland needs a better way to respond to low-priority calls for service involving those experiencing homelessness and behavioral health crises. This report examines efforts to address homelessness in Portland through the development of a plan to dispatch the Portland Street Response unit rather than police.

A team of community partners spread out across the city July 16 and 18 to interview people experiencing homelessness to help inform the design of the Portland Street Response pilot project (PSR). An additional team went out on Sept. 6.

Members of Street Roots, Sisters …

Primo [Library Catalog]: Towards A Socially Just Search System, Kimberly Willson-St. Clair, Molly Gunderson

Library Faculty Publications and Presentations

At the Portland State University (PSU) Library, we value diversity, equity, and inclusion and have demonstrated this commitment by design with the new, responsive Primo. Designing the new Primo for ease of use for discovery and delivery for 30,000 students was the tantamount motivation for our new Primo launch, fall term 2016. In this session, we will cover why the PSU Library uses the open search field rather than scope selection on the homepage; what is an equitable approach to faceted navigation; and why a “less is more” design approach addresses accessibility and the affective for first generation college students, …

The Eloquent Letter, Daneen Bergland

University Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” The Eloquent Letter is an authentic, adaptable assignment for acquiring critical skills: identifying and researching social problems, examining value systems and diverse perspectives, communicating effectively, and proposing solutions based on common ground. Moving beyond traditional argumentation essays and debates, this project situates activism and writing “in its native habitat.”

Students identify and research a social problem or issue and write and send a persuasive letter, asking for specific action toward addressing the issue. This assignment is meant to assess DQP proficiencies in Broad and Integrative Knowledge, Intellectual skills, …

Reorientations; Or, An Indigenous Feminist Reflection On The Anthropocene, Kali Simmons

Indigenous Nations Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Destruction of homelands. Loss of kinship species. Exposure to deadly contaminants. Mass extinction. Transformed lifeways. In the face of these radical changes, a question lingers: How long will life be possible? Recently the academy has also felt the urgency of these environmental problems and proposed to address them within the framework of the term "the Anthropocene." Indigenous studies has offered various responses to the Anthropocene, some arguing that it has utility in framing the violence of colonialism and others critiquing the limitations and assumptions behind the "anthropos" …

Equity In Emergency Management, Sabina Roan, Jaye Cromwell

Metroscape

In the decade following Hurricane Katrina, advocates fighting for the rights of people with disabilities changed the field of emergency management. Their pressure on FEMA led to the establishment of legal and planning precedents to include the needs of the whole community in emergency management.(4) There is now a national, legal requirement to plan for people with disabilities and access and functional needs. Despite this important victory for people with disabilities, there have been no direct legal or policy actions that address the disproportionate response along racial and socio-economic lines.

The theory of social equity has its roots in social …